My Defining Moment Essay

It is early afternoon; families are awake, the birds are chirping, and even the roofs of their houses are glistening in the sun, all the aspects of a very perfect and normal community. Although looks can be deceiving. This neighborhood is very far from our version of normal. The reality of it is; parents are walking along the dark mushy ground, some looking for their children, others are scrounging for food. Some kids are running around by the streets, and I do not mean the streets by their homes, a long-discolored river flows there instead. I am talking about the ones by the big bridge that looms nearby. The houses are low, one room shelters, mostly made of large pieces of metal. Instead of birds chirping, it is chickens screeching to get out of their cages. And that strange river, it is filled with the human waste of hundreds of people. This place is a slum, right outside of Johannesburg in South Africa, and seeing this is one of my defining moments.

Every moment defines us. Every decision, every experience, and even every opportunity have the potential to affect and change us. Life changing moments can happen at any time and any place, and after one, you never see the world the same again. One of

They treasure the smallest of items, from pieces of metal to scrap food. The saying, “One man’s trash, is another man’s treasure,” is especially true in this scenario. Some kids had make-shift scooters made from wooden sticks, metal poles, and some rope that was lying around in the infinite pounds of trash that people are forced to sleep on. Where ever you look there is always someone smiling, whatever the mood. The situation really conflicts me, should I go over and talk to them because the smiling and friendliness is super inviting, but the setting is drastically different and uncomfortable from what we grew up with