Personal Narrative: My Life After Hurricane Katrina

Every person has their story. Good or bad no one is without a story. Ask yourself, are you afraid of your story? Have you been running from your past while chasing a better future? Once I learned to stop running from my story and embrace it instead, my life has been better. A wise woman once told me that "You have to make your future, not be afraid of it."

Growing up in New Orleans and Jackson Mississippi has taught me a lot. I lived in New Orleans for the first five years of my life. I loved it there with all my heart but at a young age I knew I wasn't in the right place. February 2005 hurricane Katrina smashed into New Orleans Louisiana. I was lucky enough to not be injured when it hit. I was also lucky enough to be put into a shelter with my family. Not old enough to be harshly affected by it I loved the shelter. Hands filled with toys distracted me from the horrors that were happening outside of the Superdome. I can never forget the man whose skin looked as if it was falling off from walking through the dirty hurricane water. He scared me so much that I had nightmares of him. As I look back on my reaction I become proud and amazed as of how my mind has matured so much. Once my

Fighting for a place in the neighborhood was only half of the battle. After becoming a part of the neighborhood, I wanted to be like my friends and wondered why I couldn't see them more often. My father protected me well, but you can only protect someone so much. I started to fall victim to the crime and bad ways of my peers. Drugs were never my thing, but I had no problem with fighting and talking back. I started to become very difficult and uncontrollable. Considering the statistics, if I would've stayed in Jackson or New Orleans I would have been 1 out of the 9 African American males that go to jail. I was becoming a statistic and I didn't even know it. My own family looked down upon me as I started to draw further and further