Essay about My Experience at Sinai Plaza and HYCCF

When people are struck with hardships in life, the way they react reveals their true character. Having a certain mindset can greatly influence how they handle problems, differentiating one person from another. Many can feel discouraged and feel like giving up when they hit a rough patch. In other cases, the will to be in a position better than where they are at the moment gives them the motivation to succeed. Adversity can have a positive effect on the development of an individual's character, providing them with the drive to overcome their current situation.

Facing a reality of my inception into an underprivileged life with small business owners for parents and siblings much older than I am, still struggling to find stability in their lives. I constantly questioned how I would turn out. I understood at a young age the perplexities of my family's struggles, that I lacked all the resources such as financial assistance, lack of insight, and encouragement from my family. Thus, leaving me ill prepared for my future and for the rest of my life to come.

It caused me to suppress the anger and hatred that I had because of the absence of a father figure. It also allowed me to develop thick skin and perseverance when things became tough. As I continue to move forward, I take the experiences that have shaped who I am along with me. The next chapter in my life will be dental school where I can make an impact on my peers, the staff and the school as a whole. I hope that my ability to strive for greatness despite many odds will be something that I can spread among my peers as I continue on my path to becoming a

Near the middle of her article, Perry argues that even though statistics show black girls having the highest self-esteem of their physical appearances, the rate will fall as they “move into adolescence and their bodies come under scrutiny” (138).

It is very common in the world to be judged by cultural traits and be associated to these traits in daily situations. Similarly, Drew Hayden Taylor discusses, in his article, “Pretty Like a White Boy” how he got questioned about being an Aboriginal based on his looks. He uses his personal experiences, in arguing the difficulties others gave him based on Aboriginal stereotypes about how one should act and behave. Taylor effectively persuades the reader by discussing these personal experiences that indulge the reader to understand that an individual may look different from the majority of the cultural background, but they still have the cultural upbringing within them. These significant personal experiences intrigues that he has actually faced

The fourth chapter of "Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?”is about the identity development in adolescence. It is said that when black children are growing up, they engage in many of the white culture’s beliefs and values as it is all around them. It is not until a little later where they begin to recognize the impact of racism. This can happen around the early stages of adulthood. It might even happen around the junior high age. Gender also comes into play around this time as well. A black girl wouldn't be acknowledged for her beauty in a white setting as she is not in the society's standard for beautiful. Since the black girls aren’t considered beautiful, they begin to feel devalued. The black youth are beginning

People are judged for their appearance all over the world, every day. People with brown, ragged clothes are assumed to be less intelligent, or homeless. People with long hair are assumed to be female. There are many stereotypes that limit the social actions of many people, and it is not just in real life. Rodman Philbrick shows that these stereotypes are not always true in the book “Freak The Mighty” in the form of Maxwell Cane, Kevin, Loretta, and Iggy Lee. All of those characters are misjudged by others, and in some cases, even by themselves. The message that your appearance does not determine who you are is very important, and applies to everyone everywhere.

Jane’s special project sparked when she told her young class of eight and nine year olds that blue-eyed people were smarter and were better than brown-eyed people. Blue-eyed children were allowed an extra five minutes at recess, could have extras at lunch, got to sit in the front of the classroom, and were greatly applauded for their successes. On the opposite spectrum, brown-eyed students were forced to wear navy fabric collars in order to be easily identified. The groups were forced into segregation and were not allowed to play with one another out on the playground. Even when a brown-eyed student is tormented, the exercise continues; it is all a part of the experiment. The next day, the children switched roles, allowing them to all comprehend the degrading and humiliating emotional aspects of being an “outsider”.

Omi and Winant explains how humans make judgments because of how they think and sometimes they make judgments according to what they see on the outside and grouping accordingly rather than thinking about it first. An example from Caucasia that shows this is, “All right brotherman, who’s the little girl?... she’s my daughter. Is there a problem...The cops didn’t believe my father, not even when he showed them a photograph of me and my sister that he kept in his wallet” ( Senna 60) .This quote shows how Birdie and her father were approached by two police officers while having quality time in a park; these officers made assumptions based on Birdie’s skin tone without thinking that she may be mixed and it proves Omi and Winant’s point because the officers’ perception of races are based by the shaping of race in society. The theme of racial etiquette in Caucasia proves what Omi and Winant are trying to say because people judge without thinking of the possibilities that one may not be the race that is perceived from physical appearances.

Every individual comes to a point in their lives during which they reach a tipping point between adolescence and adulthood. I happened to reach that tipping point when my mom told me the story of how our family got to America and to the position we are in now. Before I heard this story, I used to complain about small issues all the time, and take important things for granted, but after hearing the story, I am extremely thankful for how we are living and all that we have. I felt like a changed man due to my family's past and it gave me unbelievable amounts of determination to work hard and to become successful in the future, not only for myself, but also so that I could make sure my family would never be in that situation ever again.

Throughout my life I faced a lot of challenges. I had to overcome the obstacle that was on my way. The obstacle made me stronger and made me the person who I am right now a ambitious and hardworking student. The problem shaped me up because I know that I have to work for what I want and to not depend on no one, this made me more independent. Also, I learned from my mistake and try to do better.

Tatum starts off explaining that in elementary children do not see race they only see other children. Children view each other as playmates not concerning themselves with issues

it is in our DNA to judge based on appearance. Stereotyping has affected my life at a very young

Through the research of scholarly articles and publications, it has been found that the intersection of the racial and ethnic identity of an individual both shapes and affects their personal growth and development in childhood and adolescence (Rivas-Drake, et al.). According to French, et al., this has been a more recent conversation with racial preference being researched in the 1940’s and 1950’s using dolls, and research involving the ethnic identity of children, under the age of 10, beginning only in the early 1990’s (2). Furthermore, earlier data involved mostly African American adolescents and focused on their negative experiences and internalization of racism rather than positive

When I was only a little girl, I had been told that true beauty came from within. Yet as I grew up, I noticed that looks mattered. From their attractiveness, race, age, or gender, anyone’s image was always up for scrutiny. Under those circumstances, I grew up thinking that if people were to judge me based on my appearance, that I should judge them the same way. Though, as I became older, I at some point learned that how a person looked wasn’t always in their range of control. A person simply isn’t born with the choice of picking what they look like, nor are they born with the choice of having a genetic disorder or disease. In that case, I believe that nobody should be defined purely based on what they look like.