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…
The steam from his drink coated his glasses, and behind the mug I could see a toothless smile and a dark shiny grey beard. He gestured for my dad and I to come in. I stepped my way up into the overcrowded room full of mustard yellow couches. Not only did the place looked run down, and about to fall apart but, the place smelled like the worst mixture of rotten foods you could imagine. My dad and I’s facial expressions to each other said it all about this place. Once we had found our way, we filled out some application forms. During the process, I stood beside my dad, searching to find another girl taking the class. I looked forever only to find that there were no other girls…
As the ear screeching streak of masking tape was stretched across the large U-Haul box, Ava Bibergal situated the last item from the place she collected her college memories into the trunk of her parent’s car. With the end of her undergraduate career Bibergal is saying goodbye to her life of professors, papers, and the prospering spirit of Chicago as she moves back home with her parents to Cedar Rapids, Iowa.…
What do you see when you look in the mirror? Are you pleased, or do you immediately come up with an endless list of insecurities? As a child one of my favorite memories was laying around the house with my older sister on rainy days. We would leave the windows open so we could hear the rain coming down on the tin roof over our patio, while watching reruns of our favorite tv show “America's Next Top Model”. I always thought that these women were gorgeous and I would catch myself constantly comparing their looks to my own. I wanted to be just like them until I realized the unrealistic expectations that they had to live up to. A sizeable butt and breasts, but not too large; they have got to be proportional. A skinny waist, impeccable hair, blemish free face although even with clear skin you are expected to cake on makeup because no one is actually pretty without mile long eyelashes, the perfect smoky eye, and exemplary contouring. Society has idolized these things as “beautiful” and shamed the girls that do not meet these standards; however, society should be making everyone feel confident in their bodies. Girls need to know that it is okay not to have an “hourglass figure” so they don’t…
My heart raced from the ridiculous amount of coffee I had consumed that morning. I tentatively stepped into the dark, empty classroom and took a seat in the second row. As an English major, I resented the fact that I was required to take US History 201. I disliked history, and I heard rumors that my professor, Dr. Grimm, was a tough grader. The only contingent that caused me to feel slightly happy was the fact that I would be in the same class as Hannah Colasurdo, my longtime best friend. I had known Hannah since I was ten years old, and she had been there for me though my best and worst moments. Little did I know that this history class would cause me to fall to one of the lowest points of my entire life.…
I don’t know how to begin to define myself in order for you to understand who I truly am. I believe there is more to a person than stories that mould us into who we are today; like when one asks, “Tell me your story," I don’t think about that time when my family broke into two or that time I was diagnosed with my mental illnesses. I think of coffee, because coffee is bitter and bitter people drink coffee, sad people; people with heavy hearts and heavy footsteps, with tangled thoughts, people with anxiety and words left unspoken, people like me. Lonely people drink coffee. I think of the world map I have in my room with thumbtacks marking every country I want to visit. I think of foreign languages, and how beautiful it sounds when words form…
There has been many cases in which I have helped an outsider feel welcome. One time in particular is when I played tag with this little boy at church since he was new and no one else played with him. Originally, I was outside eating candy and talking to my friends at church. I noticed that this little boy was standing all alone watching all the other little kids play without him. I thought that maybe he was upset so I went over to him and asked if he wanted the rest of my gummy worms. He seemed nervous at first, but eventually he started talking to me. I learned that he was five years old and he was visiting his grandparents for the weekend. His older brother was outside playing basketball with some of the other older boys at the church, and…
Moving on is easy but what you leave behind is what makes it hard. Once you get to a certain age in your life you know you have to move on sometime. I know times are hard but you have to push yourself toward what you really want in life even if it means moving away from what you love.…
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…
My story beings like any other, at the moment I took my first breath on July 30th 1998 in Bilisht, Albania. I was born in a small town in the lower region of Albania where my entire family lived with my grandparents under one household. My parents soon came to the realization that the current living situation was incongruous for a new family, such as ours, to thrive. As the result, my parents chose to apply for the government program granting our family access to move into a completely new society with new laws, regulations, political aspects and that was tens of thousands of miles away. Our family, at that instant, had a struck of luck as my mother’s name was drawn for us to move to the greatest country the United States of America.…
American climate scientist, Mark Caine, exclaims, “The first step toward success is taken when you refuse to be a captive of the environment in which you first find yourself”. Beginning my high school career, I thought high school would be an easy transition because I was accustomed to getting good grades in grammar school, so I did not put as much of an effort as I could have in my studies. The first biology test arrived, and I thought I was knowledgeable on the subject matter so I briefly looked over the material. Approximately a week later I got my test back and I was not satisfied with my grade. That happened for most of my first tests in each of my classes. I learned I would not be satisfied with my grades if I continued to keep those…
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…
I mostly just hang out with friends and do fun and trouble stuff at night time, on a school day I am only home when I wake up and when I get back from school, I go hangout for like 4-5 hours so I am barely home and it is the same for the weekends too except I a, out for like 6-8 hours. I like to ball up with friends and sometimes play strangers and sometimes I end up becoming friends with them.…
Traveling into the Indian Territory, we were being angrily chased down by three Indians furiously shouting at us. Dashing through the thick forest, the savage Indians were throwing spears and shooting arrows that narrowly missed us. Although neither Gideon nor I was mortally injured, I did suffer from a nick from an arrow piercing near my ear. Thankfully, a group of burly fur traders approached from the side, which frightened the Indians to run away. Acknowledging that Gideon and I were inexperienced travelers in the west, they offered us protection in exchange for some valuable possessions. As a consequence, knowing that they were our best alternative for survival, we gave them our antique gold pocket watches and assumed the identities of novice fur traders. From that point on, we followed them through the west and adopted their skills for efficiently hunting animals and keeping warm in the harsh, cold weather. During one of our rest points, we approached a large Cherokee settlement located in Park Hill in which our group leader was friends with the Cherokee leader John Ross.…
Most teenagers do not have a clue about what they want to be when they grow up. Most young adults also do not know where their path is in life. Even some full-blown adults are still trying to figure out their purpose. I was lucky. I knew exactly where I belonged from about the time I was seven up until now, at the decently young age of nineteen. I do not see my path changing anytime soon; in fact, I know it will never change. But, I did not just wake up one day as a child and know what my path was, while that would be impressive. Defining moments in one’s life defines who they are. There were lots of things I experienced in my life that made me realize my purpose, my absolute passion. I had four of these defining moments in my short span of…