My Life - Original Writing Essay

My essay for assignment 5 was the most memorable essay for me to write. When I first looked at this assignment, I was nervous about writing a letter from my grandfather to myself. I did not know what he would say to me since I didn’t talk to him much during his last days. Instead of writing out a whole letter, I decided to just write parts of a letter and analyze each part as I wrote. I felt that this was a better strategy for me because it allowed me to compare my feelings to those that I thought my grandfather would feel.

In modern living, it seems so many of us are at odds with the question “Am I living my life, right?”, with so many thoughts and opinions on our everyday lives, how can one not question their lifestyle. Our current society is living in one of the most opinionated times, with any and everyone’s thoughts and feelings at the touch of our fingers. Life has become so complicated, and messy, and disorganized for so many; with journalists, internet celebrities, and memes persuading the public of some new fad that will truly lead to this overall peace or happiness. This modern way of living is exhausting. We as a people have become obsessed with these ideas of algorithms for happiness, the thought of “if I do this, this, this, and not this, I will truly be happy!”. These “algorithms” seem to range from all organic diets, living off the grid, and simply minimalism, it is overwhelming. Society seems to have always looked for a “miracle pill” to fix these problems. While these many writers and thinkers have many differing opinions and thoughts on what will lead to well-being, most seem to agree that cleanliness or tidiness have a positive impact on one’s well-being.

I never really thought about where my life was going. I always believed life took me where I wanted to go, I never thought that I was the one who took myself were I wanted to go. Once I entered high school I changed the way I thought. This is why I chose to go to college. I believe that college will give me the keys to unlock the doors of life. This way I can choose for myself where I go instead of someone choosing for me.

Being in love with marine animals from a small age, I was always counting down the days till I can go to myrtle beach or florida.

From a young age I was always being told that I couldn't achieve what I wanted, being told that at as a young child it pushed me to be better and to prove that I can do anything I can put my mind to, and from that day on and I haven’t given up on anything, therefore ambitious is my trait.

What is a sport? If you look it up in a dictionary it is defined as “An activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively.” For me sports is so much more than that. Sport is dedication, determination, teamwork and self discipline, for me sports is life.

I was sitting at a picnic table with a young boy struggling next to me. His hand was gripped so tightly onto mine that there were petite fingernail impressions lining my hand. He was screaming, crying, kicking up the loose gravel that laid on the ground. All because he didn't want to kill a fish at fishing camp. This was just one of the countless fits a day that this young boy would have in a day. And learning how to help him was one of the most gratifying experiences I have attained in my life.

Lights; red and blue. Handcuffs; silver and waiting. A jail cell; cold and desolate. Each of these words describe things that a criminal would have seen before being introduced to their fate. What do a criminal and little Anna have in common? More than one would think, but that is to be explained later. Before I committed my deed, I would describe my childhood as a dreamlike bliss. I lead a pretty charmed life-two parents, a sister, a soon-to-be brother, and an iridescent, teal-colored room. What more could a seven year old ask for? But really, my life was pretty fantastic. I was a clueless little girl with a Dora Explorer(cultural allusion) haircut and larger than life bow to match. However, one day I made a dreadful mistake that haunted my childhood; I robbed the Easter Bunny. You're probably wondering how I could have possibly robbed something that doesn’t exist, but my seven year old self would tell you otherwise in a heartbeat. To me, the day I robbed the very real Easter Bunny was a day I will never forget.

I never chose to live in Newark, New Jersey. After I was born, my dad left us, and my mom fell off the wagon we just kinda ended up here. I swear my mom has vodka coursing through her veins instead of blood.

I was taught to be accepting, outgoing, and independent. By this point in my life, that's exactly what I've become. My education, happiness, and family were always top priorities.

It was the last day of summer and were was headed over my Aunt's house to spend the day with them, It was a nice and beautiful day. The sun was shining, and the leaves on the trees were moving. As we arrived we saw My cousin’s were outside Playing around. They were running around, and having a great time. “I thought maybe I should go out there and play with them. So I went outside as well with my older cousin, he told me he wanted to teach me how to ride a bike for the very first time. I thought “ this was gonna be pretty scary”.

Today during our CALM block we did an interesting exercise that focused on opening each one of us up, and get us talking about some specific pieces of our life. To be quite honest, this was a little challenging for me, as I don't really care to talk about my life, though it was a tad bit easier as through the rotation I was paid with people I was reasonable close with so I did not feel judged. I feel as though we were to do this assignment because it goes hand in hand with the life view and work view compasses. It gets us to think about who we really are and maybe what gave us the perspectives we had on those views. Either way it was an interesting challenged and I managed to get through it, so it was okay.

As I look back on the unforgettable week I had during the Habitat 62 trip, I can honestly say that the trip changed the way I looked at college and West Virginia University overall. My favorite parts of the trip were of course helping others who are less fortunate than myself and the adventures, but mainly the “class” that was held every night. I joined the adventure trip believing I was just going to help build a house and have fun rock climbing, exploring, and white-water rafting. I slowly realized that I would learn so much more. Adventure West Virginia taught me life-long lessons that could help save not only my life one day, but maybe even one of my best friends or a random stranger I had never met before. I believed, like most high school students and people in general around the world, that at West Virginia University I was going to find a party in every direction I looked with many of my own peers drinking alcohol. The perspective view I had before the trip and after were completely opposite. I found out on the trip that I can find parties if I feel the need to, but overall there are plenty of activities to do besides partying and drinking. I originally thought that I was going to struggle heavily to write the amount advised for the journal entries at the end of every day.

This explains the beginning of my life all the way to the end of my life. My life from the beginning was very fun as I grew up living with my mom’s friend and my friend. But there were a lot of fights and I was very hyper back then. I have ADHD so back then when I was little; I was very hyper and wouldn't stop moving around the place. I always was annoying back then and never seemed to get my homework done at school.

Hearing the four word combo of “four page cultural autobiography” in class easily sent a shiver down my spine when it was announced. I sat there thinking to myself, “Okay… I’m a 5’9,” sport loving, white guy that stayed at his home town college. I am just about as average as it comes, this paper will surely be the death of me.” However, after only a handful of classes I realized there’s a lot more to each and every individual that is worth sharing and learning about. What’s average on a personal level could be extraordinary to someone living in different circumstances and I took that for granted for far too long. This allowed me to dig deeper into where I’ve come from and the personal experiences that have shaped who I am to this day. My parents are both white but grew up in completely different cultural backgrounds. My father lived in a predominantly white are where my mother lived in Evansville and worked at a small family pizza shop in a predominantly black area of Evansville. As parents do, they have played a large role in shaping me culturally.