My Family Experience

We are interested in learning more about you and the context in which you have grown up, formed your aspirations, and accomplished your academic successes. Please describe the factors and challenges that have most shaped your personal life and aspirations. How have these factors helped you to grow? (800)

“Tough times don’t last, tough people do” - Julian Edelman. Throughout life I have overcome obstacles that seemed almost impossible to conquer. Crying, fighting, searching for a way out of my life that has haunted me for eighteen years. I thought I would never live to see this age, but here I am today, standing tall and proud amongst others everyday. The lessons I have learned and experiences I have gone through have built my character, gave meaning to my visits back home, and have helped me find ways to keep myself busy with free time.

It was not until after the funeral that I realized the importance of family members before it was too late to truly know and experience them fully in my life. The consequences of not knowing who my great-grandmother truly makes me regret not going to visit her.

It was a dark and perspiring night as the wind was breezing on my face. My parents and I went to the entrance of the airport in Ethiopia. The date was September 15, 2017 and that day was the day that we were leaving Ethiopia. We had stayed there for one month for a vacation and to meet our other family members. We went at 7:30 pm and the flight was at 10:30. We went a bit early because it is better than being late. Also, if a problem insists, we would have time to fix it but that wouldn’t happen,...right? Honestly, I didn't think we would've gotten on the airplane that night because of that horrible incident. It was the most meaningful experience of my life because it made me surprised when I heard that our visa was expired. All this time we did not check that the visa stamp said that September 14 is the day were leaving in the month that we stayed there. We told the people who worked at the Immigration that we were leaving on September 15 but their mistake caused us to be a problem when we were about to leave Ethiopia. We had to be in a rush so we didn’t miss the airplane flight. For that reason, the life lesson that I learned is that managing your time is crucial when it comes for many reasons. We came a little early so would get the process before the flight done and if something happens, then we would have plenty of time to do something about it. If we didn't manage our time and we came later, we would probably miss our flight or we would've gotten really

A look into my life usually has people running for the hills. I am an eighteen-year-old girl that hasn’t experienced many things in her life, but has experienced discipline, heartbreak and recovery. I haven’t experienced death of a loved one yet or had a very traumatic experience, but I have experienced a few tough times in my life. The things I have experienced have helped mold me into who I am today. For example, when I wrecked my car in the rain, I was scared to drive in the rain for a long time afterward. That is a learned fear. I would sit and wait for the rain to stop or not leave my house at all on rainy days. This example shows that fear is learned and can be called fear conditioning (psychcentral.com). My example is a psychological experience, but not a deep one. Everything we do in life has a psychological aspect to it, just like my experiences.

EVErY FAmILY hAS ThEIr STorY, ALL with aspects that brings them together or drive them apart. I come from a Mexican family, where family is the only thing we know. We share each other’s pain and misery and we rejoice for our miracles. We learn and grow through each other.

Not many people can say their biggest life lesson was taught by a bus. On October 23, 2015 I was shown to never take my life for granted. Lakeside Rams football was ready to face Dequeen for the chance to win a conference championship. The intensity of game day was electrifying even though it was a humid, sultry, and rainy day we loaded the buses with our earphones in preparing ourselves for the night ahead.

This is a story about my sister Autumn having a baby boy named Steven. She lived in Jonesboro Arkansas with us all at home. Just her, my sister Breanna, my baby sister Jasmine, mom and dad. My mom is very kindhearted, enthusiastic, sweet, grateful, and caring. She is there to help us through everything. My dad is also as outstanding as my mom because he is very kind-hearted, courageous, strong, skillful, and extremely amusing. He is also there for everyone; makes the family smile, laughs, and cheering when we are down. He provides the truth through us even if it is not what we really want to hear, but that’s how our parents are, and always will be. But, besides our family, we lived in a big white house that didn’t have a really big yard, three bedrooms, a kitchen, bathroom, and living room. And on the outside of the house in Jonesboro, it is really busy and lots of traffic but most of the traffic is at five o'clock rush hour. It is a really busy town and a big town. But It has always just been us and that is just the way we have always lived. I had my own room, my sister Breanna and Autumn shared a room because my sister Autumn decides she was going to be moving out soon, and my parents shared a room. And my baby sister put her stuff in there room to but my baby sister slept where ever she passed out at. Also, we would all just hang around have fun at the house and everything but then one day My oldest sister said she needed to talk to us that night so we all were in the

My family, friends, and teachers have all nurtured my character, in one way or another. There are some experiences, however that seem to stand out a little more. They seem to be at the tip of my mind. The memories of a loving grandmother who makes me laugh, the one who keeps me going, one who demonstrates a love like no other. In my years, I have seen her invest in an abundance of people. She has led some to Christ. For others, she has offered her hands and feet, in times of need. As for me, she has given pieces of herself. She has shown me what it is to be a servant, she has given me a sense of adventure, and has taught me to never take what I have for granted.

For the first 9 years of my life I was the youngest of 3 siblings. At the age of 6 my parents separated and that is where some of my life struggles began. Both my mom and dad are extremely loving and nurturing people; however, they had a tendency to triangulate the three of us kids in regards to who gets who, when, and all those fun things that come with divorce. The schedule I was on for most of my childhood was Tuesdays and every other weekend with my dad and the rest with my mom. I grew resentful of this as I got older because I felt that it should be more even and that didn’t change until I was well into high school and made the decision to change the schedule for myself. Then when I was 9 years old my mom had a little baby girl. Long story short, my little sisters father is in her life now but wasn’t for the first year or so. This was hard for me at first because I didn’t fully understand the situation, but regardless of my understanding the love I had/have for my little sister was/is unconditional. Even though there is quite an age gap between my younger sister and us three older siblings, we are all still very close. Before my mom had my little sister she was a paraprofessional at our elementary school, and then after she had her she started doing daycare. My dad finished his degree in business and economics and he has sold insurance my whole life. While my mom always had struggles with money, my dad usually did not. Both of my parents taught me hard work ethics and I

My family hasn’t had the best luck with dogs. I am 14 years old and I have had 5 dogs in my life. There was Foxy who had a deathly seizure, Jazzy who died of old age and Jitters who passed after 4 months of having her. Things were hard. Now I have two 8 pound pals; a bouncy, bubbly bullet of a dog named Mimsy Moo and a dog-cat hybrid named Kevin Bacon. Kevin is always basking in the sun and taking naps while Mimsy is on the move whenever she can. Mimsy has been in our lives for about a year but we didn’t get her until we went through barrels of trouble. This is the story of how Mimsy Moo became a permanent member of the Kostal family.

Some believe that you become like the 5 people you spend the most time with. I never really believed it until I started looking at who I really was, and who those who surround me are. I realized just how alike I was to my family members, and not because of how much we look alike, but because of how similar our beliefs and attitudes are. Each and every one of them has been like a teacher to me, and I can attribute my best, and worst qualities to them. My family members have been the mold that has shaped me into who I am today.

As Asalamalakim and I were making our way towards my new, old house I began to think of how much I have changed and how it's been years since I last saw my family. Last time I saw my mother, I was on my way to college and leaving this town. Here I am back again, but this time I wanted to be here. Seeing all the traditional things my mother had ,and at the end of the day, I would hopefully be bringing some back with me.

Growing up, I lived a calm and peaceful life in Mongolia with my mother, father, older brother and sister. My family was perfect to me, there was nothing but love between the five of us. My father always had a belief that as children, we need to be able to explore and learn without any limitations. As a young child, I remember drawing on the walls of our home and learning the alphabet from my older brother before even entering kindergarten, as well as doing simple math problems. Many parents would probably be opposed to letting their kids ruin their wallpapers, but my parents encouraged it. It was a part of my father’s beliefs; he would always say, “our home is not a museum; our kids should learn to love learning and making art”. Besides,

Every child’s dream is to go to Disneyland where they will experience a dream of a lifetime. One moment I want to experience again is when my family took me to Disneyland especially when my father was still alive. My father died of pancreatic cancer when I was five years old, but I did not understand the concept of his death, so I did not feel any sadness or grief for him until I was eight years old where I finally understood the impact of his death which struck me to tears. I have heard mostly good things from my mother and other close relatives who have said he was a good man who truly loved his family and wanted the best for us. What I want to change in this experience is to give thanks to my parents, show more love