I Had A Strong Willed Personality

I moved into a little neighborhood, with a lot of the houses looking the same. Most of the people who did live in the neighborhood were older citizens, with little to no amount of kids. So I was sort of relieved that I didn’t have to meet new kids, but also disappointed that I had no one to play with. It was in middle of the summer, so I wouldn’t go back to school for a month or so.

All of my life I had lived in Owensboro, Kentucky, I had to leave all of my family and friends. I was devastated. I had to go to a new school where I did not know anyone. I ended up getting one of the meanest teachers that taught third grade, which did not help very much. But from this experience I began to break out of my shell that I had been hiding in for most of my life. I was able to make great new friends and gain experiences that I might not have had if I had stayed in Owensboro.

Growing up I lived in the small town of Duncan, Oklahoma; although, not nearly as small as the town I currently reside in. Throughout my adolescence, I attended Mark Twain Elementary School and as I was ending the third grade, my parents decided that we should move to Fox, Oklahoma to be closer to my grandparents. Moving would bring big changes my way such as a smaller school, living in the middle of nowhere, and new ways of entertainment. Living in the country has its pros and cons, but I can tell you the only thing I could think of the night we moved out there was the cons. Eventually, I had grown accustomed to the silence, lack of traffic, and having nothing to do. Looking back I feel that if we had not moved to the country then I would

You don’t get to choose where you grow up, but you do decide if you’ll stay there the rest of your life. Growing up I feel I saw things that I shouldn’t of ever seen for my age. The neighborhood I lived in had a lot of violence, and the cops would show up at least once a week so that nothing too major would happen. Crimes were always committed on my street, and the only time I was away from it would be when I went to school. After school I would go to the salvation army with my sister, and wait until my mom would get off work. We never knew when we would get home. Sometimes it would be until 5, and other days we would stay until 7. I met many new people which taught me a lot about working with others. Some days were good, and others were not

I grew up in poverty with a small family, which consisted of my mother, sister, two step brothers, and my father who has a no contact order with my sister and me. Many of my peers often complain about how much they hate school and would rather be at home. But for me school was my escape from another world. A world I have no choice but to withstand. A world where shootings are common, where drugs are everywhere, where police patrol every Tuesday and Thursday; the darker side of Seattle. With both my parents being immigrants coming from war-torn countries we had no choice where to live, to eat, and to learn. As a family, we had no help from anyone so we had to keep our head up and persevere.

When I was younger I lived in a ghetto in upstate New York. I would wake up every morning and walk to my school appropriately titled “Early Learning Center Number 316”. When I say that it was a Ghetto I honestly mean that, historically it had been a housing section for Puerto Ricans, so my school didn’t have many kids that spoke English. The Neighborhood was really a disaster, and very rundown, but I remember one year it the state gave everyone who attended the school (including me) free Christmas presents, which was a nice change. I was happy, and it gave me a sense of awareness at a young age that was different from everyone else.

Moving around from town to town happened quite often when I was younger. I always mirage living in one house my whole life and never having to know the feeling of leaving good friends behind. The move from Michigan to Illinois was definitely the most arduous. Elise, one of my best friends, had been with me from the first day I walked into Rummer Elementary to when we were crying on my porch the day before I left Michigan three years later. I expected this to be the last time we saw each other. I had done this enough that I realized she would move on or the six hour drive would keep us separated till we eventually gave up. My mother promised me it would be different this time, I thought she was only trying to keep me from becoming an misanthropist,

I felt that my parents dragged me to a place where I didn’t want to be. The three of us moved to NYC, and the first three months we were all compacted into one single bedroom, trying to start a new life. It was a drastic change from the way we lived back in Colombia, each having their own separate bedroom.

Moving schools and neighborhoods was when I first felt like a stranger in the village, but in this case it’s not a village. Attending my new school was so hard to get comfortable with, but I managed. I made friends instantly and made new memories. Unfortunately some problems with my dad didn’t change and he would try to meddle with my mom's life and control her still which wasn’t good for my mom.

When we did finally move from my childhood home in Illinois to our new home in Knoxville, Tennessee, the only thing I could think about was how isolated and scared I felt. What was it going to feel like on my first day of class when I was surrounded entirely by strangers? I will always vividly remember walking into my new high school and feeling so lost. Every class I walked into was an alien environment and I had to struggle to keep my composure.

turning in my assignments with answers given from teachers, easy! I lived in a good home

Unfortunately, my stubbornness got the best of me, I was told not to go outside because I was grounded. I just couldn’t stand seeing all the other kids having fun, laughing, and playing. But I knew what I was signing myself up for when I took those steps out the door, I should’ve listened but hey, what would you do if it was a pretty summer day and all the kids were outside while you are in the house. But it was a risk I was willing to take, some would fear the trouble they were going to be in well not me.

When home comes to mind I think of my home town, so small it can’t even be considered a town, Matawan, New Jersey. As a kid when I would say where I was from people would automatically look at me with a bewildered face and ask “Where is that?”. Being in a small town there has been some advantages like knowing everyone in my around two hundred and seventy person graduating class. Playing sports in a small town allowed me to develop friendships from a young age that will last a lifetime. By growing up in a small town and a small school, there was a definite sense of community. I remember when a classmate was diagnosed with cancer our small school rallied together and organized multiple fundraisers to try and pay for a treatment in Germany for

At a very young age, I began making my own decisions and putting myself first. After my parents got divorced, my mom decided to move. The move wasn't small. In fact, it was a very large one. We were moving halfway across the world. I did not understand why we had to move but I knew my mom would always make the best decisions for our family. First, it seemed cool when I was telling everybody. But then it hit me hard, knowing that I wasn't going to see my friends and family for a very long time. At the age of eight, I did not understand what was going on. I felt like I was out of the loop. I was going to have to make new friends and meet new people even though I did not know the language. Even when it came to finding something to eat, we did not know how to order food. It was a great struggle that was hard to overcome.

When I was 8 years old my family moved to whidbey island and I had to change schools. The whole social dynamic was different at south whidbey elementary school then it was at the school I had previously attended in seattle. Going from the city school to a rural, much smaller school was a hard change for me. I did not know where and how to fit in; when before at my old school I was outgoing and had many friends. Here I began to withdraw into my own world and had difficulty making friends.