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…
Have you ever had a reoccurring challenge in your life? The one that sticks out the most is my challenge to still get on and ride with my knee. Every time I ride it could be my last. I still get back on every time though.…
Over the course of my long life (or lives depending on how you look at it) I have been known by many names. And not all of them translate exactly. My latest and last one is Gracen. I do not know how old I am, nor do I really care. All that matters is that I get two square meals a day and a warm bed at night. An occasional pet behind the ears is nice too. It’s times like this, late at night in my bed, when I reminisce back to where it all began.…
As an avid reader, I always understood and appreciated what it took to get that story to print. Especially since I always found it so difficult to take the ideas from head and articulate that point whether it be written or verbal. As the five weeks have passed I am becoming more aware of what my challenges and my strengths are in my writing.…
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…
I used to live my life in fear. With every step I took, I felt like I was disappointing someone, somewhere, whether it be my family or some stranger I saw walking down the halls. My existence was one big failure, and I never really understood why I expected so much of myself.…
Throughout the years, billions of individuals have inhabited the Earth, each with their own lives and their own particular choices. With every choice made, these individuals have started to compose their legacy, which is the exemplification of who they are and what they have accomplished. I, like the majority of the rest of the world, am starting to leave a legacy as well, and plan to continue and enhance it along the shining stone path known as my life.…
Personal background starts off small, it changes and grows over time into something big, it grows into an identity. Walking down the hallway at school, seeing someone standing alone, my first instinct is to make conversation, compliment, or even just smile at him or her. This instinct came from someone once telling me an act so small could turn a person's entire life around. As a kid, reading encyclopedias about random topics, consumed my time. Many days were spent coming home to find an injured wild animal in my dad's arms waiting to be saved. My dad would sit outside and draw animals, trees, and anything else he saw. Nothing excited me more than trying to draw whatever my dad drew, and as good as he did. Any assignment that was handed to…
Ever since I was born, I was a military brat. Not knowing where to call home, or if any place could be home, I moved. I moved six times, four of those places were towns that nobody could think about. Germany, North Carolina, Alaska, North Carolina, Germany, and Alaska, yet no place to call home. May 22, 1999, my first day on this world; Kronach hospital had its first American baby in their hands, yet they acted like I was a different species. The only event I remember was when I was about one. While I was one, I grabbed everything in my reach, even a grill handle. As a baby, I did not know that the handle was moving, the grill top had smashed my thumb. Ever since that event, I now have a starfish mark on the side of my right thumb from where the stiches were.…
Growing up with divorced parents from two radically different cultures was at first difficult. My mother’s family was from Peru, while my father’s was from Bangladesh. In my young mind, there was an internal struggle with what my identity actually consisted of. I wasn’t wholly from one culture or the other, and felt like a black sheep when interacting with either side of my family. Due to this, I attempted to keep these cultures partitioned. At the time, they were different portions of my life that simply couldn’t intermix. This mentality in turn led me to foolishly shy away from my joint heritage. I kept myself enclosed in a box, blind to the beauty of my surrounding culture. However, as time progressed, I knew I had to make a change in my understanding.…
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…
Who am I? That has always been an essential question for as long as I can remember. I never really understood why we had to answer that question along the way, but I’m now a senior at SJPII and I still have no idea who I am. It really bothers me that for 16 years I still haven’t figured out who I am. Constantly going from class to class and making new friends I still can’t pin point who the “real” me is.…
Learning from mistakes is a key part of life. I myself have had to learn from my mistakes. Over the summer I cut my foot outside. I spent the whole night in the worst hospital, then I got 18 stitches in the bottom of my foot. It also set back my ability to play football. My mistake was going outside without shoes, now I wear my shoes all the time.…
Unfortunately, if one lives long enough tragedy will strike. Suffering and unhappiness can come in the forms of physical, emotional, or both types of pain. In my case tragedy occurred when my friend Josh died. He had been working on an old house and something from the walls had got in his lungs and he died shortly after they found it. Josh was one of my good friends and everyone missed him. He was the youth minister at our church and it really affected us. Our church was never the same after josh died he was a really good friend. His daughter was born after his death. As a result i have become more aware to not take things for granted.…
I need to write down my confession. Not the story I told the my lawyer, the judge, the jury or even my own family. It's nothing like the embellished slander written in the headlines. No, I need to confess the truth. The real story of why I'm serving life.…