My Experience With Evolutionary Pressure

Rural, northern Alabama is a beautiful place. It is a fantastic area to grow up and it is filled with people who would not hesitate to pull over on Highway 72 to jump start your car. Living here has developed me into the man I am today, instilling characteristics into me that I will forever hold dear and appreciate. My home town has given me all it has to offer, and I will forever be proud to have been raised here. Though I love where I have been raised, it holds restrictions that inhibit my abilities from cultivating to the extent I desire. In honest words, where I reside is not a great place for intelligence to thrive. I attend a public school in a small community of about a thousand people or less where ninety percent of graduating classes tend to stay

Growing up in Chicago, I attended a neighborhood school from preschool through first grade. Although it was an exceptional school for elementary kids, the education for middle school and high school students was not as adequate. Seeking a better place to raise their children, my parents were faced with a tough choice. When I was in 2nd grade, our family made the decision to move to the suburbs. On July 3rd, we all packed into our Honda minivan and drove 45 minutes to a new home in the town of Winnetka. Within my first year at Crow Island, my new school, I learned so many new things. I started playing the violin and speaking Spanish, neither of which were offered at my old school. I met my best friends that I'm still close with now. Over the

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

I can remember sitting in class, feeling eyes burning through me, dodging inquisitive glances from all sides, and anxiously awaiting the bell to ring for lunchtime. As most people know, lunch is the most dreaded part of the first day at a new school. First day of school memories are still fairly vivid for me; my father was in the JAG corps in the Army and my family moved with biannual regularity. In fact, I even attended three different high schools. While this may seem highly undesirable to some, I learned an incredible amount about myself, the world, and other people through moving that I may never have learned otherwise. What I have learned about myself and the world will without a doubt contribute to my success in life and even law

Then, incidentally, we moved again. My freshmen year of high school at Argyle had just concluded, and my dad decided that it was simply too expensive to live there. I met this decision with both apprehension and relief. He determined that we belonged in Mineola, Texas. Typically, I would have been miserable, but this time, I was thrilled. It was strange because I loved Argyle, yet I was so eager to leave. The longer I contemplated how this could be possible, I realized it was because I could not wait to meet new people, scenarios, and experiences. I was ready for my newest challenge.

When I moved to West Bloomfield there was major change and it honestly took me a while to adapt. The majority of the students in my school where white and things were different. Other minority groups like Blacks, Asians, Mexicans, etc were underrepresented. Developing this new outlook even at a young age really enabled me to understand the importance of education.

We couldn’t build a treehouse or ride a four-wheeler in Clinton. We eventually sold the two-story, mahogany-red house in Clinton and moved to a place called Pisgah, Mississippi. We rented a two-story, blue house that had about two acres of land for six months while my parents searched and searched online for their dream house. It was beside a giant soybean field, a mechanic, and the sweet, old lady next door. The house was pretty old and worn out. It was the beginning of 2015 and the second semester of school was about to start. I’m very nerdy so all the other nerds at the school welcomed me there. There were a lot of white people there and very few African-Americans. Everybody had a thick, country accent and wore camouflage there. Even the Spanish teacher was a redneck like everybody else. I didn’t feel comfortable at first, but after a while it sort of changed

It was the year 2008, I had just graduated from St. Michael’s School located in Los Angeles, CA. This year was quite exhilarating for me also scary because I was going to attend an all-girls high school. Los Angeles was my birth place also a place where I called home. One day, I came home to hearing my parents talking about moving to Mississippi. I remained devastated, not only we were moving to the south, I’m moving away from childhood friends. I was worried I wouldn’t see them again and I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to make new friends in Mississippi.

When I lived in North Carolina in 2012, I lived in a small school within a tight nit community. From day one I felt as though I didn’t belong, and the ones who made me feel most out of place were my teachers. My teachers told me to leave and go back to Maryland because if i stay I would fail. I couldn’t believe teachers would say that I was so shocked. My teachers rarely attempted to help me with my work as if I was unteachable because I didn’t learn as fast as everyone else.

Growing up in the inner city of Los Angeles taught me many things; make sure you’re inside before the street lights come on, never wear all red or blue, and make sure you get a good education so that one day you can leave the inner city behind. I was fortunate enough to have both a mother and a father who stressed the importance of excelling academically because attending an inner city, LA county, public school did not instill a love of academics in myself or my peers. Our teachers had checked out, the curriculum was not inspiring or relatable, and everyday there was yet another fight happening during recess. As time went on I witnessed my classmates and I take completely different paths. The strong support system I had at home proved effective. As I went on to go to college, many of my peers dropped out, the dismal state of our public school system had clearly failed them. During my undergraduate studies, the stories of my old classmates did not leave my mind.

Middle school, when that word pops up in one’s head, it’s a sudden reminder of dreadfulness, broken promises, regrets, first crushes, and last but not least, learned lessons. Another morning had brought another school day. Seeing familiar faces and teachers I just wanted to get through the day with no hassle, but that’s not always the case. At least it wasn’t for me. Making my way through the extended halls and walls that seemed to enclose upon me, I felt nothing more than like a chained prisoner. The bell rung and I remained seated in my class, encompassed by boxed, outdated computers and rusty white walls, I felt

Growing up in the south is usually a pretty peaceful event; it’s quiet and there’s never too much going on. As a child, I attended a small private school in Tennessee. My three best friends, Hannah, Zane and Chandler also went to the same school with me, and we were all in the same sunday school class. I spent my entire childhood with these three friends, and many of my fondest memories come from this period. When I was entering the sixth grade, my dad had to move to Virginia for his job, so my mom and I came with him. My parents bought a house in Chesapeake, and I began going to a public school for the first time. I expected a big difference, and I was worried that I was going to hate it there (picture the scene from Mean Girls where all the teenagers are acting

The alarm clock buzzed loudly beside my ear. Feeling like a gong that was being hit repeatedly was placed right beside my head. I sluggishly pulled myself out of my bed and dragged myself to my closet. The words, first day of school moaned ghastly in my head. Summer was uneventful and school was just going to be hell. I picked out an old, worn out flannel and a pair of jeans to wear. Not rushing at all, I struggled to put the raggedy clothes on. They smelt like horrendous lies and rumors. Exactly what this state and my school are built on.

All I see is the same color around me. Faces of familiarity pass and I feel safe. This was my mentality for most of my life. I am from a small, agricultural town in California called Santa Maria. My whole life is based on what this town has provided for me growing up. I want to say that it had done more for me, but truthfully, I can’t quite say it did. At my high school, there seemed to be a lack of quality. It only offered 9 AP classes and had a demographics of 97% Hispanic. It was hard to cater to those who wanted to go to college. My group of friends and I were some of the determined few who wanted to leave to a four-year institution. My local community college was referred as ‘high school: part two’. This in my mind sounded so bad and something I didn’t want to be a part of. The road to college was going to be tricky for me, but I would do whatever I could do the give me the best possible chance.

I’ve lived in three different states and attended six schools over the past eight years. Relocating from Texas to Michigan, and later Michigan to Georgia were big adjustments for me. I missed my friends and close relatives. However, I knew I had to make the best of my circumstances. Through these experiences, I began to learn to be more flexible, become more open-minded to different traditions, and be adventurous in different parts of the country-I played volleyball, joined a dance team, and even went skiing! At school, I also focused on excelling in my classes and challenge myself like I did when adjusting to a new town.