My greatest influences are my parents and my brother. My brother suffered from Guillain- Barre Syndrome when he was eight. He lived in the hospital on an artificial ventilation for 97 days and later he had to continue physical therapy for at least ten years as he was completely paralyzed. My parents and my brother devoted their few years completely for his treatment. Today, my brother is a successful engineer working in the bay area. I learned that with dedication, determination and diligence we can achieve our dream in life…
Unlike most people there was no single event that marked my transition into adulthood. For me, it was a series of events that led to my epiphany that my childhood was over.…
She was born on a busy summer night on September 13th 1918 in Brookline, Massachusetts. I always had the feeling that Rosie was a little different from the rest of us. On the day of her birth the midwife arrived late, and my theory is that this action deprived her brain of oxygen. We were proven right when she failed to advance from kindergarten and was deemed to suffer from intellectual disabilities. When this happened our parents began to conceal their third child from society.…
Growing up homeschooling, I wanted to break the typical homeschool stereotype kid. I had friends, I went to camps, and I joined many events. However, I had an introvert personality. And often times my friends neglected my existence because of my silence during their conversation; they went out with their classmates from school, leaving me unaccompanied and forgotten back in the corner. At camp, I ate my lunch alone, spent free time alone, and sat in the back alone. Not because I wanted to isolate myself from people, but the circle of people pushed me out the circle whenever I tried to join a crowd. I could not fit in.…
I learned a lesson all the way back in first grade, and that lesson has stuck with me ever since. I was coming in from recess, and I was talking to a friend of mine off to my left. Unfortunately, I was not watching where I was going. I kept barely taking glances of what was in front of me, and that was a huge mistake. Someone was running behind me, and wasn’t watching where they were going either. As I approached the building I heard yelling, but thought nothing of it. After all, recess had just finished, so obviously kids would be yelling, right? It turns out some kids had been playing tag, and decided to play until they got inside. One that was still running away, because God forbid he’d be “it,” was Nick.…
We all can't wait to grow up when we're young. The world is filled with all this possibility and wonder. I've been told ever since I was little that the world is my oyster; in other words, the world was completely opened to me and I could be anything I put my mind to. So I just couldn't wait to grow up. Being an adult seemed awesome and I wanted to skip over the kid stage and get to my life, start living and taking care of myself. I thought I knew it all and I was ready to prove it. I had this idea, this grand picture that I had painted in my mind of life and how it should turn out. I thought I knew it all, until the day that suddenly I didn't. They tell you to be careful what you wish for because you just might get it. Life decided it was…
As most children grow up, they are aware of their surroundings and take in everything they can understand which adds to their personality and their structure of life. As a child I developed at a level more advanced than the children around me. I learned to use a computer at the age of 3 years old. I read at an 8th-9th grade level while in the 5th grade. In addition, I could handle complex situations better than a average elementary student. The mindset I had as a child unlocked new doors for me. For example, I was not afraid to try new things and accept the lessons that came along with new opportunities. Also, I learned from my parents that going down the path of success isn’t always easy. Lastly, I experienced that life is filled with…
My mother, “Regina Hopkins,” has been a positive influence in my life. She has raised 6 kids all by herself as well as earned a Bachelor’s degree in nursing from a City College in Gainesville, Florida. My mother has been through pretty much everything a person can go through outside of war and was still able to be there and provide for all 6 of her kids. In high school, my mother wanted to play football and couldn't because she was a girl and back-in-the-day women were not allowed to play football with the guys. However, she remained strong by raising 6 kids and independently took care of all of us on her own. My mother has several qualities that I would love to develop. The first quality she has is balance; she certainly knows how to make…
Have you ever had to let go of someone who you loved? We decided to go on a picnic at my aunt lisa's house one summer day of pizza and lemonade in her backyard with my brother and my sister and my dad and my mom and my grandpa me my brother and sister were playing on a slip and slide my dad and grandpa were watching tv and after playing on the slip and slide i ate some pizza and my aunt said that she needed to use the john when she came back she was not the same because she was moving in her chair a weird way then she was letting off a weird stench than her eyes rolled up in her head i could only see white in her eyes i tried shaking her than i started to cry and scream to my mom she called an ambulance and that was the first time i rode…
Ten years old is rough for kids, but what happened to me made those pre-teen years even worse. My parents had been divorced for two years when the unthinkable happened, my dad announced he was getting remarried. I was introduced to the woman named Melissa and her daughter Audrey, but I was unaware that the joining of the two families would impact my life forever. Though the road was not easy, Melissa helped me discover who I was meant to be, and the things she taught me affect me everyday.…
Growing up, most of the children I knew would go to church on Sunday’s, visit their grandparents’ house to bake cookies after school, and have milk and cereal for breakfast every morning. But I had never set foot inside of a religious building, couldn’t even speak the same language as my grandmothers, and ate congee with fermented soy beans like it was the most natural thing in the world. My little town where I’d grown up, made friends, and built memories was, to say the least, completely un-diverse.…
The day I was completely looking forward to finally came. I was so excited. So ready. But also very nervous. The day I finally got my permit.…
Most children develop pretty similarly. They are born, they learn to crawl then walk and then run. My life didn’t start that way. I was born in February of 1994 in Redwood City, California to two loving parents. My parents were in their late twenties when they had me and were anxious to start a family. They had been married for seven years by the time I was born so I was brought into a very stable environment. Although my mother had taken good care of herself throughout her pregnancy, my health upon birth was not what they expected it to be. My mother recalls seeing me for the first and asking the nurse what was on my back. It was soon realized that I had a closed meingocele on the lower section of my back meaning that I had Spina Bifida.…
Growing up can be challenging even with the ideal surroundings. Your teen years are even more puzzling because you seem to be stuck in between being a child and an adult. Throw in not having a father or mother around and life gets difficult. The year 2001 was a difficult year for my family and the nation. My life growing up wasn’t picture perfect, but in one very long month I learned that kindness from those around will help you endure and survive.…
Throughout my life I have encountered many circumstances that have shaped me into the person I am today. I was born in Moroleon, Guanajuato, Mexico. I attended school in Mexico all the way to second grade. In the summer of 2006 I moved to Cumming, Georgia. It was the hardest thing to do because I left everything that I care the most about. We lived in a trailer which was not the nicest place and in the middle of the forest. I started school at the beginning of August. I had always loved school so I was so excited for the first day. I knew it was going to be hard because I would have to conquer so many obstacles on the way. At this time the only English I knew was probably counting from one to ten and some of the colors. My Father knew some…