The village took the stranger "in," with the hospitality of a welcoming community, all went out of their way to ensure his well-being, and most of all gave him the highest honor by renewing their village in his…
As a child I have always wanted to help other people.When I was 8 my parents decided to separate. At the time, my mother decided to move my sister and I away from Chicago. My mother packed our luggage and decided to move us to Detroit. That wasnt the only time we moved, we moved four times while I was growing up, all over the country and even to another continent. Eventually we had to leave our mom in Nigeria and my sister and I went to Detroit. When we got to Detroit my aunt didn't hesitate to make us feel comfortable. It was just something about it,I still didn't feel right. I called my mother one day crying to her and explaining how we didn't like being there. After talking to her, I felt that it was time to go back to Chicago. I called my dad, (knowing I haven’t spoke/seen him for many years) and explained to him the situation on how we felt uncomfortable in Detroit.…
When I was walking into Food Lion to grab an item, I noticed an elderly woman struggling with trying to get her items to the car. At first I thought to myself how no one has helped her yet and then thought again that I should have already been there to help. My roommate noticed I ran off and she followed right behind. I then proceeded to ask the woman if she would like any sort of assistance with her groceries, the woman shook her head and said yes. This made me ecstatic that I could help and I was thrilled my roommate came over to help out as well. After we help we walked in and it made me want to go help other people with their groceries.…
Opening up to strangers from all over the world until they were no longer strangers, but rather friends changed my life. These people drew me out of my shell and helped me become the less afraid Annika that is here today. My happiness has significantly increased by their presence in my life, and their continued…
In sixth grade, I stood before a podium that stared back at my English class. This was not how I envisioned sharing my love for reading and writing; however, it was required. My palms felt sticky, and I just knew that the entire class could see my heart as it was about to hop from the walls that kept it safe. I prayed that I would not forget the lines as I recited The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. In sixth grade, reading, writing, and I started a relationship. Today, we have yet to break up.…
time for me to begin my 10 minute warming up. I move my head side to side, stretch my legs, and I begin to walk briskly. I drank my water because I need to stay hydrated. When I was ready I sprinted out like a rocket. My brother began to time me. It took me 12 minutes to finish my one mile. Once I felt that my heart was pounding, my stomach started to develop painful cramps, and my My throat was as dry as a bone. I stopped and took deep breaths in and out. I took a five minute break and finished my 3 miles by walking. Once I finished my three miles I felt proud of myself and motivated for the next days to…
Finally, when I moved to New Orleans I started volunteer work at the Children’s Hospital and helped with pop up clinics for the Latino community twice. Overall I found that helping others shouldn't be something seen as duty or mandatory, it should be spontaneous. Through others experiences and hardships we learn and grow as human beings, not only did I enjoy helping others but I felt that it helped me with my problems. Having moved around so much and meet so many people and living by myself so many years I came to truly be thankful for my blessings and specially for my hardships. Hermann Hesse once said, "I have always believed, and I still believe, that whatever good or bad fortune may come our way we can always give it meaning and transform it into something of value." Helping others made me realize that we all need help and that my way to help others would be through their health. It also taught me not to judge anybody, especially if you don't know what they have been through. I am hard believer that everything happens for a reason, and all the weekends I spend watching my parents help others helping others myself made me the determined person that I am today. Finally, the most important lesson I learned was to never give up, no matter how hard the task is or how bad the problem is there will always be someone willing to help and you can always be both sides to that, the helper or the one who needs…
I have faced many trials in my life: emotionally, mentally, and physically, etc. In my youth, my family and I moved every couple of years because my father serves in the Army. Each move introduced new challenges and adjustments. I have lived in five different states, but six different cities. I constantly had to learn how to readjust to my new environment. Moving taught me how to adapt socially , but always starting out as “the new girl” or an “outsider” was burdensome. Repeatedly leaving people I cared about hurt me emotionally, but I also knew that I couldn’t linger in my feelings or else I would miss out on other life opportunities. In order to overcome the feeling of being an outsider, I joined school clubs, participated in extracurricular activities such as soccer and track, and volunteer at church.…
My memoir is about prepping it has changed my life in many ways it all started when I was eight I thought getting some military gear would be cool so I waited until Christmas to get my stuff. But from then I just researched how to survive, tactics, good supplies, ETC. Then comes Christmas and I get my first survival supply my military grade survival bag along with a water purifier and that’s what started it. I went on with that just adding blankets canned food stuff like that until my next birthday comes since all my family knows im into that kind of stuff all I said is I wanted all survival gear. It felt like forever waiting but I finally got it a combat knife and lots of money to spend so I went to Walmart and bought just about everything…
I never would have imagined feeling like an outsider in my own home. Unfortunately I wouldn’t even go as far as considering my current home as “my home.” I live in a house with eight people and two dogs and for some, that might not even be slightly overwhelming, but for me it is. I try to keep my heart open about the situation, but I always end up feeling like I don’t belong. Given the circumstances of my situation, I would say life definitely turned out better than what I initially expected, but I was left feeling like a “stranger in a village” having to live with a family that is nothing like my own.…
Does moving to a new place change everything you ever experience? Moving to a whole new descriptive place is like being pop out of your mothers belly again. Especially, when you move to a place where the language, the food, the people, school and everything else is brand new. Those type of situations, shape your way of living in a constructive way that will affect the rest of your lifestyle. That's the same situation that made me have a life change into a whole new story. Almost 15 years ago, my mother had to make a decision that will affect her and affect the love ones around her. An option that will make her leave everything she ever loved and wanted behind forever. The option was to leave her lifestyle, her family and leave a part of her own blood made from her flesh. The own blood was me, leaving me with my grandma so she could had gone to find a job and start a new journey. To have a way to support the her baby and her own family. Departing to the U.S.A when I was only one years old. Until a sudden burdens of death that was going to make my whole story, lifestyle, my whole childhood and the rest of my life changed.…
I've always prided myself on my ability to adapt. Being optimistic and working with the cards I've been dealt, has always been my strong point. When life throws something at you knowing how to adapt to it is your best option and it affects the way you look at life.…
“Graduation, the hush-hush magic time of frills and gifts and congratulations and diplomas.” You weren’t lying when you said that Maya Angelou. May 19th, 2013 I had dreamt of that day for almost four years. I know I can’t be the only person who feel this way. I remember it as if it was just yesterday. So many different emotions going through my mind all at once. Happiness, Sadness, I felt relieved because it was almost over but at the same time I felt anxious and overly excited to just leave and go far away. 389 seniors were going to walk across the stage and receive their diplomas. After all, our class had the biggest percentage of graduates who were actually…
I have had my own experience with feeling like an outsider. I have problems with my ears, which causes me to say “what?” or “can you repeat that again?” a lot. It gets annoying and makes me self-conscience because I’m the only one of my friends that has that problem. They all talk and have fun, but I feel like I’m on the outside. Most of the time I’m lip reading to follow along with the conversation without having to ask those annoying questions. I sometimes can’t follow what they’re saying because I can’t hear them and I mix up the words. I feel this way because that’s how society has taught me to behave. Society is teaching the wrong type of behavior for everyone to…
My insider/outsider partner was Alicia Garcia. As you can tell by her last name she is Hispanic. I don’t have many Hispanic friends and I am not use to their culture. Starting on the project Alicia told me a little a bit about her heritage. One of the things I asked her was, “Do you celebrate the day of the dead?” I know that might seem like a crazy question to ask, but I the only thing that I truly knew about her culture is what I seen on TV. Alicia said that they do celebrate it to some extent. They don’t actually go to a grave site and light candles for their fallen relatives, but instead have a feast in honor of them. Alicia is the first generation American Hispanic.…