Jackie Robinson: Overcoming Barriers

Jackie Robinson was someone everyone could look up to because he broke many barriers for not only African Americans but the entire world. He faced many barriers and obstacles as he worked his way up into a role model using his nine values: citizenship, commitment, courage, determination, excellence, integrity, justice, persistence, and teamwork. Me personally, my greatest obstacle has been myself. I never really talked about it because it always seemed to only be me, it didn’t seem common. In fact, I found it stupid how I was an obstacle for myself. The greatest way I could ever explain it was by using a dog for example. Imagine you had a dog that had been your best friend since you were a child. Now imagine you starting school, getting more
I learned many different things and never got confused about anything. I was an innocent student that just loved to learn. The real problem started over the summer, my transition to middle school. Sixth grade was very hard for me but not because of the challenging work but because of the people I was around. I was exposed to fake friends for the first time but I didn't talk about it because my parents weren’t around as much. When my “friends” told me certain things I needed to do I instantly tried to change myself for them. My mind told me I wasn’t good enough and that I needed to change and be like them. When religion came into the play it only got worse. My parents got extremely religious at one point in time and there was one thing in particular they hated the most. I happened to be transitioning into a point where I was exactly what they hated the most. Till this day, I’m still struggling with that. Again, my mind tortured me, telling me that I was a failure, that I was disgusting, that I was a disgrace and an outcast to society and that I needed to change. The more I changed the worse I got until I was nothing like before. I no longer longed to learn or even have a real future, I felt like I had no purpose in
I couldn’t talk to my parents because I knew they wouldn’t accept it, to be honest I really couldn’t even talk to anyone in my family because of how religious they were. I still don't feel like I’m able to talk to my family because I felt like they would never accept me for who I am. I couldn’t talk to my friends either because I didn’t really have true ones that actually cared about me. So I closed up for and continued my horrible ways until I made a friend. We became so close that as long as she accepted me then I didn’t care who else did. She helped me a lot through my changes but she still wasn’t able to help me. After a while, I realized if I wanted to be the person I needed to be I would have to do it myself, so I