Cat's Eye

Before the first grade, we moved around a few times before ending up here in Sylvania. As a child, both my parents worked full time jobs and I was always at after school day cares or at my grandparents houses, never really got to spend a lot of time with friends or was able to socialize with many people. So growing up most of my time was spent with my brother and I thought nothing of it. As I grew up I began to realize that I had become stuck in some bad habits. My brother and I weren't asked to help around the house much but when we were we never listened. But to my surprise there were no consequences for our disobedience. At the time I thought I had it good. Around the time I got too middle school I began to realize the problem. I began

My transition into high school was as easy as taking a breath. I had always found school quiet easy and I never had to put much effort into getting promising grades. Before high school I had my whole life figured out, or at least I thought I did. I had planned that I would attend a law school or major in English. After a while of being in high school I started to realize many things. My parents did not have the financial stability to send me to a law school, I was not as smart as all the other kids, little by little I began struggling with a negative mentality about myself and my future. I slowly let go of my dream of becoming a lawyer and decided to join the Health Careers Academy. Soon enough, I began to have a deep interest in the medical field but then again I continued to have the same question; how can I afford going to a medical school? I did not know much about college or what it took to get into college. I assumed I just had to have a pretty transcript and that was all it took. My self confidence began to lower as I saw how other students cruised through their high school years so effortlessly. I never wanted to ask for help because I did not want to seem “dumb”. I would bite my tongue and hold in all the unanswered questions I had. My junior year, I was having a very difficult time. I had a tight schedule which consisted of almost all AP or honors courses. I slowly began to give up because I did not believe that I could do it. I let my grades slip failing almost

My grades were going down beacuse I always got home late from practice. I was so occupied with baseball that I never focused at school. “How can you play if you can’t focus during scool.” This time, my dad said it in a depressed way while walking out of my room. He got tired of raising hs voice. I looked at myself in the mirror and promised to fix myself, day by day, to become an example of being a student athlete. The following day, I took a lot of notes, asked questions, worked with my teachers after school when I needed help, and I never fell asleep before completing all of my homework. Things immediately picked up with my grades and baseball. I still carry out these habits until now. With all the hardships that I have been going throughout my highschool career, my work ethic is still strong. I continue my endeavors to become a star student and an outstanding baseball player, even if my schedule is full. As people had brought me down in the past, I am now grateful of their opinions. I was able to stop slacking on what’s important. I learned that life has given me obstacles so that I would be the prime example of what I promised myself to

My moms raised me with a strong set of morals, including “hard work pays off.” Sometimes this can be discouraging when you work hard, but it doesn’t pay off as you’d like it to. I’ve always gotten the grades I strive for without much struggle. However, once high school started, everything changed. I’d work for weeks on a scholarship essay, and I wouldn’t even place. I’d work for months to get something published and then read other people’s names in the congratulations announcement. I’d constantly wonder: Who’s at the top of the class? Who’s going to win the end of year awards? When you consistently get the grades that I do, people just expect those grades. No one congratulates you on your hard work anymore, and you don’t always get recognized. Despite the lack of recognition, I still take pride in my grades, and continue to work hard. Getting great grades is something I know I can do, even when it’s difficult to do. The difficulty makes it even more satisfying when I see the hard work pay off, and I get the grade I wanted. I’ve encountered

When faced with life’s obstacles you need to have a support team. Whether it’s friends, family, or a stranger that you met going through the same thing, there is always someone you can relate to and show you that the problem is only as big as you make it. If you have to take time off from goals to handle what is more important at the time, then so be it. But know that you will go on with life and come out stronger. If you let a hardship keep you down, you are only failing yourself and showing the people that didn’t believe in you they were right. Take a stand and fight every battle head on. you will learn more about yourself when you

After barely graduating in the spring of 2017 from Lopez Early College High School, I went straight to my parent’s house not knowing exactly what I was going to do with my life. I knew I had ruined my life after not paying attention to my teachers and counselors about applying to colleges. They said I was a wonderful and intelligent student with a tremendous capacity of succeeding in life. Although everybody thought that about me, I never did. I was constantly under pressure thinking that I had to work in order to support my family economically, so our house was saved. I was also worried about whether my parents were getting divorced after every insignificant argument they had. I had to be an excellent example for my two younger siblings; but even though I tried my best, I never was.

I had thought that high school would be no different than the past. Work hard, pay attention in class, and meet standards for every teacher. I was wrong. My teachers were supportive and only held the most basic of standards for all their students. They worked hard to provide us with assistance to succeed in class and be caught up in lessons. By the first grading cycle, I had exceeded all previous expectations my family had of me. I was both joyous and sad though. Now that I had reached the only goal I ever cared for, I was unsure of what to focus on next. This led me to ask my peers for advice and I realized that most of them also did not know what they wanted in the future. Thusly, after thinking and conferencing with others, I began thinking for myself what I wanted for my future. I was still being held at a high standard by family and friends, however I now had time for myself. I was free to decide what kind of future I wanted. Though afraid as I was of my unknown future, I was

Purposely messing up at the 5th grade spelling bee because I didn’t want to be the smart brown kid. The worry or how I will be seen by others since 5th grade, has held me back from my ambitions and potential. The pattern academic failure lasted all the way until this past year. Last year I was a freshman at Saint Louis University, I was kicked out because I had a GPA of .27. I couldn’t tell my parents that so I pretended like I didn’t receive that letter and moved back in the start of my sophomore year, this past fall, and tried to petition. My petition was denied; I was given a 3 day move out notice with nowhere to go. I packed my bags, headed to a train station and was homeless for 3 days so I slept at a train station. An elderly white couple, who had “adopted” me as their grandchild when I was born was who I decided to reach out to. They offered me to live with them in Arizona but encouraged me to go home. I sent a text at 4:00am and took a train to come to a home where I wasn’t looked at, talked to, or valued. After being academically dismissed from Saint Louis University, I woke up to adulthood. My parents were very disappointed in me and they couldn't even look at

Born in July of 1999, I have always been known to have a bright future.I attended Ann Visger Elementary School in River Rouge, Michigan and Strong Middle School in Melvindale Michigan. From there began my high school career at Melvindale High School very nervous. I was placed in many honors classes and was able to excel. I took leadership roles and participated in projects that many freshmen do not try. After ninth grade, I transferred to River Rouge High School, on my first day I was reunited with old friends, yet still wanted to go back to my old school with my friends I created in the last 4 years. After being sadden about my transfering, I decided that you must do with what you are given. So the entire school year I worked to get my titles

In the eighth grade I was diagnosed with a learning disability and was given a IEP. Even with the IEP I still struggled to maintain a passing grade through eighth grade and the first semester of ninth grade. During the ninth grade I was put into an academic support class and for the first half of the year I didn’t take advantage of it. I guess, at the time, I didn’t realize the importance of living up to my academic potential and always thought I was stupid and there was nothing I could do to change that. At the beginning of the second semester of my freshman year, my academic support teacher and I had a serious conversation about my future. I told her my plan to go to a four-year university and she didn’t take me seriously. She told me I was

At Dodge City High School I was in many activities such as The Pride of Southwest Kansas, varsity tennis, drill team, enriched learning, and many other honors classes, I was even the president of the decoration committee my junior year. After my sophomore year I added another egg to my basket, and was hired at my first job. With my first job I helped my mom by getting my own phone, paying for the bill, and buying my own items and necessities. But with all these activities and work, I started to get tired, but more than anything, I got lazy, and careless. I started to spend more time procrastinating and doing things last minute. I started showing up late to class which led to not even showing up at all. At this point in my life, everything was going down hill. I got dismissed from drill team, I went from first chair in the band, to dead last, and my grades reflected my attendance. I pushed everything to the side and blamed it on “senioritis”. I thought I was doing everything right and I did what I wanted, but it wasn't until I got called down to the office for a meeting, that I realized that I was putting to shame every effort and all the time my mom spent on raising

First, I spoke with my good friend, Dr. Antwan Jones, over Skype. We normally have weekly conversations about my future. Antwan serves many different roles in my life. He is a motivator, and strategist to name a few. During our conversation, I first let him know how I was doing in school. I told him that school is mainly fine, however, I have become mentally and physically drained. He first told me that he understands how that can be, however, I need to remember the end goal. He suggested that my life should not be consumed with school work, and I need to enjoy these moments because they will be some of the best years of my life. He then told after I enjoyed myself that I need to get back to work, and remember what I am ultimately in college

Elaine’s Identity: Cat’s Eye The novel Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood, discusses the theme of finding yourself, and how a person can truly affect who you are. Elaine possesses the trait of vulnerability and is a victim of verbal torture from a childhood friend Cordelia. What at first may seem like child plays, Cordelia impacts Elaine’s mental stability traumatically. This novel consistently foreshadows how Elaine will forever remain affected by Cordelia.

“In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure” (Bill Cosby). Reflecting back on my life I have dealt with numerous downfalls but I always bounce back. I was born in India and moved here when I was six years old. As I grew up in California I was not a bright student at first. I was enrolled in Carmichael Elementary in which I was the only one with Turban on my head, which caused me to get into a lot of fights with other students who were making fun of turban. Not knowing how to speak English at the time affected the way interacted with teachers and students. On the other hand my family always had a tight budget at home. Both of my parents worked at the store we owned which was the only source money. At school kids were always talking about their new shoes and the iPod which his or her parents got them. I didn’t get everything I wanted as a kid but as I got older I understand if did I could be a spoiled brat. When I moved from Carmichael to Sacramento and I was enrolled at Maeola R. Beitzel elementary. Going to this new school I already learned English so I made marvelous friends and was surrounded by positive people. Going from a chaos environment to this harmonious environment in part because I was speaking English, made me have unique personality .I was playing sports and growing as a student. Those years went by in no time. Now I am in high school and my family’s income has been growing. My mom changed her work to now at Jack in

The experiences we have in childhood do much to shape our adult identity. In her novel Cat's Eye, Margaret Atwood chronicles the life of artist Elaine Risley, and through a series of flashbacks shows the reader how she became her adult self. The retrospective showing of Elaine's artwork provides a framework for the retrospective of her journey from child to adult. Because Atwood was creating a fictional character, she was free to incorporate some very dramatic events that impacted Elaine's thoughts and feelings. Most of us do not have as much drama in our lives I certainly did not and yet the people, circumstances and occurrences in our lives affect us profoundly. We create our identity by the friends we choose, the decisions we make, and the way we respond to things that happen around us. Some things happen to us, and we also make conscious choices.