My Experience In My Life

Have you ever been in a conversation where you have no clue what to say next. Have you ever been in a situation where you see someone you don't know and wanna talk to them but dont have the courage to say anything?

For the majority of my life I have belonged in the little world, stretching from Chicago to Cleveland and South Bend to Nashville. The boundaries of my known world have always felt like a limiting factor in my life. While my friends ventured to far away lands every year, I would spend the night at my grandparents house or we would make a day-trip to a city. With spring break approaching my family and I were going to change that, we were going to South Carolina.

I had only left the United States once before in my life. It was a small trip to London with my mother to visit a distant relative. It was a quick trip, maybe 3 or 4 days and I could hardly remember it because it was 12 years ago. I didn’t have much motivation to leave home again except for university. Until I got a call. On Wednesday, April 24th at exactly 3:37 pm I got a call from my aunt Kaasni. This was no ordinary phone call, as we normally had pre-organized phone calls every other Sunday evening and she hardly talked to me when I had school work. That was the deal with my parents after my father left – I could speak to my aunt who he lived with every other Sunday and on certain holidays. I picked up the phone and my father, drunk and hazy spoke. “Sasha my dear ba-ba-baby how are you,” he slurred “you know what, I think you should come spend some time with me, here in Calcutta, get a different taste of what life is like for your old man.” It took a moment for me to process what he had said – he wanted me to see him, after 15 years, he wanted me in his life again. Then I heard my auntie on the phone “Sasha? I am so sorry, your father drank a little too much. We are on holiday here and I hope he hasn’t disturbed you,” she said. “Oh no Auntie Kay, its fine,” I replied, still deep in thought. The line went silent for a moment as I heard her shush my intoxicated father while she held her palm to the phone. She picked up once again and continued apologizing until I

Until I was about nine years old, I never felt uncomfortable about myself. Sure I had funny glasses, large frizzy hair, and a smile which stretched just a tad too wide, but it was just who I was. Fourth grade seemed to be the pivotal moment where the issues started which would later go on to shape the rest of my life. It started off innocently enough. Who do you like, do you want to go shopping, can I paint your nails, etc. I would respond simply. I don’t like anyone, I don’t want to go shopping, no I don’t want you to paint my nails. I had no idea then, but these were not the answers people expected me to give. They wanted to know which boy I liked, when we were going to go shopping, and how I wanted my nails painted. Shortly I found myself spending most of my time alone. I didn’t understand it. What was wrong with me? Why did I not like doing the things other girls liked doing? I feared the answers that I might give, so those questions went largely unanswered.

It is not too long ago that I decided to become a pharmacist. I lived in South Korea most of my life. Back then, I had no idea what I wanted to be other than thinking about immigrate to the United States. I had chance to visit my uncle’s college graduation when I was a little boy and I only dreamed about living in the U.S ever afterward. For example, I decided to go to nursing school simply because there are more chances to move to the U.S as a nurse. The problem was I did not do well in terms of academic performance because I only thought about how to move to the U.S. Additionally, I admitted to hospital couple of times because of a pneumothorax so my gpa bottomed out.

“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.”

Pflugerville, growing up in this town has been a unique experience not many others can say they had for themselves. Although I never tend to focus on the past, I still have seen this town grow to the extremity it is now today, in being one of the fastest growing areas in all of the United States. Many things you now see today like the new high school or the hospital which is being developed were not here when my I had first moved here. Reflecting back to my childhood, I find it to be inspiring- the experiences and knowledge I have gained throughout my life. Even if i had the chance to change things, I wouldn’t, I would do everything the exact same. My decisions may have not been the greatest at times, but they shaped me into what I am today. While there were many factors to lead me to how I am now, not all were as important as others. Growing up with a brother for example has been something in which words alone will not show how much I appreciate him. Also, growing up in the country has isolated me from a lot of things I sometimes wish I could take back, however the past is gone and the future in now. Many factors have shaped me into the person that I am today and I am grateful for each and everyone of them.

I grew up in Romania where I called a camper my home for the first eight years of my life. We moved from city to city reaching out to the Gypsy community. A childhood in which one gets lice most summers, intermingles two languages assuming everyone understands both, and attends second grade in three different countries is, of course, an unconventional upbringing. With the unconventional upbringing, however, came extraordinary experiences that have shaped who I am and the life I have chosen to pursue.

I don't consider myself a Good Samaritan or even a role model but I do take 5 day out of my life in a whole year to help kids with many types of disabilities including my little sister. Every year I volunteer at Kamp Dovetail in June, we sleep in a tent every night outside in the blistering heat and unpredictable weather. Every day we get up at 7 am and start our day off with breakfast, which many different sponsor donate, we then proceed to group time where we talk about our fun filled activities for the day. Some of the activities include arts and crafts, fishing, boating, horseback riding, recreation, bouncy house, mini golfing, and the most popular of all swimming. For many kids this week is the only week that they can experience some of these activities because not all of the children have excellent home lives so we all strive to make this the best week that they'll always remember and want to return next year. Even though we try to do our best to control every situation to have the best possible outcome, we can't control the weather. I have been volunteering for five years and every year we would have to evacuate to the nearest school because of a huge thunderstorm that would flood the whole camp site. Normally we can watch the radar and pack up before the storm hits however, one year that wasn't the case.

The time was coming near, before I pass I must pass my medicine bag onto my great grandson. I started my journey leaving my home in the reservation where I live. I put on a big black hat with my long black coat, over my bright red satin shirt. I wore my beaded bolo tie under my collar as a formal accent. I had stuffed my boots with money that my family would need to provide for my funeral. Knowing I would not come back I waved to all my friends on the reservation as I boarded the bus to take me to my only living descendents house, which I have been longing to see, and now will get to before I die. The bus ride from South Dakota to Iowa lastest nearly two and a half days. On the bus I mostly tried to sleep or muttered songs to myself, nobody sat near me which didn’t bother me at all. When I arrived I was tired and stiff from sitting for so long, but I was determined to make it to my family’s house. After wandering around the city for a while I had stopped to rest at a large building, nothing here was familiar to me. Suddenly, a large man who had many weapons around his waist come over to talk to me. He was very nice and guided me to the nearest bus stop and told me how to get to Bellview Drive, a street i’ve have been saying over and over again in my mind. I had took the bus that the man had instructed and got off at Bell View Drive. I had been searching for their household by number but when I walked on the sidewalks it was hard to see the other side of the street. So I started walking in the middle of the street looking on both sides as I walked. As I kept walking wolf-like creatures started following me attacking at my feet but I had to find the house so I brushed it aside. Then children started to congregate behind me. I kept walking till Martin had found me and shued my parade away.

The summer after freshman year, I went on a journey that completely changed my life forever and opened a whole new door to my life. My four weeks in Grenada, Nicaragua, put me in situations that not many freshmen get to experience at home. During this experience, I was able to do lots of community service, visit students at their school, play games with kids, and of course, study Spanish.

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.

Growing up it was always tremendously hard for me. My life was always at a disadvantage and it felt as if i was never completely happy. When i was five years old, just graduating kindergarten and going into first grade, my parents split up. I was never given the opportunity to chose who i wanted to live with, so my mom gained custody of my twin sister and i. I obviously was only five years old and i was not capable of understanding what was going on at the time. As i got older, it got harder for me. My parents had always put me in the middle of situations. My mother did not communicate with my father and therefore they made my sister and i the messengers. It was always a sticky situation and i never wanted to be in the middle of it. Every

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.

“Home isn’t a place, it’s a feeling,” said Cecelia Ahern. In my lifetime, I’ve yet to understand this. All my life has been in different places. My dad is an engineer at an Indian company called Infosys. It requires a lot of hard work, effort, and most of all, traveling. I’ve been to eight different cities and ten different schools. But, who’s counting?