Considering, my father is a veteran from Brooklyn, New York and my mother is an immigrant from El Salvador whom barely spoke English; I was certainly raised in a diverse environment. The disparity of their backgrounds is immeasurable, but their lives has impacted me greatly. Their relationship and love remains strong, even though they divorced when I was an early age. The dichotomy shaped my character, perspective, and my entire state of being. I was encouraged to play sports and excel in my academic pursuits. I am competitive in nature and I continually strive for success in all my endeavors. *somethings missing
I graduated my senior year from Highland High School as the Captain of the football team, Head Editor of the school newspaper, in the top 5% of the class and accepted to every College I applied to. I attended the University of Redlands a few months early for football camp, quickly moved up the depth chart and enrolled for my first-year classes. A week before my classes commenced, I tore my ACL, MCL and shattered my kneecap; ruining my chances of continuing to play college football. On the first day of attending class I was in crutches; even though I was disappointed, I
…show more content…
Everything has an underlying meaning that is waiting to be understood, and life presents us with specific events that become points of reference for growth. Neither a veteran nor an immigrant could teach me the reality of life, I had to discover it myself. Life isn’t about right or wrong, but rather truth or consequences; and I am severely concerned about the trajectory humanity is headed, and a legal education will provide me a platform to express my ideas, participate in the political sphere and hold people responsible. I am determined to face opposition and engage in a nurturing environment that encourages challenge, in order to, surrender myself to my life’s
I grew up in a multicultural household, my father came from Peru and my mother came from Colombia. Both of my parents are proud of their respective countries and heritage. They both embrace each other’s cultures by celebrating traditions and preparing food native to both countries. Having open-minded parents has taught me to experiment with new foods, music, and hobbies without judgment. I have been surrounded by so many
I was constantly looked down on, as through the practices, varsity players continuously knock me down and run me over. One varsity player named Jordan Zorbas hit me so hard I felt like a crash test dummy. Later in practices, the varsity roster was taped to the locker-room’s wall. I couldn’t place my name on the list, meaning that I was on the freshman team. I remember thinking,“ Why couldn’t I make it, “ but deep down I knew why. I began practicing with the freshman team at linebacker. September 7th we had our first game against Ida Baker high school. I remember making the first tackle of the game, with me wrapping the running back and stripping the ball from his meaty hands. Although I started the whole game, I was not satisfied with my performance and felt that I should’ve done
For the majority of my life, I had never really known of the diverse lifestyles of others. I could only infer that every person I met was raised in a nurturing environment like mine. As I hit adolescence I began to see the surprisingly harsh as well as the fortunate realities that exist in lives of people just like me. I also became aware of the beliefs of others and I was willing to accept and be tolerable to individuals whose circumstances and beliefs differed from mine; however, my new-found perception would not be put to the test until I joined a Career and Technical Education organization called SkillsUSA.
The life experience that made me diverse was the moment I stepped foot on U.S. land at age three and became undocumented. Being undocumented became my identity. Fear of being deported grew with me, hiding me in the shadows. I never saw past high school, so I started to take advantage of my supposed last years of learning by maintaining the highest grades I could earn. In return, I have been able to join the National Honor Society, enabling me the opportunity to graduate high school with honors. Seeing my journey going from thinking I was not able to attend college because of my status to being able to graduate with honors has taught I am deserving of a higher education. Being undocumented has not restrained me from pursuing my education,
Stars: I attended Lee High School in Huntsville, AL for 4 years. As a general, I participated in many varsity sports, but anyone who knows me knows my favorite is football. Looking in as an 8th grader the varsity team at Lee was pretty good under head coach Kinte Welch; however, finally graduating and becoming a part of the team my freshman through junior year was pretty awful. Our program was awful because of many reasons, but you can 't blame it all on the head coach. Ending my junior season, we 'd maybe won 4 games in 3 seasons. At the beginning of baseball season my junior year the athletic department decided to release him from his head coach position. After many potential coaches filled out for the position our principle filled the spot. He was familiar with the football in our area and he also coaches at a rival school Huntsville High School. Coach Woods has been around football all his life also playing linebacker at the University of Arkansas. Woods taking over and hiring a new staff made our life so much easier. The senior class who came in as a freshman, and stuck through the tough times help lead the team to the 6A playoffs after not being a contender for the last 10 years. I played a huge role as a defensive captain and we were ranked one of the top defenses in our region. As a three-year starter for the Generals, we turned the whole program around my senior season and made it to the second round of the playoffs where we lost to a power house.
You are a top prospect for the NFL, you are the next Peyton Manning, the number one pick in the draft. Your college career was phenomenal! You were the athlete of the century! You led the nation in touchdowns, passing yards, and you won the Heisman Trophy. You are in the last couple minutes to seal off the championship game. The coach calls a play action and you do not see anybody open, you decide to run the ball. You are at the 11 yard line and a cornerback comes up from behind and tackles you. You tear your ACL, your chances for the NFL are over. Your scholarship is gone because you cannot play the sport the college recruited for. Your parents cannot pay for college, your college education is over. You have no money, a half finished
I graduated eighth grade and entered our local public high school in September of 2013. I was doing well in my classes and excelling in volleyball. In September of 2014, I was hit in the head with a volleyball by my coach which resulted in a severe concussion. I missed the first semester of school and during that time I realized I was not achieving my goals or preparing for college. My family and I had a lengthy discussion and decided it would be best for me to transfer to Bishop Shanahan. After the switch, I realized I was months behind my classmates and I had to self teach all my classes even though I was still healing from my concussion. Even though I struggled, I am proud that I will graduate from Bishop Shanahan ready for college and for
In my eighteen years of existence, I've experienced many things, ethnically, and socially. I was born overseas, to an Air Force man, and his wife. I spent several years amongst a different culture. As soon as my father was retired from the Air Force, we moved from Japan, the land of the rising sun, to a small town in the west. I was faced with something unlike anything I had been exposed to. I was exposed to an extremely diverse set of cultures. There were so many different things that I had to experience, and they scared me. I was introduced to a new classroom, and the students in it. With that, I was introduced to a new language, spanish. I was surrounded by so many ethnically diverse cultures, and places. I grew up knowing so many different
In January of 2014 I had a meeting with my trach coach and we came to the mutual decision that I sit the spring season out to focus on my studies. I registered for 18 credit hours 6 of those hours being the two classes I failed, moved from the middle of the classroom to the front row, took advantage of the athletic study hall provided by the university’s academic success center, and took a more serious approach to my college education. I finished my spring semester with a 2.75 semester GPA and brought my cumulative GPA from a 1.23 to a 2.3 and would continue to build on that GPA never again falling below that mark or placed on academic warning for the following seven semesters I spent at HBU. I would eventually make the tough decision to leave both teams realizing that there was no chance on me going pro, so obtaining a college degree shouldn’t just be priority one, but the only
My family consists of multiple backgrounds and nationalities. I come from a multi-racial household; my mother, Tonia Dawson, is Jamaican and my father, Joshua Brown, is Dominican/ Puerto-Rican. After, my parents’ split I spent the majority of my childhood strictly growing up with my maternal relatives. On my maternal side, there is an abundance of family members: my great-grandmother has 10 children, my great- aunt also has 10 children and most of her kids have 3 children each. Most of my family that resides in the United States is heavily concentrated in the Bronx, New York. I decided to focus on how assimilation in society, aspect of family, poverty, education, and gender has shaped my family.
In my experience emerging in a country where most people look and act a certain way, while I am the outlier thanks to my different looks and traditions, has made me a minority. Being born in Mexico City from a Jewish family that immigrated from Poland two generations ago, and then going to college in Texas, has made me feel the differences of being lets say, “different”.
Even after a decade of settlement, it feels foreign to walk down the street and see someone who looks like me. Nonetheless, to have the ability to accept and respect all cultures and environments, as well as one's self, is a privilege that not many get to experience. Although there are pros and cons to being different or the same, I am forever grateful that I was blessed enough to witness all parts of the spectrum. Whether it be differences in race, religion, origin, or motive, everyone in this world is meant to make their mark somehow, and I believe that my experience with cultural differences has shaped me to be prepared for whatever the future holds. Even having lost my way at times, being so close to adulthood I can only to try and endure adversity and do/be the best that I can in this final year and future years to
Once I failed, but now I am showing my strengths. There was this high school I played played for named Central Dauphin. They were called the Rams. Before I go on, I am going to fast forward to the end of Junior year and to the beginning of my Senior year. It was a game against Carlisle Thundering Herd. The game was cold and it was the first game of playoffs. I did not start at the time but our starting tackle got hurt so I had been thrown in there. Now take in mind my body is ice cold and my muscles are not stretched. I then remember getting tackled from behind and feeling some popping noises in my ankle. I was laying there afraid my football career was over. Mind you that this was now my second ankle injury of that year. A few teammates had
When I sat down to write this essay, I tried, as my high school English teacher always instructed, to imagine the audience for my writing. The more I thought about it, the more I pitied the college admissions screeners who would be reading a thousand essays on diversity. Along with the expected takes on race and ethnicity, how many of those essays would present their authors as outcasts, loners, kids who didn’t fit in at his or her school? How could I present myself as someone unique and interesting—strange, even—without falling prey to the cliché of the self-pitying social misfit?
Though I may not come from a physically diverse family, I do come from a very diverse socioeconomic background. Demographic variables that influence me as a person are things like the age of my parents, the level of education within my family, economic status and affiliations. My own culture is also influenced by the different exposures to diverse status variables and socioeconomic standings.