Going on adventures, exploring the unknown and unexpected, dealing with challenges: these are the words that come to mind when I hear the word “away.” When I think of being away, I imagine myself standing in the midst of an unknown place, surrounded by unknown people, without any distinct knowledge of what I am doing or where I am going. When I think about being “away,” my mind races to the most impactful events of my past. On the morning before Easter Sunday, when I was eight years old, I woke up to a crowd of somber, uneasy faces filling the living room. The night before, my mom had gone into town with her sisters to do some Easter shopping; my dad approached me and informed that Mom was not coming back - she had been killed by a drunk …show more content…
My birth mother homeschooled me for two years; after she died, I attended a private Christian school in Pennsylvania for two years before transitioning into a public elementary school for two more years. My parents then surprised me with an announcement that we were going to move to Iowa. At the conclusion of fifth grade, my family moved 717 miles away from my friends and my paternal family. Then, once again after my junior year, my parents announced that, because my dad had lost his job and we could no longer afford to live in our then-current house, we would soon be moving 45 minutes away to a farmhouse with few neighbors. Despite, and due to, frustration and lonely feeling inflicted by the frequent - and sometimes drastic - moves, I have learned to adapt to these stumbling blocks. I’ve learned to accept the cards I am dealt, and to play them in creative ways. When my family moved to the old farm house, instead of sulking in the absence of geographically close friends, I explored my personal interests and spent a lot more time with my family. As a result, my brother and I discovered our respective passion more music. We write songs and music and spend most of our time together developing our musical talents; however, this would not have happened if I was not removed from the easy access to social entertainment that exists in the big city suburb that I had previously lived in. I used life’s curveballs spice up my life: to open my eyes to unknown interests and
After coming to the United States where I was excited to see a new country, people, and living, I lived in the city of Corona where I was attending a public school. After being at an all girl’s Christian school that requires us to have a certain length of the uniform skirt, hair being pulled up, and clothes ironed, and attending church at school every week was something completely different for me. Being at a school that involves boys and freedom from what I had before was a new thing for me because I was not used to it. I didn’t feel comfortable to the change and told my mother that I wanted to be in home school. She agreed and placed a request form to place me in home schooling. After being accepted, I was able to get all my work done com...
When I was 7 years, I moved from my home in Australia to the other side of the planet to Dallas Texas. When I heard that I was moving, I felt a wave of despair wipe over me. As Taylor says “I have never in my own memory been outside of Kentucky” (Kingsolver 12). This was the same for me since I had never been
Music is a funny thing. I’ve listened to music all my life, thousands of songs, hundreds of artists. But only a few stick out; like my first real album (Tiffany’s self titled release. What ever happened to her?), or my first alternative album (the Red Hot Chili Pepper’s Blood Sugar Sex Magik: I bought it on tape when I was 14 and listened to it so much that it wore out). Only one has become a part of who I am, the Dave Matthews Band’s Crash. Somewhere between its "So Much To Say" and "Proudest Monkey" my indifferent hearing turned into awareness, and I stopped listening with just my ears and started listening with my heart.
Halfway through my sophomore year, my mom ran into some financial troubles. We had no choice, but to move away from my high school, and move in with my grandparents. After we moved, she didn’t have a job for over a year. I really didn’t want to switch schools. I was comfortable at my school and with my friends. My mother was willing to let me continue going there, even after we moved. I drove 30 minutes, everyday so I could go to school. It wasn’t easy, but it’s been worth it. I had to get up even earlier, I
Growing up I never gave a thought as to why I was homeschooled. Having never experienced a single day of public school, I wasn’t familiar with the morning routine of catching the school bus. The familiar scene for me was waking up much later than my peers and going to my “school” where every day was pajama day. While my friends would often let me know how
Many folks go their whole lives without having to move. For them it is easy; they know the same people, have loads of friends, and never have to move away from their families. As with me, I was in a different situation. I grew up my entire life, all eighteen years of it, in a small town called Yorktown, Virginia. In my attempt to reach out for a better life style, my girlfriend and I decided we were going to move to Shreveport, Louisiana. Through this course of action, I realized that not two places in this country are exactly alike. I struggled with things at first, but I found some comforts of home here as well.
The decision to homeschool was made by my parents before I was born. I have an older brother and he was when my parents decided to homeschool. A good amount of homeschoolers that I interacted with where being homeschooled for various religious reason and sometimes because of their family’s economic situation. My parents reasoning for wanting to homeschool was quality of education. My parents recognized that my older brother learned differently and they didn’t think he would be ready for school when he became school age, so they decided that homeschooling would be the best education they could give to my brother. When I became school aged, my parents were already committed to homeschooling and their decision to homeschool me was something I’m grateful for. Instead of tracks, I was able to learn at my own pace. I was reading a few years before the “norm”, but I learned how to spell about a year later than the “norm”. Being homeschooled could be detrimental to social interaction, but I was always out with my parents and they always pushed me to interact with people. Because of this, I have never had any issue of interacting with someone regardless of their age. My mother worked as an RN, but when the decision to homeschool was decided, she stopped working to spend her time teaching my brother and I. This obviously had an impact on my family’s economic situation. My father worked as a firefighter and while we never struggled with poverty, we never had a lot of money. When I started high school, I started supplementing my at home education with classes from a school that offered classes specifically to homeschoolers. The “school” was small, but due to the high number of homeschoolers in the Chattanooga area there was a decent population. As I said, I always thought I was decent at interact with people, being in a school environment brought to my attention that I was better at
The day I moved away, a lot of things were going through my young mind. As I took my last look at my home, I remembered all the fun times I had with my family and friends through out my life. Now I was moving 800 miles away from all of that with no insight on what lied ahead for me. As my family and I drove away from our Michigan home, I looked out the window wondering what Virginia would be, and what my friends were doing. A lot of things were going through my mind at the time. At the time my main worry was if I would make any friends, and how I would adjust to everything. During the whole drive down, my mother would often let me know that everything would be all right and I would like it. Trying to be strong and hold back my tears, I just shook my head no, wondering why we had to move so far away. Life would be different for me and I knew it would.
I am an undocumented student at UC Davis. When I am asked a simple question such as, "describe your personal experiences", I ask myself: Where do I begin?
The neighborhood we moved to seemed like a little bigger version of our little neighborhood in the Bronx, so I thought it wouldn 't be too bad, and I even began to think this could be like home. However, like whenever you move somewhere new, you always have to make adjustments, and this was no different. Having to go to a new school in a new city without knowing anyone was scary at first, especially for your first year of middle school, but I made the adjustment rather quickly. The area I was in, was South Philadelphia, it also, like the Bronx, had a small neighborhood feeling to it, so even though at first it seemed like it would be way different, over time it turned out to be pretty good. It had a lot in common with what I was used to in the Bronx, from the markets to the food even to the people. The one thing that really helped me adjust was how small Philly felt compared to New York. For instance, Philly only has two real subway lines, so you could get from one side to the city in another in almost twenty to thirty minutes, you couldn’t even get out of a borough in that amount of time in New York. Another thing is that my family and I would go back up at least once a month at least for the first couple years for Holidays and just to see everyone, so it wasn’t like I was ever very far away. I ended up adjusting pretty good to Philly,
The screeching decibels of my alarm clock woke me at five-thirty that morning. Football practice the day before completely destroyed my body leaving my arms and legs almost unmovable. All my strength was used to stand that morning. My brother told me to stop complaining and get ready for school. He was older and always bossed me around. “I don’t want to go to school” I exclaimed! “What are you going to do, sit at home and stay dumb?” He said. That is not a bad idea I thought. I can teach myself. I imagined the possibility of being homeschooled. I knew homeschooling was not an option for me. My mother worked two jobs and was hardly home to check my homework. If it was an option, homeschooling would be my choice. Homeschooling is a better choice than a Public School education. Homeschooling offers
Not until I started attending Seattle Central Community College (SCCC) as a Running Start student did I appreciate the sacrifices my parents had made. By meeting people from diverse backgrounds at SCCC and spending more time apart from my family, I finally understood what my parents had been trying to teach me through homeschooling. They wanted to nurture my spiritual needs and didn’t want me to forget our cultural background and values, especially...
Driving home after a long, difficult day, I turned on some music, searching for relief. The CD in the player consisted of all my favorite songs: “Pee Wee Long Way( Chasing)’,” “Lil Boosie (Long Journey),”Lil snupe “(Nobody),” and many others. My number one favorite song, “(Chasing),” was the first to play. Singing along to the lyrics, my mood was immediately better. This song reminded me of what was important in my life, my dreams and money. I then realized what these songs had in common; they all reflected my feelings on life: don’t give up on your dreams and don’t worry about every little thing life throws at you, keep chasing your dream until you reach the top.
In the summer of my grade 8 year, my parents announced that we were going to sell our house and move to a different city. This was the year that I shed tears for a month and my grades begin to fall. We had never moved since first grade and I was immensely attached to our childhood home and all my friends. I could not stand the thought of leaving all my peers and starting anew. I remembered watching a movie once where the students of a school bullied the new girl until she committed suicide. I did not want to get bullied nor take my life but it seemed inevitable.
The world is a magnificent place that’s full of life and new places. Places that are waiting to be walked upon and viewed by the eye’s of travelers. To make new memories and go places that is beyond the walls of reality and new pathways of life. To truly experience the wonders that the world has to offer can be expressed by the life of one single person, setting off into the world to gain a higher purpose about the world. Traveling individually enables people to broaden their minds and accumulate new ideas and new experiences both nationally and internationally. By setting off into the world a person has the ability to learn so many new things, but also find so much about themselves while in the process of traveling.