Peter slammed his office door and ruptured another splinter on its face like the thousands that plagued it. His shaky hands fixed three locks across the door that jarred into their familiar cradles. He dragged his chair through the cracked grooves in the floorboards and collapsed into it with a sigh. The paperwork on his desk was minimal. It was the nightmare garden he tended to every night once the children were dreaming, and his wife curled against her own skin, embraced by icy cotton sheets. Better.…
Sherlock flopped down, in his armchair, a scowl adorning his lips. He was bored and it bloody showed. “God! I’m so bloody bored!”, the curly, raven haired, male shouted before he jumped up and grabbed the gun from the side table, raised it up and pulled the trigger. Bang! Bang! Bang!…
I am a Jew! Due to that very important fact, some parts of my life were harder than it would have been if I was a Christian or Catholic. But using my faith in myself and my religion I was able to persevere myself. A good quote that describes myself is from a Kelly Clarkson song “What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, Stand a little taller, Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone”. I always think of that song whenever something bad happens that makes me question myself, my friends, or my beliefs. I believe that simple words and beliefs don’t define a person, but their actions towards others do.…
“Wow! I did not know there were black Americans”. During the month I was in China, I heard this or a variant of it jokily said to me numerous times. I never took offense to it since I understood most of the media from America that came to China featured individuals who did not look like me. Furthermore, for those Americans who had come to China, they were mostly white and had come for business. While in China, I was able to share my experience as an African-American; I always found enjoyment sharing my experiences and it seemed to me those around me found enjoyment learning about a different side of America. With me sharing my experiences, they were being able to understand the diverse nature of the United States.…
It was a beautiful day in April, 1963, and in a store downtown there was an argument going on.…
I am Puerto Rican, or, as my family constantly reminds me, "boriqua". As a result, I grew up learning two languages; English and Spanish. However, ever since I have attended school I have lost much of my Spanish. Unlike the other kids who cried and clung to their moms, I was very enthusiastic about starting school. I think the enthusiasm came from my parent's encouragement to learn, as well as their assurance that they'd be there at the end of the day to pick me up and take me back home.…
Warm dim lights bounced around the inside of a classroom like air molecules inside a hot air balloon. It was different outside. Crystal clear rain drops fell from the sky endlessly. The reason why we had recess inside instead of outside. Sitting with friends in a circle, we played with lego blocks while building the most breathtaking structures.…
Haven’t you ever wondered how it feels to be discriminated or what goes through their mind? Well it has happened to me many times, and as well to those who are like me. Every time someone saw me they would assume what I was. I felt like I wasn’t what I was. I now know that I am who I was meant to be.…
I had a lot of failures in my short lifetime. Some of the failures I have done have done a lot of…
When I was much younger, I had the opportunity to live in rural Georgia. While living there I had the assumption, since I had medical insurance everyone else does too. During this time I made some friends of which I had learned their family did not have health insurance. This raised my awareness of various topics. The first was not everyone is the same and not everyone has what you have. Looking back after reading and the live classroom, I realize having health insurance was a privilege, and in my case could be considered an unearned privilege. This is due to the fact my health insurance, which was earned by my father who was serving in the US Air Force, was given to me because I was his dependent. Listening to the live classroom, I came across some similarities as my classmates.…
When you look at me you might think I’m tough. You might think I’m not smart.…
For the once isolated immigrant from the hot deserts of the Middle East, never have I expected the open doors of opportunity at my grasp and the growth that soon followed within the freshman year of high school in the US. Before my immigration, I never truly experienced the challenge of a demanding curriculum. As such, I experienced an immense culture shock within my mind. Despite the difficulty of the transition, I knew it was worth it because I discovered an aspect of myself that remained dormant till I entered the gates of my new school.…
When we’re kids, we don’t have a single worry in the world. Our priorities are going to school and getting along with the rest of the kids on the playground. We don’t have to worry about taxes, or being judged (for the most part), paying bills, etc. So when do we reach the point where the real world comes in and kicks us in the behind? When do we come to realize who we really are and what our position is in this world? For me, the real world introduced itself at a very young age. And unfortunately I didn’t really understand what was going on at the moment. But for my parents, the situation was quite clear. I became a victim of bullying and racist comments.…
Assassinations, espionage, shoot-outs, and defusing bombs - these are activities that the common public typically associate with the United States Intelligence Community. I have a future career goal of working for the FBI or the CIA, which are agencies catalogued under the intelligence community. However, I aspire to work in a more mundane capacity than the typical field-agent stereotype. I want to work in an American intelligence agency as a forensic accountant. The path needed to get from my current position in life to my desired goal requires education. Education, in turn, requires financial support to complete and brings me to this particular point of applying for scholarships.…
My first awareness of race was when I saw some kid who looks completely different from me. He had completely different skin tone, and in many aspects don't quite look like myself. When I was in China, many of my classmates and peers were all look the same, but different in our own ways. That was the world to me until first grade, the first time of my life to see someone who is another race. He was an Irani. Even though he can speak fluent mandarin, I can tell he is different from us. That was when I first truly aware of race, besides from TV.…