Catcher In The Rye Personal Narrative

In the iconic words of J.D. Salinger 's cynical protagonist, Holden, "the first thing you 'll probably want to know is where I was born, an what my lousy childhood was like," but my early childhood is but a faint glimmer in my past. Born in a small town in the middle of rural Kazakhstan, my early life was as unmemorable as the place of my hometown. In fact, I remember close to nothing about the first four years of my life, the oldest memory being one of my exploration of a interesting new home unlike any I had ever seen. Four-year-old me had not then realized that not only was the house my family moved into far from home, but I had also somehow traveled halfway across the world. Twelve years later, I presently refer to America as my home,

Another major source of my transformation is exhibited in years I spent trying to balance the expectations of my family, my culture, and my religion. For my family, education was the greatest opportunity for a better life in America. Therefore, it was expected of me to earn good grades in hopes that better jobs would be available in the future. Being Russian, however, challenged this progressive perspective with the role of house wife, making a comfortable home for a family in which the husband provided the bread on the table. To add to the conflicting stances, essential to my faith was a future devoted to helping others. To balance all these expectations, I have had to make an effort to find myself and explore my character so that my self-discovery could guide me to make decisions for my future. This, in turn, has matured me in ways many teens my age have not had a chance to experience. Though I don 't have a concise plan for my future, I have decided that I want to focus on receiving a education that will bring about a career involved in helping others, but is flexible enough that I can spend time with my family. I could not have set this goal for myself I had not been tested by the different components I faced in my life. It is uncertain where I would be today if I had not experienced the challenges brought upon by moving to another country or living with parents who struggled to integrate into the world around them. Through the pressure I received from all aspects of my life, like the inner core of our earth, my character has solidified into a passionate, confident, and ambitious being whose future is only viewed as successful if it involves assisting others and aiding in carrying their burdens. The inquisitive four-year-old me has grown into an ambitious young adult ready to step into the