Personal Narrative: Growing Up In Chicago

I have lived in East Oakland my whole life. To the majority of people, the mention of East Oakland evokes thoughts of violence, shootings, and gangs. I was one of the people who believed in these stereotypes, and for a particularly long time. I was one of the people who saw Oakland as a wasteland, a place with nothing to offer me, and a place I had nothing to offer to.

Growing up in America and having a parent from another country comes with many perks and stories. In case you haven't read the title or wondering which parent is from another country; My father is from a small island in Central America named Belize. To give you the brief history about Belize, Belize first inhabitants were the Mayans from the beginning of time until the fourteenth century due to them mysteriously declining in population. The Mayans had a huge roll in the Central American countries. This due to the fact that they developed the idea of hieroglyphics, which back then was the only fully known writing system of the pre-Columbian Americas-as well as for its mathematics, astronomical system, art, calendar, and architecture. By the

Like the classic saying has it “You can take the kid out of Brooklyn but you can’t take the Brooklyn out of the kid.” Same goes for Chicago this is my story. I was born in the windy city, on the south side. I wasn’t there for that long I was there till my fifth birthday, and then I moved to Boston, Ma with my mother, sister and I. However, I believe that south side raised me because every winter and summer vacation I would visit my grandmother or as she liked to be called “Mo-Mo” While visiting her I’ve seen some pretty harsh situations. Let’s just say living on south side is pretty tough it really like a jungle; I see the way family and old family friends live. South side Chicago has taught me to never trust clowns, watch my back, don’t stay out to late, and NEVER trust anyone other than your “gang”/ family and to not smile to much it’s a sign of weakness.

Growing up in Detroit Michigan I learned early in life that it is important to strive to do your best. As a child I wondered how life would be once I grew up. Moreover, I dreamed about the destinations that I wanted to travel to, the career that I want to pursue after graduating from college. I knew that the life that my parents lived was not for me.

Throughout my childhood growing up in Miami Fl, was an amazing experience, it’s unique variety of cultures spread through one city is absolutely mind blowing. Although there was one thing one my mind at all times. One thing I never experienced was living out west and getting away from the Miami life. Its kind of hard to believe someone would prefer living out west, in the middle of nowhere than along a beach shoreline. As a matter of fact, living out west had become one of my priorities when I was making my college decision. For some odd reason I have at all times wanted to be near a desert or spacious land unlike Miami and that’s why this picture really has an essential meaning to myself.

What exactly is the hood? The hood is a slang term for the ghetto. Many people may associate the hood with the birthplace of criminals, people with no lives, and even what some people would call “gangsters”. From the outside looking in, one would assume the hood is a horrible place to be, and those were my exact thoughts in the beginning. Is the hood as dangerous as it is described? I never realized as a kid that I was different than everyone else who lived in my neighborhood, — different, but not better. Despite how scary it was at first, growing up in the hood caused me to appreciate life even more, and it introduced me to a new world. Its effects still stay with me today.

Growing up as a kid, I was quite the troublemaker. I would do inappropriate things at inappropriate times and it caused me to get in trouble frequently. It didn’t matter whether or not I was in or out of school, I would continue to do obnoxious things. It could range from saying offensive words, physically hurting someone, or having zero consideration for others. At that time I felt like I didn't really know a lot about the world and it caused me to do things and ask questions later. You could just chalk it up to being a kid, however, I never knew how much it would affect my life going forward. I ruined my credibility, reputation, and relationships with certain friends and teachers through my actions and some of those relationships remain the

I grew up as a military brat so being in one place for my whole childhood was not an option. I grew up in the company of my family. Mom 's southern cooking and my brothers ' destructiveness was the community I lived in. Out of all the places I have lived my three favorite are Washington, Florida, and Oklahoma.

New York, the city that never sleeps, a city diverse in all aspects of life, the city where it all started. 18 years growing up in Harlem wasn’t all it was cracked up to be especially for a young Hispanic female. Being surrounded with drugs, violence and public disobedience were some of the easiest of distractions that I encountered every day. As the years went by the number of student who learned

Growing up in California, my whole life has been around farming and like many others, it’s how I make a living. It’s now been at least a year, living through the Dust bowl and many people have migrated to California with the hope of surviving this crisis. Keeping my crops has become a struggle and that's what most people including me depend on. I am lucky enough to be able to pay my mortgages even though I’m not able to keep the land with the help of family. It’s practically impossible. Each day doesn’t seem to get better, only worse. Sunlight is almost rare, It’s as if the world is coming to end after all. I try to stay inside as often as I can because facing what’s outside is a dreadful thing but at some point of the day I’ll need to run

My feet hurt as bad as falling down the stairs because of all the walking I did in Chicago. Walking from place to place was by far the worst part of the trip. Although, it was interesting seeing all of the tall buildings up close. Chicago was interesting and I hope I come back again soon.

When I made a lucky catch, I learned what carelessness could cost you. I was around seven years old at the time, and I played baseball for Lakeview Playground. It was my first year of playing hardball, and like everyone else, I had no knowledge of what was happening. Our team name was the “Grey Sharks,” only because our jerseys were

As a young girl, around the age of 10 I lived in the Perry projects with my mother. Previously to moving there I would visit often to see my great-grandmother. When I would visit my grandmother there were not many other people that were African-American. The Commodore Perry Projects had been actually made for white people. As I grew older, that dynamic changed and so did the neighborhood. When I moved into the neighborhood, the neighborhood seemed to be much different that when I visited my great grandmother. The neighborhood was now predominantly African- American and no longer a thriving neighborhood.

Growing up I always knew my mindset was far past my years. The way my mind worked was different and older than those kids around me, so it was no surprise for me to be on my own right from the get go after turning 18. For as long as I can remember I have always done everything by myself especially school related. My parents are Hispanic and speak little English, making me the first person in my family to attend college. My parents brought me to the United States from Mexico at the age of four and I have lived in Oklahoma ever since. This is home. Being brought here as a toddler, now makes my status here in the U.S. a resident of Oklahoma thanks to the differed action known as DACA. This does put a set back on my plans to attend college because

I grew up in inner city Baltimore Maryland. Neither of my parents were or are followers of Christ. They divorced when I was very young. I spent most of my life moving from place to place with my mother and two brothers. I gave up on high school when I failed my freshmen year. I didn’t have a care in the world about anything except my own desires and needs. My mother started to get in trouble with the state of Maryland because I was not old enough to be out of school. She cut me deal by saying if I went to school until I was old enough to drop out, she would sign my drop out papers.