My Personal Experience : My Experience In My Life

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)

Over the span of my lifetime, I have had many life changing experiences. From good to bad every aspect has shaped me and made me the person I am today. The biggest challenge and experience I have had is tearing my MCL multiple times. I never realized how much of a challenge it would be going through surgery, rehab, and the overall complications of a recurring injury. Tearing my MCL made me learn how to overcome obstacles and helped me work harder than I ever had to bounce back from the injury.

I always heard growing up, “ Great things can emerge from small beginnings”. My mom made sure that my 4 sisters and I know that. Being a child of two ministers, my family has experience working with small businesses and ministries, for our church was small. Unfortunately, things did not work for our church, so we had shut down. My family then attended Family Christian Center (FCC) in Munster, Indiana. FCC is a mega church with fancy lighting, a ginormous stage, and large screens. The pastor of the church had great illustrated messages.

My heart trickled down to one beat per minute. I slowly realized the different types of people surrounding me on a day to day basis. I asked myself the following question: “Alex, why have you molded yourself into a new person?” Realizing the pace and discomfort my life was going towards, I sought to answer the question. I had lost a genuine friendship built over several years. This loss had affected me very deeply to the point I did not recognize the myself in the mirror anymore. Entering freshmen year, I was unable to enjoy the social interaction which took place around me. Trusting new people became nearly impossible. I punished those who had my best interest at heart, because I assumed they would betray me like my previous friendship. I had also assumed that every new friendship I built had an immediate expiration date. This means I chose to purposefully distance myself in order to not get hurt. The Alex Curry people became acquainted to was a falsified character of my true self. My pain developed my character into a overly trusting person to a person who could not even trust their family anymore.

The water was hitting my face, as steam blew of my body, I changed the hot water to cold. The shower was refreshing me, but I couldn’t stop thinking about all the hardships and obstacles I faced to get to where I am now. The vivid images of all the negative things I went through and a few positive were filling my head. I couldn’t stop comparing the past to the present I was in right now. Even though I lived through a lot of crappy periods in my life, I ended up learning that through pain we gain hope. All my problems started in elementary, the place I considered living hell.

It was a beautifully clear day, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky when I received that green and gold folder in the mail. I thought coming to college would be the answer to everything. However, that feeling of being a strong independent black woman only lasted so long. My first year was just fine, I thought that I'd adjusted fine. I made plenty of friends on campus and joined numerous cubs! I even got my first real job working at Busch Gardens. Everything was going great, that was until August of my second year.

I live in a small house in Albuquerque, New Mexico, I was starting middle school in a few months. I didn’t want to leave all my friends I had in Elementary school but my parents said I would make new friends at my new school. The summer went by so fast it was already the first day of school. I was so scared but before I had enough time to get back into the car my mom had already drove off and I knew I had to get through the day so I could go back home and play with my friends I had already knew. Throughout the day teachers helped me find where I need to go and I realized I had one girl with the same classes I had which made it easier for me and her. Sixth grade was over and I had made so many friends but I only had a best friend I made that year. In seventh grade, I had the same classes again with my best friend. I never thought I would make more friends. I trusted this girl with everything but things started to change throughout the school year. My best friend was not my best friend anymore by the time we were going on Christmas Break. Noting made sense on why she just stopped talking to me. I would come home and cry and talk to my mom about everything, “just let her be and you guys will be friends again” my mom said so I just left it and maybe my mom was right so I just let it go until Christmas Break was over and we had to go back to school.

My life, in my opinion, is not boring or dull, but rather quite exciting. It has always been crazy and it still is now. When I was 4 years old, I had both my tonsils removed, resulting in me only being able to eat soft foods for 1 week. When I was 6 years old, I was diagnosed with ADHD. That made me have to take ADHD medications. Every time the medication would seem to be working, it would become ineffective, making me have to switch medications. I’ve heard the names of the medications so many times, they are burned into my mind. Dextroamphetamine. Clonidine. Methylphenidate. Guanfacine. Amoxatine. Lisdexamfetamine. The doctor kept on switching my medications for about 2 years until we finally found something that worked. But another problem had to crop up. At the age of 10, I broke my right collarbone and had to get a sling. Of course, it had to be my dominant arm, instead of my left, but as luck would have it, it was my right. Now I am 13 years old, and I live in Green Bay, Wisconsin with my mom, dad, and my sister Zoe.

From my earliest memory, my life in the Philippians was surrounded with joy. I was born

For an individual to be a success, they must possess qualities beyond intellect. To flourish in your career and in life, your character must move you toward your aspirations. Throughout life, several experiences have formed me into a person of resilience, empathy, and composure. Such qualities have allowed me to reach my goals and serve my community. In addition to my intelligence, these qualities render me an exceptional student and employee.

I spent most of my days immersed in a fantasy world while curled up with a science fiction book on my big brown couch in my living room. If I wasn't reading, I would be drawing cartoons, watching movies, teaching myself random skills on YouTube tutorials, or singing loudly along to my favorite songs. Activities like these filled my youthful and solitary days as I patiently awaited my parents to return home from work.

This whole summer was the worst summer I have ever encountered. I learned many different lessons and the whole experience taught me a lot. It all started in the beginning of May 2016, when I first ever talked to Raf, the new foreign exchange student, over Facebook. We talked and Facetimed several times throughout the summer. Most of the time I could not understand what he said because his English sounded truly horrendous. His bad English and his accent would be difficult to adjust to.

Throughout life, incidents will always occur. No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey. Through these incidents you are given the opportunity to learn about yourself and others. I have found that sometimes the worst things in life can teach me the most about my strengths, weaknesses, as well as about how to live life. For instance, when my father (papa) passed away in October, 2010 from a weak heart.

When I was younger, I frequently found myself with a pencil and paper in my hand. I would leave a multitude of marks on the paper in some form or fashion, whether it be scribbles, repetitive words and sentences, my name, or the names of family members. Growing older, I would find myself writing more than enough when it came to essays. I could never bring myself to leave out any details and I rarely used simple sentences. Originally, I thought it was because I wanted the validation of my parents and teachers, but it was something else I had yet to realize. I liked writing and it hit me one day when I was in my room, listening to music.

It is difficult to write about my life—not because I do not know what to say, but because I am often fearful of sharing my experiences and having them impact how people view me. My identity and upbringing are not necessarily unique, but I have been in situations that society tends to be uncomfortable with. Repeated sexual assaults, psychological abuse, neglect, and financial hardships are factors in my life that I tried to forget when I started college. Now that I am at the end of my undergraduate education, I realize that the obstacles I faced in my early life will never be forgotten. Consequently, I feel that it is important to share this information, even though it is painful to do so, because the last four years have opened my eyes.