My Experience In My Life

In order to graduate from Tulane, one must first complete a service learning course and give back to the New Orleans community. Through my own life, I have tried to find ways to give to my community by tutoring, volunteering, and being a friend, but at Tulane, I could expand my efforts greatly. Facilitating in a middle school outreach program, working with a group of students to revitalize decrepant areas of New Orleans, and researching ways to improve how one can most effectively give back to its community are all opportunities that I could envision myself doing at Tulane University. Peaking my interest even further, Tulane Community Service Fellows is program specifically for students, such as myself, who are interested in benefiting their community in substantial

In the summer of 2016, I visited the beautiful New Orleans when my church attended the National Youth Gathering. As I walked down the street for the first time, I fell in love with everything that the city has to offer everyone. The vivid memories of lively trumpets, delicious beignets, and kindness of the community members still replay in my mind. On this trip, my group performed a community service project to raise awareness for an organization helping to maintain the city’s safety. However, it was not just helping New Orleans folks I enjoyed, but the interaction with them was intriguing. My visit to this fantastic city was prominent in my life, and I would see that I spend as much time as with the community as possible. Therefore, Tulane University is a perfect fit for me because New Orleans holds unparalleled culture and Tulane’s passion for providing meaningful opportunities to impact the community.

Moving to post-Katrina New Orleans in 2006 to begin my undergraduate education at Tulane University I had the opportunity to become involved in the rebuilding of an entire city. I interned and volunteered across New Orleans,

As I grow older and live new experiences, I realize how my childhood and God led me to the circumstance I am now, which is my last semester of nursing school. I come to appreciate my mother’s hard work to get me through school as well as through life. Growing up in a low-income family in Los Angeles, California with a dad who was a full-time alcoholic and drug addict, was not a good circumstance to grow up. My mother did not speak English or had a job and believed that a married woman is to fully depend on her husband. There were times when my 2 siblings and I had nothing to eat since my dad barely came home with money after spending it all on alcohol and drugs. Due to this living situation and the fact that I was the oldest child, I felt the strong responsibility to drop out of school once I was old enough to work. Education was not an option in my future. Since we didn’t have much money, my mom signed my siblings and me to free afterschool programs at my local Catholic church, so we could learn more about our religion and the importance of God in our lives. I remember my excitement to wake up early Sunday mornings to get ready for mass, even though it took 2 bus routes to get to church. I learned from nuns and priests the importance of caring for others as if they were my own family because everyone deserves the same type of care. Caring was something I learned through religion, and not something I was born knowing. As a way to start fresh, my dad decided to move us to

“Still there are times I am bewildered by each mile I have travelled, each meal I have eaten, each person I have known, each room in which I’ve slept. As ordinary as it all appears, there are times when it is beyond my imagination.”

I’m at the store with my mother, but what for? My mom looks at me. I see her mouth moving, but cannot hear a sound. I know she just asked me something and I should know what to say back, but I don’t. I don’t even know what she has said, or how many times she has said it to me.

Growing up without parents at a young age was difficult. I didn’t understand why things happened the way they did and why no one was ever there to answer the many questions I had. Seeing the kids at school drawing their perfect house and family was almost too much to bear sometimes. All the school events, holidays, birthdays and activities always made me feel like I wasn’t whole. At a young age, I knew that I only had myself and with no parental support, it felt like the chances of succeeding were diminished. Without the love and support from a family, it's hard to stay on the right track and have the motivation to do better. I remember envying my peers because I so badly desired what they had. I had to learn how to overcome the jealousy while learning how to be independent. Being on my own taught me to appreciate what I had and how to make light of any situation that life may throw.

Some days you wake up and feel something is wrong, or you feel that something is going to go very right today. The date was september 4th, 2016. The day felt pretty normal, I got up, got dressed, ate breakfast and got ready for school. I go to my bus stop at 7:30 and right now it was 7:18. I decided to see how my fish was. I have an 60 gallon aquarium that held more than 50 fish. I gave them some more food and saw that my grandpa was going to put some decorations in the aquarium. When 7:30 hit I put on my shoes and walked to my bus stop. I had a good day at school, and I thought I was going to fail my science test. I actually I passed the test, I was so happy. My day was going pretty good until I went home.

I was drowning in my tears. The life I once had was soon about to transform, and I wasn’t sure if it was for the best. My life’s been an ongoing rollercoaster, with several volatile destinations on the way. It was 2015 and my mom had just delivered the news that we were moving to New Orleans in a couple months. Well - you see, my heart has and will always be in Miami, the city where I watched myself sprout, where I roamed the streets on the quest for adventure.

And emotional breakthrough that I have experienced is, when my 93 year old grandmother had to be rushed to the hospital because, her stomach was bloated. So when my grandmother arrived at the hospital, and they took her to the back they had told us, that it was gas backed up in her stomach. Later, that day they told us that they was going to keep her overnight to see will the bloating in her stomach would go down and run test. Eventually, the next day approached and my grandmother was released. After my grandmother was released, two days later after her stomach went down, it bloated again so we took my grandmother back to the hospital. They recently told us, that my grandmother had pneumonia and it was getting really bad. Soon, that night my 93 year old grandmother had went into cardiac arrest for the first time. The doctors resuscitated my grandmother. Then, a few hours later my grandmother went into cardiac arrest for the second time, and they couldn’t bring my grandmother back. My grandmother was a fighter May 14, 2014 was the day my grandmother would never come back. My family and I were devasted, not knowing that it will be our last goodbye.

When I was young, I struggled with honesty and openness in communication which made my life more difficult. My parents could not trust me, and I would lie without even thinking about it. I was not the best child in the world, and I did not always choose to look at the good side of things. That was before, before the divorce.

Through my entire life, I have been through difficult times that made me reflected on it and depressed. Situations that make your days hard and always they have a big impact on your life. Probably never forget them. I was not born in this country, I have over three years living in Hollister. During the first two years, my life was not easy, especially the first year in town. I was born in Guatemala, a country in Central America. That’s where my life began. Been in a different country is hard, learn its language is difficult, its culture and try to belong to it.

One hour later, and my life became changed forever. My loving and caring family I bonded with would no longer be the same. The long walks with my mom in the evening would soon become a distant memory. Decorating for the holidays was just around the corner and I would have to hang up the stocking on the chimney without her. The sweet, rich, chocolate brownies she made every Friday night would leave my taste buds empty. Her hugs that made me feel loved when I was sad would now be a thought in my head, and our long talks about growing up and finding my way would be cut short.

There was a time when i was a little boy, only 6 years old and i had a big fear of being alone or being in the dark which wasn't unusual for a kid that age. I was a happy kid and had no problems in life i just had a normal life. One day my mom came in my room when i was listening to music and said “hey honey, the house is kinda boring why don't we go on a vacation for a day or two” i smiled and said sure why not. I didn't get to explore a lot in the world and it i thought it would be a great experience and have a little fun. There wasn't any problem about going on a vacation right? Me and my mom started packing our stuff up and put everything in the car like snacks, drinks, anything you would need for a trip then we hit the road. We were heading to california up by ocean side so we could go to the beach. I would of been my first time going to the beach because i lived in yuma which is a really deserted place, there's nothing there but little water parks and pools so i was very excited to go to a beach. The ride was gonna take about 2 or 3 hours my mom said which kinda disappointed me but i didn't care i was a happy kid. It was about 10 a.m and i was pretty tired, we had 3 hours to go and i thought i could get some sleep to make the time pass.

I woke up to the smell of crispy bacon and eggs racing through the house. I went to the kitchen to find a small white paper next to 2 bacon-egg cheese burritos and orange juice. I read the note and it said “ DEAR JONATHON , i am currently at the store getting stuff for the house ill see you later, LOVE MOM!!!” When i read it at first i kind of cringed but i just sat down and ate my burritos and they tasted so cheesey and crunchy it was awesome . Once i finished i went into the living room to listen to the radio. We live in a shaft in the middle of the forest and its never light because the trees but that doesn’t stop me from doing what i want to do, so I decided to go outside and play soccer by myself to waste some time. But out of the corner of my eye i saw a tall old creature with a long beard and a robe, he looked very warned out and tired. He walked over to me as slow as a slug, then i ran into my house because i got scared. Suddenly my face was inside a bag and i was being carried, so i screamed for my life “HEEEEEEEELLLLLLPPPPP!!!!IM BEING KIDNAPED HHEEELLLPPP!!” No one heard me because the nearest road is about 2 hours away. I woke up in a cave and saw a man mixing something in a huge pot over a fire , it smelt like dead rats piled up in a hole.