My Love For My Family

Flurries of snow roiled in motion under the command of capricious, roaring winds. I stood and marveled at the sight as my eyes traced the white balls thudding against the ground and architectures all at once at exactly the same speeds. Particles of snow danced in joyful synchronization in mid December of ‘05. This was my earliest recollection. This was the day I left my family 12,678 kilometers away to come to the United states for the pursuit of a better way of life. I remember sitting on a rusty old bench on the first day of Kindergarten. The sounds of children at play echoed from the playground, stomping and running and laughing. None of the worries of adults crossed their minds, only how to elude capture by their friends. The rhythmic creaking of swings went back and forth, and some kids tried to time their jumps from the swings to the rhythm. I was one of those children growing up who would pry open a brand new remote control car to pull every component apart than play with it. I surmise this is where my love of engineering truly began.

To adequately explain my immense love of the arts and social sciences, I must first recount my experiences of art and how that experience shaped me to become, and I quote my mother, the “artsy fartsy” person I am today. Like any child, when I was in elementary school, I changed what career path I wanted to pursue frequently. In kindergarten, after watching Bob Ross paint in an afterschool infomercial that a teacher showed (and being so enthralled with it, I nearly cried), I decided I wanted to be an artist. A traveling art merchant who lived in Paris because to me, France was the epicenter of artistic innovation. My mother encouraged me to follow my heart, and I did. I'd won several local art competitions by the time I was ten and life was good. Sadly, by the time I was in third grade, my romanticized view of art had changed drastically. I was disenchanted with the art scene in my town, and I told my mother that I wanted nothing to do with crayons, let alone a full-blown art career. Not surprisingly, I quickly latched on to another hobby, singing. My passion for singing, at the time, was so pure and my talents were limitless. My friends and family told me it was a natural gift, and that I was given a vocal range that rivaled even the best in the business, and I believed them. They fueled my desire to train my voice, to join every local choir I could, and to eventually even travel as far as Los Angeles to showcase my talents. But, I slowly became disenchanted with singing

As a young child, I had a very vivid imagination and a profound love for the ocean. Having lived in Virginia for so many years, my grandmother had a vast collection of shells, sea dollars, and other trinkets from the ocean. My mom worked at the time, so I would be taken over to my grandparents’ house every day, where my grandma would watch me. She would lay out blankets and towels and let me play with her collection of shells and sand. She also fed to my imagination and allowed me to create art that would soon end up on their fridge to admire. My grandparents’ house, somewhat small, had only a little yard attached to it, but I could always make the best memories there. My grandpa had built a wooden swing in their backyard, and I absolutely loved it. My grandma would take me outside, and we would sit, swing, and sing. Since then, I have been extremely close to my grandmother, therefore she could be considered one of my closest allies.

I like kids but I don’t want them. Me liking kids lead to the enjoyment of me wanting to teach. Seeing a child grow and learn is very special. My love for kids and wanting to help others is my reason for wanting to be a teacher. Being a teacher could fill the void of me not wanting kids being able to return them after a long day. Being able to affect someone's life a very young age. Not being able to give my full attention would be selfish knowing my job revolves around other kids and their needs. I really do like kids. The way I like kids, though is very specific and short term I was able to experience the joy of teaching at a young age. I was able to introduce lesson plans to young kids between the ages 3 and 4 impacting their life and

My family has played a big roll in what makes me, me. After God, family is number one in my life. I believe that without them, I simply wouldn't be who I am today. My immediate family has shaped me into the women I have become. They love me, and want the best for me. I have an uncle who truly means the best for everyone and everything, however, that isn't what he necessarily gives us. He messes up, and has made some terrible decisions. Just like anyone, right? His story is different. Let's start off by saying he has five boys, with three different women. He has abused not only his body with drugs and alcohol but also relationships, leading to separation from all of his kids and the women who he thought he had loved at some point in his life. He has spent many years in jail, coming out more depressed then when he went in. He was left living on the streets with no shelter and no food or money to provide for himself. His life is lived in depression. His oldest son, Cole, passed away in 2016 from an overdose on drugs. I believe if he had a better father figure in his life, his life would have been set on a better path. Cole was someone who was so loving, and the day I found out he had passed, I was devastated. I didn't want to believe that someone so great had made a mistake and accidentally took his life because of it. I will always look up to Cole because of his love for others, and regret the decision he made on March 4, 2016.

Kumi Yamashita (Kumi): I was born in a small town not that far outside of Tokyo. I moved to the United states when I was in high school as a foreign exchange student.

“It's fine, mom,” I tell her annoyed, I have used this line over 1,000 times, each time she breaks something. We are getting ready for my grandma’s birthday she is turning 59. Cleo Chambers, she left us when she was only 56 years old. It is now November of 2017. Also, I hurt every once in awhile around her birthday. Honestly, it doesn't feel like my grandma left, my grandma used to live in Chicago. That's where it feels like she is, in Chicago and she never visits. I am thinking all of these thoughts, and out of nowhere, I bust out crying.

In my life, I have always tried to find things that make my life more joyful and peaceful, and there really are three things that I can think of to best illustrate my love for peace and joy. The first is the willow sapling that, to me, represents the joy of my childhood. The second is the guitar that I first learned to play on, that represents my love of music and the peace that I get from it. The third is the postcard I brought back from New Zealand that represents my love of travel and adventure and the joy that it brings me. These things are the most important to me because they remind me to always seek joy and peace in my life.

I was born and grew up in Ethiopia, moving to America three years ago. Ethiopia is one of the traditional country where most of the population and the economy rely on agriculture. I was born in small rural town called Akaki in the southern part of Addis Ababa City. My family depends on agriculture, my parents grow crops like teff, barley, hard wheat and sorghum, which is the common ingredients for our day to day meal. The production of these crops takes place in traditional farming. I am the youngest kid in my family, that means I am free from any responsibilities in my culture my older siblings do most of the things in our family. I spent most of the time playing with my friends. Everyone in my family loves me. If something happens with in our family, the oldest one are accountable and responsible, even I am a young and grown guy, this thing makes me lazy and spoiled person.

I have so much to be thankful for in this world but, I think my family is the most important. Till this day I don’t think I could have made it day by day without my family. I believe my love for my family is important because they trust each other, support each other, and are always there to help when needed. I believe these four virtues of family suggest why my family resonates as the most important because of support, love, builds on shared memories, and reinforces responsibility.

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.

My whole family lived in Edison, New Jersey and I only saw my dad, brother, grandmother, grandfather, and my mother during my childhood. My mother was the person who had always helped me stay on the track to success. I called my mother Ma as a toddler because, I followed my brother in every way. Our culture was to call our mother Mama, but we could say Ma for short. My brother, Michael, called mother, Ma, and so I caught on. Ma was a hardworking, positive, and helpful parent. She wanted me to have a great future and has kept pushing me throughout the years of my life. The most important years Ma helped me through to become who I am was through the child years.

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.

At this time I had something great in my life occur, surprisingly. One day when I was sitting at our home in the kitchen, I started to think about marriage. I felt that I was about the right age to become married. My grandparents were siblings and married, while my parents were siblings and married. I felt then that it might be a good idea to get married then to one of my sisters. The reason this happened was because it made the land stay in our family’s ownership. Both of my sisters were definitely beautiful. Atet was very bossy at times, though. She could also be very mean.

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.