My Family And My Life

After a short ten-minute walk home from school, when I finally arrived at my house, I flopped onto the couch. It was a Friday afternoon, and I was ready for the football game that night, and for the weekend to begin. My mom was sitting on the couch across from me and asked me how my day at school was. I described to her what had happened that day, and the stuff we did in my classes. As we get done talking about school, she inquired

I wanted to just go home a lot of the time, but stayed because our house was a little too far. I never really complained because I knew my mom had so much on her plate being a single parent so I was just thankful for what I did have. I experienced the real world at a young age, and when I turned 16 started my first job to support my family. My mom and I split the bills so she wouldn’t have to work two jobs anymore. It wasn’t easy at all, and used to always wish I had a different life. Everyone my age always had fun on the weekends while I had to save all my money for bills. Managing school on weekdays and work on the weekend was hard at first, and I had to learn to put my happiness aside to make my mother happy. Slowly, the money my mom and I had put together was enough to put a downpayment on a small house for the three of us. Not only that, but I finally had my own room, bed, and a big desk so I didn’t have to do my homework on the bed anymore. Everytime I walk into my room I see all the sweat I put in these past years to achieve my goal. I’m happy I didn’t let where I grew up mess up my future, and have overcome all the obstacles that have came into my life so

Throughout the years, I have grown and matured as a student, and a person. I have had several experiences which have shaped me into who I am and also shaped my values. I value family. As a senior in highschool, I had a lot of things on my shoulders. I needed to pick a college, a major, pretty much figure out my entire life in a matter of nine months. Many students had their family to fall back on when they needed support, I however, did not. My parents both had jobs that would take them away during the week. I would be home alone, taking care of the dogs, the house and myself while they were gone. It was very hard at first and I struggled. I was use to coming home and talking about whatever happened that day at school and practice, or something

I lived in a small trailer home with my mom, dad, older brother and younger brother. I loved that little trailer, even if it was not the best, I still called it home. Even though I loved that place, there were times when I noticed that my parents would struggle financially and they wanted us to have more than a little home, they wanted the best for us. There were also personal difficult obstacles we had to overcome as a family. As a result, my mom went back into college to study for a Registered Nurse. I didn’t spend as much time with my mom as one child wishes they could, but I knew she was working lots of hours and going to class just to be able to give us the life she thought we deserved. The same applies for my dad, I knew he would come home from work in pain, exhausted, but he was doing it all for his kids. As I was growing up and noticing these things about them, I began to admire them and loved how

I was born very early and had teenage parents who did not really have their life together at that time. My parents were both high school dropouts. My dad dropped out because school was not for him and he just wanted to work and get money and my mom dropped out because school was not for her also and she was pregnant with me and did not want to deal with school. My dad worked everyday to keep our family moving and my mom just stayed at my grandmas house with me because obviously she had to take care of me. So we were living by paycheck to paycheck. One year later my sister was born and two years later after that my other sister was born. Since my parents really did not have that much money to get our own place we would live at my grandmas house to my papa’s house but at times we would have to camp out at the beach because we had no other choice. When we would live at the beach I would think that we were just camping for fun but I did not realize that we did not have any place to stay. My parents clothed me and my sisters, provided food for us, but we did not have a house over our head. So

As, we settled in Palatine, without a father in my life, I basically became a father and a caregiver to my brother and sister. Many days and nights, my Mother, had to go out and run some errands, there would never be anyone to babysit my siblings especially since money is so tight. I would be the one watching them, many times it could be for hours and other times it could be all day. They would often have seizures, which I learned how to take care of and learned how to distribute the emergency medication. Often, I would have to come home from school or practice and help make dinner, clean the house, or help get my brother and sister ready for bed. After doing all of these chores to help my Mother out , and i would still be able to crank out my homework, and still manage to get great grades, because I knew the importance of them. This has always been a stressful situation in my life. My life has made me a better person, everything has matured me, and made me a better person. All of this is a part of my identity/background , it's made me who I am, and prepared me for the life. I'm not the normal football jock, this is my

My life was split over two distinct culture as my family moved back and forth between Syria and the United States. My family immigrated to the U.S. in the early eighties and moved back to Syria two years after I was born. I completed my first and second grades in Syrian public schools before immigrating to the United States in 2001. I was first placed in english second language classes, which I completed in 9 months. I then continued my fourth grade in regular classrooms. These two years exposed me to various cultures, ethnicities, and backgrounds. I interacted with people from all around the world, which cultivated my cultural awareness and shaped my identity. However, I was harassed several times because of my ethnic and religious background. A student once told me “go back to your country, we don’t want you here”. It had never occurred to me that I was perceived as foreign even though I am a U.S. citizen.

I don’t like work—no man does—but I like what is in work—the chance to find yourself. Your own reality … —what no other man can ever know. They can only see the mere show, and never can tell what it really means.

Growing up was not easy as it will seem my parents started to own grocery store in 2001 when I was just one year old and throughout the years they change it to a restaurant but they did not have anyone to help the so my parents had it to take my sister and I to work everyday. Both of them had it to work everyday and they did not had time for us, when we started to get a little bit older they started to leave us home alone when my sister was nine and I was six. As a kid I did not understand why they had it to leave everyday, so I started to cry because I did not wanted them to leave. My sister made it her job to take care of me and basically raise me. My sister was born three years before me and as kids we were inseparable. My mother use too

As a teenger , growing up was tough especially without a mother. At the age of fifteen I became the woman and mother to my 4 year old sister. She looked up to me as a sister, mother and a role model. Being that age and taking that much responsibility it was nerve wracking and frustrating because I couldn’t go anywhere neither allow to participate in any after school program because my dad had to work to put food on the table and make sure

As i reached the door and I looked at my mom with desperation of not wanting to enter the dreaded new class room. My mom pulled me over into a corner and crouched down to my level, and looked deep into my water filled eyes. she slowly tucked my awkward length bangs behind my head band, as she watched tears make there way from my eyes to my chin. She looked at me and said “I know what your going through- I switched from school to school growing up,” I nodded quickly as I sniffled and wiped my tears onto the backs of my hands. She said as she hugged me. “ Life is full of firsts, First day of school, first time you have a sleepover, the first time you go to the mall by yourself- I will always be there to help you, but sometimes your going to have to do somethings without me.” as she smiled at me i started to catch my breath. “ wipe your tears away and go in their and be confident and kind and don’t be afraid of anything or anyone- have self confidence and you will be able to do anything!” I took a deep breath and walked into the room, and smiled and said to the class “Hi- I’m Katie,” the whole class looked and smiled and said hi back to

My faith began as soon as I was brought into the world as a baby, it didn’t mean much then but that has changed so so much over the last 14 years of my life. My loving parents always raised me in a Christian home, teaching my brother and I to live out the ways of Christ. When I was a baby I obviously didn’t know how important this faith would be as I grew up. I was baptized at our church when I was a baby by my parents. They always knew the best decisions for me as I grew up as a family believing in the one true God. We went to a church that had bible school for the little ones, which my brother and I always went there and met so many new friends that I still hang out with today actually. As schooling became an option my parents knew they were going to send my brother and I to Zeeland Christian School, where their parents sent them when they were young. Once I was four I was attending Zeeland Christian starting in Preschool. I love Zeeland Christian so much, it’s home. I remember that Preschool was so fun and the teachers starting teaching me little by little how to live out faith in God. This school has changed the way I look at the world, my faith in Christ, and my relationship with those struggling in their own faith. I will never ever forget this school. All the teachers have taught me so much about their own faith and how to live out my own. They know the right advice to give us and I couldn’t have done it without them. As I got older my relationship with God got

I often ask myself what I must achieve to find some semblance of stability, freedom, and safety in this world. My path so far is in line with reaching this goal of freedom and stability. To achieve safety, I’ve studied everything I could get my hands on so far collecting experiences and life lessons whenever the chance arises. I define stability as the ability to engage in financial freedom, as having the skill set to reduce the amount of work required to survive and thrive to a minimal amount of time invested each week while maximizing the efficiency of resource collection. I’ve worked for as many successful people as I could interact with hoping to glean more information to better myself with. I’ve come to the stark realization that this world is centered around a very old and very entangled power structure. To navigate through this maze of modern man I plan to devote all my time to acquiring knowledge and using it to synthesize production to add to my material wealth while at the same time enjoying myself with a good book or a video game. This strategy has served me well so far, in fact my ability to converse has gotten me where I’m today. I’m lucky to count quite a few professionals as my friends drawing on their wisdom kindness and knowledge has taught me many things about this world that most people neglect in the hum bug of day to day life.

At first introduction I am seen as perpetually cheerful and high energy. Coworkers, friends and acquaintances recognize quickly that I am fiercely competitive, passionate about my work, and easily classified as Type A personality. It is clear from my Instagram account I am obsessed with the outdoors; from skiing and hiking to mountain biking and camping, I search for adventure as often as possible. My Facebook is littered with photos of my four-year-old’s choice in outfits and silly quotes showing her viewpoint on the world. (“I’m a strong, interpendent woman!” is a recent favorite.) What many people don’t know, however, is the laundry list of traumas and tragedies I have endured. I often get the shocked deer-in-the-headlights look when someone finds out both my parents died within two years of each other. When it comes out that I married young to escape my emotionally abusive mother, just to realize my husband was also abusive, the comment is usually on how courageous it must have been to file for divorce and leave with my young toddler in tow. It is not uncommon to hear the exclamation, “But how are you so happy still?” after hearing of my multiple miscarriages.

My mom once told me when I was young and ignorant, “Faith is the foundation of a beautiful friendship with the one person who will always remain by your side”. These words were expressed even more profoundly every Sunday in the echoing corridors of a small church by a priest I had yet to know or even care about. Preaching with his perplexing words in which I could only muster barely a fourth of my full attention span listening to. Thus, the term faith did not exactly resonate with me until many years later. My early years were filled with the teachings of the bible in Sunday school and later on as well in middle school during Friday night sessions. Unfortunately, my mom was an extremely strong enforcer of our faith for she was also raised Catholic from birth, but my dad on the other hand has a more scientific approach to how the world came to be. The years I spent in Sunday school blurred into an everlasting line of bleak nothingness just a ticking clock waiting till an end. Even today I do not remember anything that occurred within those taxing sixty minuets of constant bible studies it’s as though I lost the key to the inner workings of my childhood. Nonetheless, there have always been unbelievably great role models in my faith such as my mom, youth ministers, and friends who encourage me to be open to my faith. However, it’s always been my own restrictions that prevent me from furthering my relationship with God. So when my sister suffered her first severe