Personal Narrative: American Samoa

When I started writing this, I had no clue what it would be about. I was told “It has to be perfect.” “It has to explain you without you explaining yourself.” “You have to give it meaning without being asked for anything.” “If it isn’t good enough, admission officers won't give your application a second glance.” So, I put off writing it, pondering it over and over in my mind. I’m so glad I put it off, because until recently, I didn’t know what it was keeping me in Hawai’i. My mom lives in Oregon now, and I had the option to move with her because she still has custody. Something kept me here, though, and I wasn’t sure what. Through reminiscing and building more memories, I realized what it was. It was how much I love being Hawaiian. The food,

Studying in a foreign country is an interesting experience of an individual lifetime. One tends to learn a number of things relating to ways of life in a foreign land. Social, political and economic values and aspects are usually different from one region to another. Therefore, through studying abroad one is able to learn different issues about another society such as gender and sexuality issues, social class and race/ethnicity issues. Having come from a developing country studying in the U.S.A has been a great experience personally. This paper will attempt to provide a reflection of my personal experience on studying in the U.S by comparing the history of Angola and the U.S.

Before moving to Saint Paul, Minnesota, two and a half years ago, I lived in Storm Lake, a small rural town located in northwest Iowa. There was no big Hmong population there, only a few family friends. I was very hesitant to share my culture at school because I did not know how to explain the elaborate traditions and its purposes. For example, sacrificing animals to ancestors is an outdated practice and not understood by many people. Traditions like this only exist in historical textbooks. I was scared of being judged and looked on as weird. I did not know the purpose of dressing up in traditional clothing for new years, or what was the purpose of celebrating Hmong new year. I envied other cultures, for they had a history that was widely known and written down in text. I had no appreciation for my culture.

Each house-- painted a very vibrant, dazzling color, purple, orange, yellow, green, and pink. I had never seen houses like that in the United States the usual house colors are gray, white, tan, blue, very dull colors. The sight of these vivid houses was just a small glimpse of this beautiful country. As I nervously traveled without my family for the first time the lush terrain of Costa Rica dotted with colorful houses welcomed me.

When the game ended, we celebrated as expected, but we decided to take it easy for the day. Ricky walked over to me and congratulated me and the team for our victory. He told me was he planned on getting better and he did just that. By the end of the season, he was able to compete with me and the other linemen. I was proud and felt like I did something to help someone out because that’s something I usually don’t do.

Not on the outside, but on the inside. Now, I was determined that I wanted to win, no matter what the pain was. After all, no pain, no gain! I went back on the field and went off. I caught every single ball that was even thrown even in my direction, and later I found out that if I could get two fingers on the ball, it was as good as caught. The coach kept me in the rest of the game, and I realized that I was in the zone. I didn’t hear any of the trash-talking the other players did, I didn’t hear the fans, I didn’t even twist and turn and juke out the defenders, my body did for me automatically. I didn’t feel any of the pain, I did not realize that I scored so many touchdowns, I was pure adrenaline. Before I knew it, the score was 49-56 Montgomery, the fourth quarter, there were only 50 seconds left on the clock, we were at our own 20-yard line, and we had no timeouts remaining at all. This was the real test, to see if we deserved to be the champions. One touchdown, 6 points would reduce the loss by one, and the extra point would tie the game. But, if we went for the two-point conversion, then the game would be over, one way or

There is no other place I feel more at ease than at Kiawah Island. I have been going to this summer getaway every since I was a baby, and my love for this little island off the coast of South Carolina will never fade. When we roll up the driveway of 90 Jackstay Court, I feel a surge of elation, as I know I will be spending the next week with my family, cousins, and grandparents. I run my hands across the granite countertops where I can already smell the intoxicating aromas of a home cooked meal. First thing in the morning, my cousin and I grab our sand battered bikes, and start pedalling on the boardwalk to the beach. I’m careful on the narrow wooden platform, with the painful reminder of when I fell off into the brush. We hop off our bikes

As part of my networking, there are some high school classmates who I am in constant contact with. We all went to college and have our own careers in different fields. One of these friends allowed me to live with her for my first year out of college. Four of us played volleyball together. They are from Waianae, Kaneohe, and Waimanalo and they?re Hawaiian, Portuguese, and Japanese. Over the years, we realized we get our strength from our diversity. When we have a

We were killing the Scrubs and there was no need for me to even play anymore. Coach Shamy put some new players in the game. It wasn’t long before the game ended and we were shaking hands with the other team. Franklin’s coach patted me on my back. He knew I completely dominated his team. When you looked at the scoreboard, it looked like a massacre took place at the high school that day. We completely murdered the other team. It was fun though. All of the hard work in practice paid off. And I had a great game as an added bonus. I realized that game, that I just need to have fun when I’m playing. That’s one thing I learned that day; I play my best when I’m having fun. And, being the chef that I am, I definitely had fun filleting Franklin’s whole team that

In rural North America, in present day Billing, Montana, over 600 years ago, there once live a tribe that was fierce as a bear and yet stayed together like a pack of wolves and trickery as a fox. Altogether, it builds an ultimate warrior of pure ferociousness and blunt force. Other tribes tended to more soft than the tribe I was in . While most tribes were farmers and gathers, our tribe was mainly hunters, we raided other tribes of their goods.

I was born in Havana, Cuba and lived there for ten years. If I am honest I cannot remember much about Cuba unlike my mother; however even though I cannot remember much I always used to think that Cuba was home regardless of how long we stayed in America. Similar to most children I took after the actions of my parents while growing up. If my mother and grandmother spoke about Cuba or any topic related to it I would listen to them and then I tried to have the same conversation with my uncle as if to let them know that I was thinking about Cuba as well. I used to believe that when we flew over to America we brought Cuba with us and that was a normal thing; however my thinking was changed over the course of only one year in America.

When I was a little girl, I dreamed of being a princess. A beautiful ballgown dress, a golden crown, and a perfect family. When I was a going through puberty, I was over working for a educations and wanted to become a housewife and be the leading woman in “Housewifes of Hawaii”. Ever since I was a child, misogyny has been ingrained in my mind, I’ve been taught to grow up to have the perfect life with a perfect husband and perfect kids. Growing up and watching Disney movies, Little girls are taught that they’re life isn’t complete until they meet a man who will rescue them whether it's from a towering castle, their wicked stepmother, or a curse that can only be broken from true love’s first kiss. Whatever the situation girls will always know that on a handsome man will come in and save the day, so there is no reason to fight for your fights just stay in the tower, or continue cleaning your floors, or wait everyday for your prince to come. Out of the thousands of years that humans have existed, not only has media convinced woman to follow their husbands and wait on them hand and foot, but the Bible says that woman will work under men and submit to them. Even our parents, who we look up to, have taught us that the men handle finances and the woman have to clean, cook, and take

People keep asking me what is that scared in my face and it was an interesting question so I told them it was when i was 4 years old at puerto rico and i just turn 4 and i got a new play car and. My gramma house and she have two dogs and one was a Chihuahua and a mexican bulldog and when I pet that bulldog I think it didn’t like me and 5 seconds later it bit me right face and the bit was close to my eye and the bit was hurting bad but it least it wasn't bleeding and that was my story the end.

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, American Samoa’s climate is warm and tropical with nice trade winds. This will support my open market business because, having rain or too much wind wouldn’t attract people but having nice weather would keep the crops nice and bring more people to my business. The Encyclopedia

Growing up in American Samoa, singing was everything. You sing in church choir, sunday school, at home in the shower, family evening prayer, in school, and mostly everywhere. Music is all about rhythm, and I’ve learned that you can always create your own music rather by rap, beat box, or in groups as well. It was a must for me and any other kid in American Samoa to be in the church choir or Sunday school choir. We never get to choose but to be seated in the front row and ready be to sing. Back in American Samoa, family function or family celebration is a really big thing, whether a birthday party or a get together it also contains singing. Before everything, it is a tradition for us Samoans to always start anything/everything with a prayer