I think of my life and memories as an ocean: serene and still or rough and rigid. But in the end it’s always beautiful and breath-taking. Some of my memories warm me up from the inside. But they also tear me apart. Unfortunately, the memories that teared me apart are the best I can remember. My childhood memories, when I look back at them, are filled with resentment and bitterness. The first few memories, I was spent with strangers. Strangers my parents paid to be our care-givers. Some of this strangers were kind and compassionate, some were troubled and negligent. My dad received so much help due to the circumstances in his country. I remember an instance when my community gave us a helping-hand. They helped us fix our trailer and built a …show more content…
My two oldest sisters would eventually leave because they became constant targets of verbal humiliation. Somewhere along the way, my parents sought for help. Things became less tense and less aggravating. Still, this obstacle caused me to realize resentment would push me down. I decided to focus all my energy in relearning the things I lost in Honduras. By fourth grade year, I was voted the most improved and the hardest-worker. My teachers saw my potential and they saw all the energy I put into learning English. The encouragement from my teachers made me interested in literature, culture, and language. I became a bookworm. My nose would always be stuck in a book. It was difficult for my sisters and I to adapt; especially because I was reserved. Fast-forward to middle school. I had so much confidence walking in. I started making friends. Unfortunately, the bullying starter. I was afraid to talk. Students will make remarks on my accentuated English, and would mock it. And the irony? It was from my Spanish-speaking peers. Not only was I self-conscious, but I became isolated. This isolation continued throughout middle school. I focused on doing everything to …show more content…
Nine years after arriving to the United States, I am still learning how to express myself. It was a rigorous process, but I feel like I succeeded. My English may not be perfect, but it is now my first language. Everyone has to know where they came from to know where they want to go. As any regular teenager, I have my doubts. It’s like a tornado rummaging my head when I think about my future and my goals. I know what my parents expect from me, I know what my community expects, and I know what the world expects from me: They expect I become a well-off, responsible adult that contributes to society. Every day since my second arrival to this country, I’ve been reminded that my purpose was to have a more productive lifestyle and to have the education many in my country ache to have. At times, I feel like if I don’t have a set goal, I will end up being a failure. There’s a voice inside my head saying: “you’ll never reach it”. Every time I feel this way, something sparks in me. And that’s when I decide to work the hardest. For me, my career choice is something that I’ve always dreamt of: traveling the world and learn about what makes our world so
When Chris Langan was faced with a tough decision in college, he decided, “that was the point that I decided I could do without the higher education system” (Gladwell 94). Chris made a decision that not many people in America want to do or nonetheless, actually do. He carries the risk of affecting his entire future by not receiving a college degree and getting a job that he can support himself with. Chris also knows what is best for himself, and that everyone is different. He does the best for himself, and others will see. This type of situation will hopefully help others by influencing them to do the best for only themselves in order for them to feel like they have achieved the American Dream. Another situation that people may come across where they have to make a life-changing decision is as immigrants. At a young age, a “Brilliant immigrant kid overcomes poverty and the Depression, can’t get a job at the stuffy downtown law firms, [and] makes it on his own through sheer hustle and ability” (Gladwell 119). As it is, it is really hard to adjust to a new life in a new country. People do not know what to expect when they immigrate to a different country, even despite what they have heard from others. This difficult decision to go to a completely new place and start over is one that has to be made and
Look at your life now. Think of your future. Think about what you want to become, your aspirations, ambitions, and goals for yourself. Many of us, in this very room are seniors; we are about to graduate high school and enter a critically imperative phase in our lives, our opportunities are endless, the world is at our feet. No one can tell us that we can’t become what we wish. We alone have the power to pursue what we exemplify to be greatness.
But of course, the voices of my aunts and uncles were always in the back of my head: "you're not smart" , "you're not trying hard enough", "you're not good enough", "just give up". And the fear of failure would make me nervous when a test was around the corner. I couldn’t ask my parents for help because they weren't literate in English and they were only Spanish speakers. I couldn’t ask my brother he was always playing outside with his friends and I couldn’t ask my cousins because they would only make fun of me and tell their parents. So, there was a time I stopped asking for help. My parents saw my struggle so they signed me up for afterschool tutoring. I didn’t know what to expect, I just hoped I would get the tutoring I need to pass my classes. The tutors were so understanding and they didn’t just have homework tutoring but activities for learning which were fun. They also had books they read to us and they made the big kids read to the little
I thought that I knew what I wanted to do with my life right up until the moment that I had to actually decide what I wanted to do with my life. Oh, I have the answer, but I think that “nothing” isn’t going to cut it for anyone, right? Right. Well then, I had a feeling that my life was going to get difficult this year, and I was right. My English class just slapped me in the face with College and University preparations, which unfortunately includes this essay.
I over analyzed the future, it wasn't going to be so effortless. There were incalculable nights I've witnessed them crying, the stressed phrase that my parents gone through leave a memorable image. On the other hand, I knew for a fact that they decided to migrate here was because of my brother and I, there was nothing I can grant besides invigoration them. Finally, my uncle enrolled me in school, it finally strikes me that I'm going to be isolated from the people at school. I had no friends, nobody to talk to, I was basically a lonely little girl that doesn't know what she was doing. Dig into the past, I remembered crying to my mom about attending school it was really frustrating, I felt devoured by my classmates because I couldn't acknowledge without hesitation. Even at this occasion, my Mother voice was slaughtering my negativity which persuaded me to keep overachieving. My parents encounter difficulties to get us here. Honestly, I felt compacted by society, but nothing seems to discontinued me from becoming well grounded in school and being a paradigm for my little brother, even if it took me numerous times to devour my
Reminiscing to middle and high school years I can recall anticipating ‘what will I be when I grow up?’ The age old question that takes longer to answer than I imagined, I still ask myself at the ripe old age of thirty-seven. Not many of my elder family members attended college, so I did not know for sure what I wanted but I knew one thing was for sure; I was going away to college! Well, life and finances had a different plan.
Many people will always tell you that “you’ll find your true calling during some point of your life”. As a matter of fact, as children we’re all raised to believe that we can be whatever we want to be if we put our minds towards it. On the other hand, the circumstances were quite different for me. Being the only daughter out of three children had a one specific disadvantage. To clarify, my whole life was planned for me ahead of time. I was always pushed by my parents into being a surgeon, or a dentist. For 19 years the idea of wearing a white lab coat, and drinking a cup of coffee before being called in for an operation was stuck in my head. However, everything changed once I started my sophomore year of college.
After graduating high school there were two things I was certain I would never do. These two things included: I would never travel abroad, and I would never consider attending grad school. Fortunately, life tends to take us down unfamiliar paths that occasionally lead us straight towards the unexpected. My initial intensions were to go to college, get my degree, then head straight to the work force. I also didn’t think it was necessary to go longer than four years considering my parents never attend college and are managing very well with six kids and no degrees. I fell into this mind set early on, while finalizing details to attend Ohio State. As the oldest of my family and a first-generation college student, my parents and I ran into several roadblocks while figuring out everything that needed to be done. Following two years of involvement and employment through the university I have changed my will not consider grad school to am considering grad school.
The dreaded question “what are you studying in college?” Has haunted me oh so many times before. I explain I am studying International Management and minoring in Spanish and French, they ask if like it, well I’d hope so, however, sometimes you start wondering if you actually do. This paper is absolutely frightening to write about. How can a 19 years old know what I want to do for the rest of my life? I think my ideas of what I’ve wanted to do has always been in the same realm of questioning but I never could pinpoint what would make me really happy and what I could live off of. Growing up, I wanted to be an archeologist, a historian, an explorer, or an astronaut. So clearly I’m a tad confused where I want to go from here or even be once I graduate
Throughout time many people and research have implied that childhood experiences shape your adult life and behavior. They say depending on the type of childhood or life experiences you had as a child you would become molded by it. As someone that went through a lot of life changing experiences as a child I would have to agree with the statement that childhood does mold you into the person you are as an adult. You can definitely escape from it if you wish to do so but, no matter what you do it does affect you and your life in the future. I believe that most childhood experiences change us in a good way even if the experience may have been a bad one.
During this stage of development, there were many changes going on regarding my social life. Starting in 8th grade, a girl began to bully me. She was mad that I made the volleyball team and she did not, so she began to yell at me in the halls and push me around. I hoped that once we got to high school that it would stop; it did, but not for long. Before I knew it, tenth grade came
For so many years I’ve asked myself the question, “what are you going to do with your life?” For a period of time I struggled with this question. Today, I sit staring at my computer, confronting myself, asking my subconscious “what do I want to do for the rest of my life?” Have I finally found the answer I 've been looking for, or am I under the false assumption that this is the right path for me. This semester has been the ultimate opportunity to explore my questions, doubt, issues, and concerns. I feel that by the end of this paper I will have answered all these questions, and will have made the best decision for my future.
Memories are tricky to hold onto, even at the best of times. The first remembrance comes from the event, the second from the memory. Each time you bring it to the surface, you merely remember the last time you remembered it. Thusly memories become corrupted, changed with time. Most of mine that stand out are the ones that I 've made myself recall over and over with the same details, forced myself to not forget or change. To say I have a favorite, I can 't.
Agatha Christie once said, “One of the luckiest things that can happen to you in life is, I think, to have a happy childhood.” Childhood is the best part of everyone’s life. It is supposed to be a time of enjoyment, innocence, and exploration. My childhood was an unforgettable experience. I got to encounter different things in unusual ways. There was nothing to stress about, I almost had no duties or issues. However, my childhood was different from others because unlike other children, I spent my most treasured years of life in the boarding school for almost fourteen years where I was raised and taught valuable lessons about life such as disciplines and manners. I have some of my greatest memories from back then which will never be forgotten. I will always cherish these memories of my childhood because I have learned a lot from it and it made me the person I am today.
Childhood is the most unforgettable period of my life. Everyone has childhood memories. My childhood memories took place in Eritrea. These memories that are happiest and saddest memories are still in my mind. Sometimes I remember things that have happened in my childhood period and they just make me laugh. Childhood memories can be bad or good, but we can’t forget them. For these reasons, childhood memories are the most important parts of my life. Specifically, also I have some good memories of childhood.