The Firehouse Effect Analysis

1184 Words3 Pages

Add a creative title Early in life I dealt with both my mother and father taking turns going in and out of jail due to their heavy drinking, Eventually my mother left for good eight years after I was born. Leaving me with my father dealing with his habit, but also realizing he had to raise three boys by himself. Through his method of parenting, work hours, and his drinking he didn't have much time to help direct me down a good path. So I never really had any motivation to do much in school, and also was terrified to try. Just to find out that I wasn't smart, or that I just couldn't do it. So now I am overcoming that fear and solidifying my volition to do well in school. One of the first things I remember are the blue and red flashing …show more content…

That's why I have to rebuild myself. Paul Tough, the author of How Children Succeed, talks about the firehouse effect. The firehouse effect is how stress and anxiety effect the brain. Tough explains the effect: "The firehouse effect metaphor might help us understand what was happening with Monisha Sullivan. When she was a child, her fire alarm went off constantly, at top volume. Every time the alarm went off, her stress-response system sent out all the trucks, sirens blaring. The firefighters smashed in some windows and soaked the carpets, and by the time Monisha turned eighteen, her biggest problem wasn't the threats that she faced from the world around her. It was the damage the firefighters had done"(15). Tough is saying that the more stress and hardships you have to endure when you're younger, the harder it is to concentrate on what's important. I feel I have had my fair share of stress while growing up. Every time a quiz came up or homework was due it seemed impossible to stay concentrated, when I didn't know what I was going to come home too. When the stress didn't stop I tried to self medicate which did nothing for my grades. Now i understand that I cant let stress get in the way of my education. So to do this I am fixing the carpets and replacing the windows and getting fire insurance. Ive been tackling my fears and learned that I just need to keep knocking them down so i can succeed in

Open Document