Personal Narrative: Growing Up In Middle School

I had the grand honor of being born into a culturally diverse family. Although Dominican culture dominates our customs, we are 25% Middle Eastern from Lebanon, and 25% Spanish from Barcelona, Spain.The cultures have all laced into each other in such a way that I find it utterly ordinary to eat Arabic food while listening to Dominican music while serving Spanish desserts. My parents came to America at around the age that I am now, met each other, and my mom had my first sister at 18 while my father was 22. My mom went back to high school to finish her GED while my father enrolled in an institution that he never got around to finishing because his english was not well. My parents never got the opportunity to further their education because they had my sisters and I at such an early age. My parents have worked since the day they stepped foot in New York precisely so that I could get the prestigious education that they had always longed for. My parents separated when I was eight years old and my father was never really around after; as a

Anisha Reid, a twenty-three year old, African American woman, born July 30, 1992 and raised up north in Trenton, New Jersey to Tina and Richard. The youngest of thirteen children. Graduated high school from Trenton Central High School in June 2010. Presently enrolled at the University of West Georgia to obtain a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing.

Starting middle school challenges any kid transitioning into a teenager. Simple small changes like going from cubbies to lockers excite students. Bigger changes like transitioning from one all day class to six individual classes and pluses and minuses to letter grades can leave some students shell-shocked with new responsibilities. I remember the struggle I had keeping up with all of this in my first year. I found social studies homework especially difficult for me. I went to class and didn’t give the course work my best effort. As a result, my grades slipped to the point that I had failing grades in a few classes. I didn’t know what to do, and didn’t really want to do anything about it. I was drowning in a pool of laziness. One evening, I nearly began trembling when my mother decided she wanted to check my grades.

Gendler, A. (2015, March 17). Plato's Allegory of the Cave. Retrieved September 12, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RWOpQXTltA

My family has always been the center of my universe. They’ve taught me the importance of being united and taking care of one another—because in the end, all we truly have is each other. My parents have raised me to be a good daughter, sister, and citizen. They’ve shaped me to be respectful, responsible, and virtuous, knowing these values will last a lifetime. But above all, my parents have instilled in me an appreciation and eagerness for education.

I have never been a perfect student. I have had many shortcomings and struggles throughout my middle school years. Regardless of that, I’ve always tried to be the best student I could be. The thing that got me into trying even harder to maintain my grades was not my parents, but the stress that I had piled onto myself. Yes, my parents wanted me to achieve excellent grades, but it was mostly me who put the pressure on myself. Sometimes I would stay up late to finish an assignment and other times I would have a panic attack because I got a B. In the beginning of 8th grade I had so much pressure on myself that my parents decided I need to see a therapist. I even let friendships suffer for my grades, although I’ve stopped the habit. However,

Many immigrants came to this land of prosperity and the land of freedom to give their kids a better life and education. “ I brought you to this country now, do something with it.” (from the article The American Dream Lives On by Yasmina Shaush). I understood this quote because my parents also brought my siblings and myself to get a better education and I plan to do so, to make them proud.

In a family there are many different roles; there's the role of the mother, the father, the child, the grandparents, then there’s the brothers and sisters. Every single one of those roles has different responsibilities. The father, according to most of society, is supposed to be the breadwinner for the family. However, nowadays the mother is actually quite capable of being the breadwinner just as much of as the father. As they work to show their children what it is to be an adult they are teaching them as well on how to be an active member of society. As a child we watch our parents and we learn from them. We learn how to cook, how to clean, how to raise children, how to do right from wrong, how to work, how to do things we don't want to, how to be happy, how to have fun, and many more things.

My parents moved from Colombia to the United States before I was born. I am apart of the first generation in my family that was born here. My parents moved with the single hope of giving me a better life with more opportunities. Having this background has definitely impacted my life in both trivial and meaningful ways. For instance, my father not being able to break through the language barrier has been an integral part of my lifestyle. He has been living in this country for a while now, but has never picked up English fluently. This led me to become his translator for as long as I can remember. Even today I accompany him to his workplace to help close deals and talk to contractors. This was but one of many examples of how my Hispanic background

The first day of middle school for me was both terrifying and exciting. I made a lot of new friends within the year. I remember the first day very well. I had woke up at 5;30 a.m. I was extremely tired. All i wanted was to throw my alarm clock across the room and sleep for the rest of the day. I could smell my mom making breakfast, it was pancakes my favorite. I finally got up after smelling that. While I was getting ready, was kinda excited to be in the sixth grade. I was finally in middle school. However, I was also extremely scared. I was thinking about how my classes would go? Are my teachers nice? Am I gonna have classes with my friends? After I ate breakfast, I got in the car with my mom and met up with my best friend Kalliee so we could at least walk in together because we didn 't have any classes together.

So far, my life has been full of change. I was born in, India, and moved around for many of the early years of my life. I went from, Toronto, Dayton, Cincinnati, Wheaton, and finally, Elk Grove Village, in a six-year span of my life. These formative years were great for me because my parents always pushed me to do my best. Academically, I was pushed into performing the best I could such as trying my best in English class even though it was a struggle in the beginning. Socially, I was pushed into situations that I had to adapt to, such as changing schools every couple years. I was also pushed physically into trying everything I could possibly be comfortable with to see what I enjoy doing. These challenges helped form who I am and pushed me to

It is difficult to calculate how greatly the status of being undocumented has impacted my life. I was ten years old when my family and I immigrated to the United States. My parents have worked multiple jobs so my siblings and I could have a chance at a better future than they did. Even after thirteen years in the U.S. – I still overhear my parents’ conversations about deportations. Like many other undocumented immigrants, I was living in the shadows and living in constant fear of deportation. I was afraid, but thought that if I studied hard enough, I could become an exception. As a result, my strong work ethic became a personal quality that is important to me.

An accomplishment that saw me transition from childhood to adulthood was when I got my Eagle Scout award. Since the award occurred so close my eighteenth birthday and I had been working on it for so long. This accomplishment allowed me to look back on my childhood and reflect on everything that I had had to do to earn this award but more importantly reflect on what I had learned in my travel through scouting. This was not only a growing up process for me but for my community and family.

My family is very inspiring to me. I am very thankful that my parents brought me into this world. Growing up my parents always showed me how exactly things work in life. One of the hardest things that I had to accept was that I could not have everything I wanted. There were times when my parents spoiled me but I was always taught to be thankful of the things that I had and to not be so selfish. Having two other siblings helped me prevent the want of being selfish. I do not know what I would do without my family. My family is very inspiring because they show me all aspects on how I should live my life through their experiences like education, parenting, and work ethic.

Ever since I can remember, I have always wanted to be successful in life. I have always wanted to be the better version of my parents and achieve many things in life. During my freshman year in High school, I knew I was going to major in business. I come from a household of five, my father, mother, two younger sisters, and myself. I am the first in my family to go to college and with that being said, I have always felt the pressure to be the best role model and example for my younger sisters. Growing up, my parents have always been really strict on me, more than they have been with my younger sisters. I never really understood why, until now two months after my fathers’ death. My fathers’ dream was always to see his three daughters graduate with a college degree. Both of my parents, especially my father always expressed to me the importance my education, for my future. He always told me to never depend on anyone, to work hard for myself and with a diploma I could achieve lots of success.