Northeast Prep Narrative

February sixth was the day of my last middle school game. We were playing our rivals , Ledford middle school. The first time we played them we only lost by two points.

When I ask my friends about my most prominent feature, they always mention my “Britishness”. With my Union Jack Converses and other flag covered items, I understand why. Of course, why wouldn't they comment on that? I am proud of my birthplace, and couldn't think of a better place to call home. Yet being a foreigner, I have faced a few challenges in coming to terms with who I am. Some obstacles are more comical than others, yet they all played a part in me understanding that nationality can’t be wiped away.

“That’s so retarded”. I cannot even begin to count the number of times I have personally used or heard this phrase or word used with friends, in classrooms and in hallways. I never knew that there was a negative connotation attached to it. The word was used so loosely that parents and older siblings never thought to correct me. Funny enough, my sister adopted a baby from my aunt who was born with autism. Sweet Templar was born with autism, and my family continued to use the word “retarded” without ever considering her feelings or how it made us look to others. I think back to when we used such offense words without the thought of the after effects. Such derogatory terms as the ‘R” word has led to extreme emotional, mental and physical pain.

The June 27th, 2015 championship game for our local West Hanover baseball team, it was a beautiful day Central PA perfect for the great game of baseball. Looking back it was a day I will never forget, possibly one of the most important days of my life. We were playing our rival team the undefeated Hershey teams, us only having one lose in our regular season to the one and only Hershey team. This team was loaded with athletes their cocky attitudes. They were like the Yankees and we were the Phillies, we were the underdogs but we had a motive we had an inspiration for the win.

With one foot in Seoul and the other in Kalamazoo, I have been juggling two homes for going on seven years. For the first dozen years of my life, home was where I was born and raised—the comfortable Irwon neighborhood in a cozy apartment with my mom and dad. When I first arrived in Michigan, it took nearly a year before I accepted that an entirely new story had begun. Slowly but surely, my aunt and uncle had become substitute parents and my two little cousins were now adopted siblings.

Erik and I first met back in kindergarten playing baseball for the highly recognized Eagles organization. Erik was third base, I played shortstop, and from that point on a friendship was bonded. We both attended Cherry Hills Village Elementary School through 5th grade. Seeing how we shared all the same activities, it was hard not to become friends at such an early age. During the week we would have class, baseball or football practice, and detention. For some reason teachers and coaches were not always a fan of our jokes. As I write this, I realize my parents were probably not a big fan of them either because after 5th grade Erik went off to West Middle School (public school) and I unwillingly went off to a private middle school. From 6th

It has always been important to me to learn more about my culture. As a Latina American I take so much pride in my roots. I decided to read Latino Americans: the 500 year that shaped the Nation by Ray Suarez because I wanted to learn more about my culture and educate myself with our history. As a Puerto Rican/ Cuban young girl growing up in the South Bronx I learned that Latino’s value family and traditions. Growing up I identified more with my Puerto Rican culture. Despite the similarities between the two cultures there are many attributes that make them distinct. For instance, the importance of learning the Spanish dialect was a value for my Puerto Rican side of the family as opposed to the Cuban side. As a child/ teen I didn’t understand why my mother who is a Nuyorican cared more about me learning Spanish than my father who is Cuban and

The summer of my freshman year I had gotten into my first high school fight. This kid that was on the football team did not like me and he wanted to fight me but I did not like to fight. I was called many names for not fighting him during the school year. I saw him in the summer and he yelled my name and called me a “wetback” . After hearing that I ran to him and got in his face and told him lets fight so we did. I knocked him out so bad that he was out cold for at least thirty seconds. When I knocked him out I instantly knew that this was not the answer and I should be ashamed of myself. When he called me a “wetback” I felt inferiors even though it was not true. From that day forward I consider myself a lover not a fighter.

“Okay students the eog’s are in 4 weeks!” said MS. Casey. I wasn’t worried at all. I knew I was going to ace this, for sure! One thing, MS. Casey doesn’t. Ever since my dad joined the army, we’ve been moving around the whole United States. I was never able to make friends, if I did, we’d always moved a month or so later. I stayed quiet, and people didn’t want to be friends with quiet people. Since I was shy and quiet the teacher thought I was dumb even though I wasn’t.

In The Things They Carried, a collection of stories written by Tom O’Brien, the narrator is forced to choose between his morals and the future of his life.In the summer of 1968, the narrator received the notice that he was drafted to service in the war. “[He] was too good for this war”(39), he was Phi Beta Kappa, class president and had a scholarship to Harvard, but that didn’t make a difference. None of those things could have saved him from a war in which he did not believe in. The only way which he could save himself would be to create a lie. The importance of honesty

The Langdon family, as Some Luck envisions them, serve as an emotional ambassador for the thousands of Iowa farm families like them. Their story with its emphasis on the everyday and the incremental changes in Midwestern life, is something millions of Americans today both inside and out of the borders of the Midwest can relate to on an emotional level as the story of their own ancestors. Smiley chooses to examine changes in Midwestern life, not through the lenses of statistics, great men, cataclysmic events or lingering effects, but by invoking her imagination of how change was experienced as it occurred. She succeeds at conveying a truth in fiction, representative of thousands of truths in fact which will never be discovered.

During the 1980s, six million immigrants from Latin America and Asia immigrated to California. This, in effect, had a great impact upon the development of cities, such as my hometown, Rowland Heights, which has a predominantly Asian American and Latino community. For instance, if you drive down Colima Road, you are greeted by a row of ethnic stores and restaurants that proudly display their names in their own language. Three years ago, I read an article about Monterey Park revising an ordinance that would make the use of Latin characters on signs mandatory, which caused anger in the community due to its similarity to an issue from the 1980s. I remembered this story when I noticed that many signs in Rowland Heights showcased foreign languages.

“Buzz buzz” I checked my phone to read the words “Indy Screampark?” It was from Emma Farr. I quickly typed “Negative!” I soon realized I was in a group text when what seemed to be 100 people texting at once, but was really only 4 people, were saying “Please Kerrigan go.” I really did not want to go because of my last experience there.

Academic texts can often shine a light on many philosophical questions. Plato’s Apology is a text that encompasses this light. While reading I often thought of an experience that happened to me in my seventh grade year. I learned three major things while reading this play, the first was being completely honest in the face of trial secondly, I learned about taking a stand for what you believe. Finally, I learned that defending yourself is important. I often learn through texts by comparing them to my own life, In Plato’s Apology I was able to do just that.

In "Some Dealerships ' Throwback Culture Lets Problems Continue," the writer reveals harassment and discrimination in some dealerships ' ' culture. People in the dealer shop keep mispronounced a young man of Middle Eastern descent by the name of Kamel. After several humiliations, Kamel quit the job. Furthermore, the writer highlights some dealer shop 's customers ' ' race prejudices such as all black people have bad credit.