Personal Narrative: Growing Up In Jackson Heights

For many, hearing the neighborhood, Jackson Heights conjures up visions of an up and coming neighborhood in Queens known as a true melting pot of different cultures. My family is no exception. Being from a first-generation immigrant family, I have witnessed poverty firsthand as nine of my family members, including myself tried to live comfortably with just as much room as sardines in a pack. It all started with a family getaway, I thought I had known what living in poverty feels like growing up in Jackson Heights. However, after visiting Mancora, Peru it seemed like everything I had thought I understood had vanished. After our trip, my family and I were in utter shock of the poverty in Peru and the shackle town Mancora was. After seeing
During the summertime, I tend to visit my aunt and Danny often and we tend to go out as Danny’s favorite season is summer. Seeing the birds flying across the sky over the deep green trees and the squirrels maneuvering themselves throughout the bright-colored flowers make his face light up with happiness. My aunt loves seeing her son grinning from ear to ear, but at times, she is unable to take him out mainly because she’s too weak to carry him down the stairs to the sidewalk to place him in his stroller. Although Danny enjoys strolling down the block during the summer his favorite activity is getting wet by a cold splash of water droplets coming from his backyard sprinkler, the closest Danny can get to experiencing swimming. One of the most heartbreaking moments I experience with Danny is seeing the face of sadness that casts over his face as we go to the beach or any water park because he knows he’s not like other kids. The constant struggle I see in my cousin’s face is what motivates me to maintain my 95 average and work harder to allow for my average to keep rising to succeed in being able to help people like my cousin