Personal Narrative: My Surrounding Environment

I quickly finished tying my shoe and hopped onto my purple mountain bike and we were off. Logan my brother who I love sometimes,Cassie My best friend, Easton Cassie’s brother,Sawyer Cassie’s brother, Mr. Wychers and I were going to ride our bikes through a trail off in the woods and go to Whistle stop and then cut through town and head to Houseman's. The sky was cloudy and the daylight was being blocked by a thick dark cloud, which looked a lot like a rain cloud.

This means you can succeed in anything you do. Through my past experiences, I have dealt with people that thought I couldn’t get into a university because of my racial background, coming from a low middle class family with my dad working 14 hour days and my mom as a stay at home mom. Many people, especially some family members,

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.

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

In life, you can go through a lot but only a few people actually can bounce back. In High School I’ve gone through many trials and tribulations to get to the point I’m at now. I’ve been held to high standards based on the classes I’ve taken. My Honors classes built the foundation for me to start challenging myself and kill the procrastination problem I possessed in my young academic career. The Honors classes prepared me for the Advanced Placement classes that were offered. My junior year I took on the challenge by taking Language and Composition then also taking United States History. That gave me the confidence to double my load with adding on 2 more AP classes to my schedule which is a challenge but I think there’s much worse than four AP classes. As you go you learn that if you set your mind on doing a certain thing anything is possible to overcome.

Every person in the world has come to be where they are in a different way. Each possesses different traits and characteristics that influence how their lives will carry out. These different characteristics make up an individual’s social location. To be aware of one’s own social location will bring forth an understanding of one’s privilege and/or oppression in society. Social location includes certain identity traits such as age, gender, race, and sexuality. I am a nineteen-year-old Caucasian female. I am a heterosexual, able-bodied, Catholic, and was raised in a small town in Ontario, Canada. I am from a middle class family, and currently attend university. Each of these pieces of my identity make up who I am, and no one in the world has the same identity as I do, meaning that everyone’s way of living is different in some way.

I grew up in a small town in Mississippi in a neighborhood about a five-minute walk from the Mississippi River. I spent the majority of my younger years growing up within this southern bubble. This place that I still call home and my experiences here helped to create the person that I am today. In my neighborhood in Greenville, MS we didn’t have much to do but staying out of trouble was the motive. Even when thinking of the activities to do they were pretty limited but that’s what caused for us to become creative. Kids in my neighborhood took joy in just running, playing sports, working out, or skipping rocks. Besides being born in such a unique place I must give create to the people who have made me who I am.

Life teaches lessons through multiple ways. The indifferences in society play a major role in this. Dr. Martin Luther King proved this through his march from the south to Washington. Even members of my family had a part in changing the indifferences in society by walking with Dr. King. These actions are known as disparity, meaning making the greatest difference.

As a young minority male with two African-born parents who received zero education, acceptations were high at a young age. When I was five years old I attended PS 156 elementary school. The school had poor academic grades and eventually shut down after receiving a F. I always managed to maintain mostly As and was consistently top of my classes. I loved school and hated to see it end. When I was in fourth grade I maintained a high grade even though it was sort of a middle school atmosphere. My teacher recommended me to attend KIPP Academy Middle School due to my proficiency in public school. KIPP challenged my work ethic and showed me that oneself needs more than brute intelligence to be successful. I struggled when I first arrived because I

I am honored to be among the representing students who are being considered for the Glidden-Ralston National Honor Society. During my life there has been some obstacles and gaps in our community. Everyone is limited to their surroundings and react bad to the things we don’t understand sometimes. Since my life has not been simple, it has developed my character and given me the opportunity to be on National Honor Society. National Honor Society is a great organization that recognizes the outstanding high school students. Glidden-Ralston has a great National Honor Society organization, and it would be a huge honor to be a part of. National Honor Society resembles scholarship, service, leadership, and character, and I believe that I have all of these qualities and would surely represent Glidden- Ralston National Honor Society.

Psychology today can tell us that the environment in which we grow up in can have an important impact on a youth’s identity and future. Growing up in not only a state of poverty, but with additional social and economic disadvantages can have an overwhelming negative influence on student’s performance. In major cities across the United States schools that poverty stricken African American students attend are segregated, not in a legal sense, but because of location. Neighborhoods with soaring levels of poverty are limited to the oftentimes overpopulated, underfunded, and understaffed local schools. Creating a culture of multigenerational families isolated in their own poverty.

The more educated people are, the better their chances at achieving the American Dream, and integration is essential in creating equal opportunities for all children within public school systems. People with an education have a larger income, have a better chance of earning the respect of fellow citizens, and are more likely to get jobs. Knowledge is power, and many young people living in the Projects are intelligent and full of submerged potential, but they live in a place where it is an achievement just to graduate from high school. They have lost the hope that was alive and thriving during the life of their grandparents, when Martin Luther King was a beacon of hope. The children in the projects might have low expectations for their

As a person goes through life he or she may wonder “Who am I?” and “What is my purpose?” The objective of this paper is to allow me to reflect and critically analyze who I am as a person. In this paper, I will discuss my social location and identity, my life experiences and my privileges and disadvantages.

Psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania, Angela Duckworth expresses, “Passion and perseverance for very long-term goals. Grit is sticking with your future, day in, day out,… and working really hard to make that future a reality. Grit is living life like it’s a marathon, not a sprint.” Duckworth works towards making grit become part of the school system to help children. Duckworth makes a point of explaining through a TED talk show, that children should be taught this desirable trait through “growth mindset”. On the other hand, author and lecturer Alfie Kohn disputes against a notion of teaching grit in educational programs. He and others make the argument that this idea will have a corrupt repercussion. Considering both sides of the argument, I reach agreement, in my opinion that grit should be taught in schools in today’s world. For the reasons that grit by itself will help students better themselves in and outside of school.

In recent decades, urban cities turned to become an attractive place for people from Different cultures to live in. This movement from different cultures to urban areas caused a significant change and development to urban cities and made it an extrovert area for different backgrounds. Cross (1989) defined culture as “ an integrated pattern of Human behavior that includes thoughts, communications, actions, customs, beliefs, values, and institutions of a racial, ethnic, religious, or social group”(p.7). Nowadays, we are living and socializing with different cultures and backgrounds in urban areas, which lead to a significant change in our life. I believe that living in a cultural diversity city make us more extrovert and creative