My Life Of My Family

My childhood was split over two different and unique cultures. This special upbringing presented me with challenges that lead me to continually reflect on my life and identity throughout my childhood. I had to adapt to different educational systems as my family moved back and forth between Syria and the United States. However, that only motivated me to work harder and seize the opportunities that surrounded me at every point of my life. I learned to treat obstacles and hardships as chances for growth and development.

From the time I was born until the age of twelve, my family struggled with the basic necessities of life. My father worked endless hours in a factory, and yet somehow came home with a smile on his face. As a young kid, I never knew we were struggling. The thought had never occurred to me. As I got older I started to realize that my single father was working his life away to care and provide for his two little girls. He completely put aside his well-being because as long as his girls were cared for, nothing else mattered. Life was never easy, but as a young adult today, I have come to accept that my background has been a prerequisite for greatness, for it is our backgrounds that define who we are. The way we are raised, the way we are taught to believe, and the way we are taught to act, make us who we are today.

Growing up in a small country and not being able to get what you want is a little bit harder. I grew up where my parent had to stay up all night to just make sure that we are safe. Kakuma is the city that I was born in which is in refugee camp. My parent had hard time moving from Ethiopia to kakuma refugee camp because there was a fight going on in Ethiopia, so they didn’t have a choice but to get out of there in order for us to be safe. When they got to kakuma refugee camp they had hard time getting a job and that’s when life get a little bit harder because my parent couldn’t afford buying enough food and paying for our education. Going through tough times like that with my parent is what made me too strong like I am today and in the future.

Growing up my family lived in poverty, we didn’t get everything we wanted and sometimes we didn’t even get everything we needed. Some nights we would go to bed hungry because we wouldn’t be able to afford food that night. It was fun finding stuff to do because we couldn’t afford to get any electronics or cable. Not growing up with electronics made it so we lived in the present and enjoyed each other's company more, instead of being distracted by screens. Sometimes I wouldn’t see my dad for days or even a week, because he was working three jobs just to provide for us. Living the way I did as a child gave me a high emotional stability because i’ve been through things and came out stronger where a lot of other people would have broke. these hardships not only prepared me for life as I grow up, but also gave me a more humbling point of view on things.

Freedom to life, liberty, and the right to pursue happiness. These are the things that people came looking for in America. Some lost their lives trying to achieve their goals in the new world. But some continued to prosper and live on. These people are the ones I call family. Through thick and through thin, rain or shine, they will be there to fight by your side. Family is what I consider home, so looking into the past about how my home came to be, I can learn many things about how I am where I am now.

Many obstacles in my life have made me who I am today.  I was raised in West Portsmouth, Ohio, a small town built off football and family. Life in a small town seems to go by very slowly. It’s all about what you make out of it. Certain events and certain people have influenced me in a way that has made me a better person. The character of one's self is built from all the hard times we go through in life, not always off of the easy ones.

The despairing faces and the exhilarating emotions that overwhelm the room as I think back to how irrational life can be. I notice their hands were reluctantly raised to answer a simple math problem that I had written on the board. Looking around, I have never seen such fragile students that are eager to learn but afraid to speak. However, these are the same students who helped me realize how important it was for me to be in that room. A star that shined bright, guiding the helpless voyagers to shore. I always thought life was linear , where everything increased at a constant slope, but that is definitely not the case. Thinking about the many unexpected turns it can take and how it places laborious weight on a person's decisions and responsibilities My life can be summarized from the last four years, from the beginning of high school to now. I always caught myself walking the halls contemplating my purpose in life and why I felt so incomplete. Until finally, everything fell into place, learning what my heart cared for the most and what and who I wanted to be now. Math has always been something that defines me. Going from being a normal student to a math tutor, it really shows me my own capabilities and limits.

Personal barriers are obstructions put in place by old Scott that negatively affect New Scott’s achievement in his work life, home life and spiritual life. Barriers are created by being hurt or let down in some way and then swearing to not have it happen again. These barriers end up hindering me in doing what I need to do to succeed and be a new person that does not have those restrictions holding me back.

Betsy Sparrow, a psychologist at Columbia University, defines transactive memory as a shared system of knowledge where we have external memory systems available to us, typically in other people or the internet. We have learned to rely on these external systems to provide information rather than remember it ourselves. Even though I’ve never heard the term ‘transactive memory’ before watching this video, it makes sense. We can’t possibly remember everything, especially if we don’t use it every day, but if I remember where to find it, I can still utilize the information when I need it. This isn’t a new concept; employees who work in team environments often rely on coworkers to provide a unique set of knowledge and expertise that other team members don’t have. It allows team members to focus on their area of responsibility and can create a cohesive team environment. I do this in my personal life with my family and friends. If I can ask someone else or look it up on the internet, like driving directions or a recipe, I don’t have to store it in my internal memory. I just need to remember where to locate the information. Dr. Sparrow says that we typically rely on external memory systems for information that we don’t use in our everyday lives. The amount of information at our fingertips has grown exponentially because of the internet and search engines like Google; we have learned to adapt by prioritizing what we must store in our internal memory and what we can store in external

I would be the first out of my family to graduate college and I was the first to graduate high school out of 3 generations. My father was a Marine for 10 years, he choose a different path instead of going to college or finishing high school. He joined the war overseas to serve his country and I am proud of him. He always told me to never join any branch because he saw a future for me that he wanted me to invest in an education and better myself in everything I do. My brothers and sister choose horrible paths and yet I was different than the rest of the family. I wanted my mother and father proud of me and I wanted my country to be proud of me. Instead of doing drugs, drinking and partying. I was the odd kid growing up that invested myself into books and dreamed of the endless possibilities that I can became. I thought different jobs of what I can do to help my community and not fall into the evil path as my brothers and sister did. Dad always told me that I was his shining star, I didn’t really understand what was going on with family until I got out of high school. Drugs and alcohol can really screw up people lives. I am living proof that you can choose the right path to become a better citizen.

I was born in Mexico, and raised in a Christian environment, where some of my uncles and aunts are pastors, and most of my family members serve at church. I am the youngest of two brothers and a sister. My mom used to take us to church since I remember.

On January 17, 2016, my family and myself travelled about two hours to a small town called Yantis in east Texas. The elders of our family would always get together multiple times a year to catch up and see each other since they were getting to an age where they can’t depend on themselves being here on this Earth. Out of the seven or eight senior members of the family, two or three had already passed by this time. Our Uncle Charles was not looking good either, over the past few months he went from multiple doctor check-ups a week, to being in the hospital, and then ultimately hospice care.

With the power of hindsight I have come to understand the effect that my family and family life has had on the person I was, on the person I am, and on the person I hope to eventually become. On the day of my birth, I was welcomed into that proverbial, “…it takes a village to raise a child”. I had two parents that loved me. Maternal grandparents that ensured that I knew the love of the Holy Trinity. Neighbors who looked after me. Close family friends that I would end up calling “Aunt” and Uncle”, while calling their children “Cousin”, though there was no blood relation. Unfortunately, my paternal grandparents had passed away before my birth, and yet family members on my father’s side were also considered to be a part of my “village”.

Every year me and my dearest family and beloved friends would embark on a journey to my long deceased Uncle’s manor.My uncle died in the year 1867 at the age of eighty, the doctors never quite understood how he died but when he was found the maid said that he was holding a picture of tree which stood in the house gardens.However this picture was never seen after the maid put it on the mantelpiece after his death, nor the tree.

I was thinking, “Am I an obstacle on the path of my husband's achievement. He wanted to use me as the stepping stone for his success. He disregarded my love, affection and romantic overture because I am a woman.”