Growing Up In River Falls

My story isn't quite special really, although I have lived under some unique circumstances. My mother was a single parent raising my little sister and I until she married my Stepdad in 2007. I was five at the time and had no father figure until then. From that time on he became my dad. Our new family moved twice before living in a small city where we stayed for 6 years. This is where I made close friends, achieved academic excellence, went to church regularly, life was great or so I thought. What seemed to be our perfect life was turned upside down as hard times fell upon us. I was now the oldest of five younger siblings, my mom wasn't healthy, and my dad had to struggle to keep things going.

Brothers and sisters will always look out for you in those tough hard times. It was funny when the Driscoll twins fought over the last cookie before their game. Almost every time my sister and I are in room together we will fight over the TV or almost anything else. This has changed me because I have learned to not fight with my sister every time someone yells at us.

The next couple of years were essential to the growth of our friendship and bond that we formed as siblings. From helping with homework to baking together, my siblings and I formed an unbreakable bond. Following many years of support, I finally understood the meaning of family; they are one unit and travel as one. If there is ever an obstacle for one member, everyone has to endure it. Travel forward to present time, I love both David and Alysa with open arms. Both of them have enlightened and opened doors to new perspectives into the world of love and stability that any brother has to endure. As they reach to me for support, I always make sure to provide both David and Alysa with advice and countless paths to

Growing up in small-town Pflugerville, I never imagined what life would be like outside of a "country" area - until I moved to Killeen, Texas. Killeen is a town full of hot-headed, military, city-slickers that clog up the highway like ants. Often, I think of times when I was younger - looking up at the clear, blue, open skies; the smell of fresh-cut grass always awakened my senses. Now, I look up and I see wires, buildings, cars, and smog. They always say "There is no place like home," and in this case, there are no two places that differ more than my hometown and the town I live in now. The speed of life, the buildings, and most of all, the crime rates are all very new to me. The world is like bowl of fruit, sometimes the taste of each point on a map can differ as greatly as apples and oranges.

Aging up I lived with my mother and I visit my father on some of the weekend and my parents are divorced ever since I was a little girl. I only have a grandfather that lives in Mexico. I grew up living with 3 sisters . Katie is my twin sister we are fraternal and she comes to this high

I have six siblings, a mom, a dad, and three dogs. My siblings are Madison, Dayton, Khloe, Mallory, Ashton, and Nolan. Khloe, Mallory, Madison, and Dayton all live at my dad’s house with my stepmom Christina and my dog Goliath. I usually live with my mom, stepdad Adam, and my two brothers Ashton and Nolan. I also have two dogs at my mom’s house Buddha and Chevy. I am at my mom’s most of the time. I go to my dads sometimes on the weekend. My Aunt Krista and Uncle Greg and live in California. My aunt is actually pregnant. She is going to have a boy and name him Henry. Me, my mom, and my Grandma plan to go to see him on spring break and help with the baby. I am really

What makes my family so unique is that we have established that although we aren’t all physically together anymore like we were when I first moved to Tulsa, we are closer than ever. I thought that being apart from my family would take me back to life before I ever knew them, but they have become such a prevalent part of my life that our relationships can stand the distance. I find myself looking forward to the weekends when I can go back to Tulsa, even if it means I won’t get any work done. We know that no matter how busy we get; family is always a priority. Moving to Tulsa and growing up around my huge family showed me how much I really value family and the rare sense of belonging that you get when you are around them. I hope that in the future, my family will have the same opportunity to grow up surrounded by their loved ones and that they too will find value in

Weeks and months have passed and even though I miss my family dearly I feel so lucky to have a great foster family who treated me like their own. My foster parents already had three daughters who were a little older than me, but we get along so well. As for my little sister she Isn't so happy. After the war was over she wants to live with some of our cousins in Belgium.

I was born very early and had teenage parents who did not really have their life together at that time. My parents were both high school dropouts. My dad dropped out because school was not for him and he just wanted to work and get money and my mom dropped out because school was not for her also and she was pregnant with me and did not want to deal with school. My dad worked everyday to keep our family moving and my mom just stayed at my grandmas house with me because obviously she had to take care of me. So we were living by paycheck to paycheck. One year later my sister was born and two years later after that my other sister was born. Since my parents really did not have that much money to get our own place we would live at my grandmas house to my papa’s house but at times we would have to camp out at the beach because we had no other choice. When we would live at the beach I would think that we were just camping for fun but I did not realize that we did not have any place to stay. My parents clothed me and my sisters, provided food for us, but we did not have a house over our head. So

My mom had surgery for cancer and was in the hospital for a while. My two siblings and I had only our dad to depend on for rides, dinner and obviously regular care, which is a lot for one person to take care of. Luckily, some of our very close family friends stepped up and helped with whatever we needed. This shows how when my family was going through hard times with my mom at the hospital, our extended family and friends each pitched in a little to make the time without my mom less stressful, easier and more of a learning experience. I learned that without my mom, our family might not be very organized for a while, but then we’d eventually figure it out. Because we had family and friends looking out for us, we were able to get through the few weeks without my mom at

The weeks that followed were very difficult. My mother ended up changing her hours at work so she could visit my father in the hospital. On the weekends my mom would spend from Friday when she got home from work, to Sunday night in the hospital. I have an older brother and a younger brother; they are lazy most of the time, so the only help I got was from my grandmother. Unfortunately, my older brother wasn’t present for three weeks for certain reasons, which left my ten year old

Family life is pretty modest. Right now, I live with dad, step-mom, and my cat named Huckleberry. Huckleberry can be demanding to live with, and my dad can get pretty grumpy. In spite of that, I’m extremely grateful for how much hard work my dad puts in to provide. He’s really an appreciable person. So is Christen, my stepmom. She’s particularly smart, which can be very intimidating. Most of the time I’m home alone,

I can't remember one detail of my infancy, toddler, or school-age years. Maybe I’m not trying hard enough, or maybe it’s something I blocked out and try not to remember. I leave it up to pictures and my family to tell me about those days, though it never seems to ignite any recollection. From what I hear though, it sounded like it was the time when my family was the happiest. It sounded like a time when the family really meant the most to them! Family gathers, we use to have a lot of those. Suddenly it stop, and it was every household for themselves. I don’t know what came over my family, but it seems like all that matters today is who can do the most for you! They're too worried about what the next person can give them, that authentic love. “To come so far, to lose so much and find nothing” (Tan, 133). And they say family is supposed to mean the

Looking backing on childhood filled with so many memories, I wish I could say they all had that warm and fuzzy feeling. Being one of seven siblings wasn’t easy, in fact each and every sibling had to make some type of sacrifice for our family. I have a sister, she is the second oldest, who is a diagnosed schizophrenic. Having a mentally ill sister who was never complaint with any type of treatment made childhood especially difficult and set up many opportunities for disappointment. Disappointment came in many forms throughout my childhood whether it was not being able to go somewhere, being forgot about, or the constant embarrassment and anger I had to deal with internally on a daily basis.

Earth is the only known habitable planet to support life. Over 6 billion humans and billions of other living things depend on the earth’s climate to survive. However, since the past century things start to change due to human activity as well as natural occurrences. The unpredicted weather conditions, wild fires and earth quakes have killed and displaced thousands of humans and animals, and wiped out few species from the face of the earth. Some animals and plants are facing the same fate disappearing from the face of the planet due to lack of suitable habitats. Since the beginning of modern technologies, humans have expanded the use of resources widely by adding greenhouse gases such as CO2, without understanding the consequences it might brought on the existence of all living things including their own species. Human’s action is widely believed to be cause for the rise of earth’s temperature. Climate change, which is responsible for extreme weather condition, earth quakes, and severe drought and famine. Climate change poses economical, and environmental threat to every nation. Therefore, climate change is a real event occurring every day, and affecting every living organism throughout the planet. To assess the threat posed by global warming, it is important to look at its causes and effects to present comprehensive solutions, and requires cooperation of every nation to address the issue before the problem becomes permanent.