Personal Narrative: Growing Up In A Different Culture

Growing up in a household with a different culture was very arduous for me until I perceived it as a creative blessing and the most character-building thing I’ve dealt with in my life. I spent half of my childhood being ashamed of my ethnicity and the other half being fine with it, but not giving it too much thought. My family was from Kingston, Jamaica so I really didn’t understand that much of the United States because my parents were somewhat learning about the country too. Having to grow up in a strict household was very challenging for me also because anything I did, I’d doubt myself, which made me feel like i was wrong all the time and I know I’ll be punish for it.
It was hard to have guidance on what steps to take to become the person I want to be, I had to look to other places for answers, such as the Internet or teachers from my schools. I always felt like I had to do two times the work just to amount to my peers because of my background and not having typical guidance from my parents. Not to be mistaken, my parents really did attempt to make me into the person I am today, but they wouldn’t understand the standards in this country; they just wanted the best
for me.
Attending a school in Baltimore City was life-changing experience because before, I thought having to fit in and be like the others would let me achieve in life and live the American dream. I would always hear “Education is very significant. Your education is the only thing that can raise you to the same level as an person that is born in America. You can’t never fail in education”, but I never understood why I had to be on “the same level as an person who is born in the U.S.” I learned that it was better to be different from everyone else, as my peers weren’t as interested in their education.
At the same time, my background made me who I am today.
I learned to overcome obstacles because I had so many cultural barriers to fitting in, and by observing the challenges my parents endured coming into a new country. I learned to work hard because my parents were strict on me. I learned independence because I couldn’t always ask my parents everything when they were getting to know things themselves; I learned to reach out to others. I learned to be myself and discover my own path when fitting in didn’t work. Due to my background, I want to make a difference by showing others that their circumstances do not define them. My first step in making this difference is to begin with myself, having acknowledged that the circumstances by which I began my education will not define how I finish this
journey