My Experience In My Life

I always have thought to myself how my mother can live up and always stay positive with her rough childhood and adulthood. One day I decided to ask her about her childhood and adolescence years. I then asked her, “Can you tell me about your background years?” She started off by saying “I was raised in a not so amazing neighborhood in New York, which was Queens.” I wanted to know more and get into her life journey even more, so we talked the whole night about her life journey.

Everybody has a mountain to overcome and it's your choice whether you stay stuck in the valley or rise to the peak. An in my life I've had a mountain that not only I have overcome but, learned valuable lessons along the way. The crux of my struggle was the splitting of my parents which put me through some emotional instability. This, in hindsight, was the best for me as well as my parents but being young and selfish I seen it as my world splitting in half.

Some point in my young life there were many time I wanted to be older then I already am. I can remember as far back as when I was 13 years old I had many moments when I wish I was already an adult had my own car and house no one to abide to. As I grew up I noticed, I wanted tom be older faster I was tired of annoying teachers telling me they know where my life was heading, I wanted to prove them wrong faster than they could grade my test. I wanted to have my own house and car if it was possible I would drive to middle school. The older, I got I wanted to finish school and start life but I didn’t really know how to do it. All we ever talked about in school was school stuff but no one really told me you need to do this and do that to be successful in life.

The summer before I went into the sixth grade my mom took my two sisters Natalie and Liberty, my brother Derek and I to Chicago for a family trip. We drove for a long 8 hours. My mom picked Chicago because that is where she was born and raised. She also wanted us to know where she lived and know about her childhood. When we arrived in Chicago, the first thing we did was go to the neighborhood my mom lived in with her adopted family and where my grandparents lived. My mom cried a little because it had been so long since she had visited her old house. After that we went and checked into our hotel and went to dinner at a steakhouse. Then once we were done eating we went to a car show.

First, we checked out my Uncle’s new house. It was a big, white house with a big backyard. They had a very cute dog who loved me! I made a new friend that day. Then, we all went to my Aunt’s house with my grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, and some of my mom’s friends from high school and college. The second I walked into their backyard, the smell of hotdogs and sausage hit me like a bullet. Everyone greeted me with hugs and smiles. There was a pool and a cute little dog named Zeus who was sleeping on the deck and snoring. I swam for a little and then I talked to all of my relatives that were there. The food was absolutely amazing! I had a bunch of hot dogs and sausages with salad and pasta salad. For dessert there was yummy chocolate cheesecake with strawberries that my aunt made, which was even more delicious than the main

After sitting down on the porch with coffee in hand, waves of nostalgia washed over me. Staring into my coffee, flashbacks ran through my mind. The old, yellow school bus rocked back and forth over the worn dirt path on its way to the orphanage that would be my home for the following week. The scolding South American sun beated down on the school bus as I began to question why I chose to spend my service requirement here. I tried to imagine the following week which would be wifi less, family-less, and air conditioning less. After a two hour bus ride, my team of 20 people and I arrived at Orphanage Emmanuel. Orientation and assignments filled the following hours until we all climbed onto our plastic mattresses and attempted to get some sleep.

At 6 years old, I was invited to a friend’s house after school. Of course I was eager; it was the first time I had ever been in to anyone else’s house without my parents. Young me was just happy to be around new people and the anticipation was eating away at me. I remember that day being excruciatingly long. As soon as the bell rang

It was finally the summer and me, my brother Matias, and my mom were at the airport waiting for boarding of the plane. A couple of hours later we were all standing in the heart of the city, waiting for my aunt to come and pick us

Starting in my eleventh-grade year of high school, I never knew all the changes I would experience. I attended Chickasaw High School in Chickasaw, AL. It was a little school, which had about five hundred students in total. I did not live in Chickasaw like all the other kids. I lived about twenty minutes away in Mobile, AL with my dad and stepmom. I went to this school because my stepmom (LaRae) was a teacher there. Also, I was like most girls in high school, I had a high school sweetheart named Michael Matthews. I thought my eleventh-grade year of high school was going to be a great and memorable experience until I found out some horrible news.

In 2014 my life changed drastically, and I have not been the same person that I was that short time ago. It all began with my big secret coming out and continued to roll into a giant snowball, up until I finally found the sun to melt it away. I went through a long depressive phase and then along my journey I found peace again.

This was it. Everything I had ever done had led up to this weekend, to this moment. All the hard work, all the supporting roles, all the learning from people older than me. I was finally ready to have my chance to be in the light. I remember pacing back and forth with smell of fresh paint in my nose, the stage having been painted the day before. My hands were shaking. I kept checking my arms to make sure I had not sweat through my costume. I kept running the opening monologue in my head, hoping and praying I did not forget anything. Then the time came. The lights had gone out and I could still hear the murmur of people talking as I stepped out on stage.

Every summer, my siblings and I would take a trip to the country with our mom to visit my grandparents. That trip would be our summer treat. Things for me, however, were a bit more complicated because I lived with my paternal aunt in the town and she determined whether or not I had earned the right to that vacation trip. I always looked forward to our trip as it was an opportunity to be with my siblings and I would escape the strict, over-bearing control of my aunt. Living with my aunt was very much like being in boot camp. I was not allowed to sit idly for more than five minutes at a time as there was always something she needed done. Daily she would schedule a list of chores for me to complete and usually it was more than I could accomplish in a day. A trip to the country would allow me to enjoy a few weeks of liberty, so I would endure a year of torture to be awarded that trip.

“Remember that unlike you, I did not have an opportunity to finish school”, my mother always told me this to remind me of the importance of education. After her father’s death, she was forced to drop out of primary school because there was no one to pay for her education and to help take care of her mother and brother. With a less than 8th-grade education level, she worked odd jobs including, selling street foods, and currently selling second-hand shoes shipped from affluent countries in the Gikomba open-air market. She is my biggest inspiration because every day she wakes up at 4:00 am and arrives to work before 6:00 am hoping for a great day. Although working in Gikomba market does not guarantee any income, she remains determined and hardworking. Sometimes she comes home with no earned income but always carries with her a grateful heart. In Kariobangi South where I live, many people are like my mother.

I woke up, and immediately regretted it. I had just been in a wonderful dream. That’s all I know. The dream was forgotten when I came around. I wish I hadn’t arose from my slumber. I could’ve just. . . died. Dying would be less stressful than my current situation. Oh. I need to introduce myself. I’m a fourteen year old named John Bernfield, one of the many—too many—Johns in the city I live in, Philadelphia. I have lost my family, my job, my home, and everything else I possessed.

Stomp,stomp,stomp!That's all that the 12 year old boy David Henry heard day after day. That’s because he was shipped with his Dad to the military. Then one day on the ship that the Army likes to call the submaripper. It was called the submaripper because the ship was 40 acres in total and could sink a ship by just ramming into it. Another 12 year old boy came to David who was quietly waiting for any excitement below deck. He said his name was Tanner and like David his mom was shipped to the military.