I Got Knocked down but I Got up Again

It all started from the end of my middle school to the beginning of high school. There I was, being a rebellious child. I would always come to school late which later then turned into a bad habit of mine. It progressed from being late to school to just not going to school at all. During those years where I was not taking my education serious and just acting out, I was struggling with how I was setting priorities for myself.

In primary school, I lived with my parents whom can watch over me most of the time. I had to follow their schedule like, when I can watch television, and what time I should go to sleep. Although I felt very intense at that time, I believed my parents knew the best for me. While in secondary school, I was surrounded only by my friends. Friends were really influential towards your life. I was a teenager when I started studying in my secondary school. When the first time I felt the freedom from my parents, I almost tried everything that my parents didn’t allow me to do such as sleeping at late night and smoking. Luckily, I found that they were harmful and bad to health that I quickly stopped from continuing to do

It had finally arrived. Moving day. I was finally leaving my home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania after five short years and a sort of gloom lingered in the air. Although many teenagers would be excited to reunite with their family, friends, and childhood home, I, however, was frightened of the future. I woke up that morning and just laid there and listened to the sound of the rain pittering against the roof and windows, pattering against the surrounding forest in which I shared many memories. After what felt like centuries of just listening and reflecting, I got up and looked out the window. I looked at my neighbor's house across the field of grass which separated our houses and at the kids who had become like my siblings. I looked at the ice

April 13, 2010 was the day that my life had completely changed. My dad came home from a long day at work and had some excited news, at least that’s what he said. I remember when my dad walked into the house and told my mom the news first, I will never forget the look on her face. My siblings and I knew the news could not possibly be good by my mom 's expression. My dad told my brothers and I that we are moving to California because he had received a promotion. We had lived in Georgia for seven years of my life. I was so familiar with the land and every Sunday my family and I would go to the mall. We would eat ice cream, go shopping and later watch a movie. We lived in a gated community and they were like my second family. I was very distraught when my father had told me the “good” news. I had to leave my friends, family, and all of my memories in Georgia.

April 20th started out like any other school day which I particularly dreaded. The worst days of your life, well, you don’t realize them at first. Even when the sun is shining or it’s raining. You can never see the miracles or horror that may unfold. I hadn’t realized how badly I would dread this day.

My parents implemented high-control parenting in that they had a lot of control on if I did or did not do something. They did not push me out of my comfort zone in safe ways. They controlled so much because they wanted me to be safe and never make any “big mistakes” that I never really got involved in anything that was outside of a church activity or a sports team which one of my parents were always there to supervise. I eventually felt that there was no need to try new things because they were always there to judge or wanting me to

In lecture 5, while learning about different parenting styles, I could not pinpoint exactly how I was parented. At first, I thought I was parented through authoritative parenting but then I realized I could also relate to indulgent parenting. I believed my parents fell under democratic parenting since my parents do explain things to me and help me think of the consequences my actions have. However, I grew up with just a few rules and barely had responsibilities. Even if I misbehaved, I was never grounded. My parents do not speak English, so they do not even know what grounding is. I was not assigned any chores and now I am barely ordered to do any housework. When I help around the house it is because I want to, not because I am told to. My

“Having a parent continue to be in a frequent presence is one of the best ways to ensure young adolescents don’t make too many big mistakes,” states the concerned mother. However, constantly protecting her child,results in them never learning to deal with the consequences. Ubiquitous parents disable their children from learning to resolve conflicts or learn from mistakes. The article states, “Many young adults entering college have the academic skills... but are lacking in life skills like ...conflict resolution.” My parents now let me solve my own issues, allowing me to learn from them. For example, I used to procrastinate on assignments. This resulted in me getting very stressed out and exhausted from staying up late. I learned to not start assignments last minute. If my parents intruded on my decisions I may have never learned not to start last minute and the consequences of doing so. More importantly, if parents refrained from hovering over their children they allow them to learn to assess their mistakes and

In 2007 I was four. I was in my last year of preschool with Mrs. Valentina in the starfish room. I was completely oblivious to the events transpiring in the world around me and couldn’t wait to start kindergarten. Meanwhile, my parents were fighting tooth and nail to keep their jobs. 3 out of every 5 people in my father’s division were fired. They worked all day and night to keep their jobs for our family. My family was new and our parents needed steady employment to send my brother and I to a good school. Luckily, my parents kept their jobs by the skin of their teeth. However, my life was forever changed.

Two years ago in fifth grade was a great year until one something happened, something that was not going to make the year better, but make the year worse. I was sitting in my room watching TV when mom yells from the living room, “Kandace! Can you come here please?”. I pause the show and walk out of the room and sit on the couch she looks at her phone and then at me, “ Katelynn and Andrea are moving to Arizona.” she says in a sad voice, My heart stopped. In my head, I just kept thinking It’s a joke, she is just kidding, why would they move so far away? but she wasn’t they were really moving to Arizona, and I had no idea why.

7th grade was the year I woke up. My mom called me into her bedroom late one afternoon and was still sitting on her bed, wearing her pajamas. The bright and cheerful sunshine that lit up the room gave a false ambiance of the tension that clouded the air. I already knew what she was going to say, but I did not want to believe it as the truth. I had noticed that my mom and dad's relationship with one another was growing apart just by the way they acted around each other. The conversations between them became shorter and their affection for one another began to fade. My dad spent his nights falling asleep watching TV on the couch, while my mom slowly disappeared back into her bedroom, alone. This had been happening for a while now, so I do not know why I was even surprised when my mom said to me that, “Your dad and I are getting a divorce”. I should have seen it coming. The clues were all in front of me, but I was too afraid to put them together. I was scared because, for the first time in my life, the image of my "perfect" family was crumbling before me. I knew inside that my family was falling apart, but I was desperately holding onto the fibers that I thought were keeping us together. It is hard to believe that one encounter can change the course of one's life forever. In this instance, I was awoken from the dream that I had been living in for so long.

Everyone remembers fighting with their parents at some point in their life, whether as a young child who wants a toy or as a teenager who isn’t allowed to go out. It’s normal to want to challenge authority when growing up, because it helps young people to make their own decisions and become individuals. Teenagers rely on few close friends and the last people expected to be confidants are their parents.

Everyone in the family knows what is expected of them: my father goes to work, my mother works a little and cooking. The children must obey. I have to listen to everything my parent says, discipline and physical punishment were acceptable for disobedience in the family tradition. For example, one time, I tell my parent that I am going over to my friends’ house to do some group project and that was a lie. After my parent knows it, I get punish by kneeling down on the floor for one hour, and that not the worst yet. In addition, my family also had a high regard for education. They want me to study and excel in my education, which goes for the rest of my sisters and brothers. At first, I don’t like these rules but I do now because it’s what makes my parent happy and me too, a

My parents where very overprotective which sounds good on the surface, but this caused me to feel unequal to my peers since my parents would not let me play sports or even go on a field trip one time because

June 8th, 2008 was the day my whole life turned upside down. It was a hot and humid Sunday afternoon. My blond, curly headed six year old self was taking a nap on the couch in our living room with a huge window that looked out over our front yard. I used to love to stand at that window during the summer and look at the bustling neighborhood. My mom and little sister were taking a walk around the neighborhood, while my dad was in our garage tinkering with something.