Personal Narrative: Chicago

grew up in Chicago, Illinois, a beautiful city surrounded by violence and controversy by the media. I found things more simple when I was kid growing up here, there wasn't much to worry about but as I got older things became more complex here. The sounds of the " L "' or as you know it as, The Train, and the roaring sounds of cars passing by my house made me feel alive while growing up and as a matter of fact still does. You could wake up in the morning and see the vibrant blue skies being pierced by the skyscrapers and see other kids playing ball or riding their bikes. When it was summer time I would play ins sprinklers or go downtown and play in the fountains with my family. Of course, like most big cities I had to watch my back while growing up because you never knew what somebody was up to. It's weird really growing up here because you never know what's going to happen next , wether it's a good thing or a bad thing. All I can really say about growing up in Chicago is that if I had the chance to redo it, I'd do if a million times.

Looking around in awe, I gaze around Central Park.. The sky is a clear, brilliant blue, with the exception of the occasional cloud passing by. The abundance of green is easy on the eyes, after spending the past couple days in a maze of metal and glass. As I walk down the paved path, I spot a pit bull mix trotting by, pink tongue peeking out.

When people ask me where I am from and I say Cleveland, they often react as if I had said “vanilla.” But if I say Believeland, they perk up and typically want to hear more.

As a child, I remember growing up in the beautiful city of Detroit, Michigan. It was clothed with one hundred plus degree summers, 6 feet or more of snow winters. A building called the Renaissance, which housed a rotating restaurant on the Penthouse level. It was the Motor city home of General Motors and the Motown city of music. Growing up there was so much fun and amazing to me. Where we would watch the bright, red, blue, green and yellow fireworks on the Fourth of July at Edgewater Park every summer, participate in community activities at the 4-H club. There were barbecues with our neighbors, one of which had a daughter with the exact first, middle and last name as mine. On the one side of me a lady everyone referred to as Ms. Pat, use to bake fresh yeast bread from scratch, and would always share with me and my sisters. We could smell it while outside playing in the yard and inside the house. Then you had the neighbor across the street with the rough edge to them, where you would hear an argument or two every once in a while, but when Mama needed some help while my stepfather was away in the Army, she could call on Joey and he would always be right there with his "yes ma'am and no ma'am" etiquette. With the memories of all things good from the eyes of a child, seeing everything as

Growing up in the Chicago area was a great experience for me, I was always a good kid but I had always struggled in school. The reason that I had a hard time in school was that I had A.D.D which was the cause of my distraction. Entering Pritzker College Prep was a different experience for me because I was overwhelmed, the reason as to why I felt overwhelmed was because of the amount of homework we got. I ended up spending nights where I would do my homework and wouldn’t get a sufficient amount of sleep and would also cause me to fall asleep in class. My grades started to drop which caused me to stop caring in school, so I also decided to just stop doing my homework and it caused a decrease in my grades.

Today my Hilarious Fiend Jasper and I will be leaving Dupree around 2:00. We will be traveling 2 hours 20 minutes and One Hundred Forty Five miles. To Rapid City South Dakota

You, a “Chicago kid” as a good friend keeps telling me, are going to have a big change in your life. That sounded like I was some cheesy fortune cookie but it is true. You have decided to go to the suburban area and go to that school full of white people. Oh and do you remember that lady who thought you came from another country when you went with your mom? Yep, that’s the high school you are going to. Anyway, check out this sacred wizardry that I have discovered to get good, or at least, decent grades in a middle school that took steroids.

On a day in which the sun was shining like a new fluorescent light bulb, I sat on a heated metal bench that was located in front of a large, stone fountain where a brace of ducks lingered, and I began to read Chasing Brooklyn.

I love Evanston. It is steps from Lake Michigan, offers cultural outlets, excellent public schools and a diverse population that does a good job of respecting all members of the community. But it’s not perfect. As a Latina with white parents, I have a unique perspective. The segregation of neighborhoods based on race and income is obvious. But there is also aversive racism. There’s the store clerk that watches me more than white customers or the teacher that makes assumptions and expects less from Latino students. But, it goes both ways. Some of those teachers have been black. I have friends of color that comment on my white parents or that Spanish is not my first language. With the recent election it has become apparent that the fight for

I loved Chicago during the wintertime- the quick shuffle everyone seemed to do, wanting to get inside as fast as possible, the honks of cars filling the cold silence, and the aura that you got overall; the feeling of purpose. Everyone in the city was there for a reason, from the tourists to the residents. I made my way through every store that I could for the short-lived amount of time I would be experiencing the magic of Chicago. I held my bags in one hand, and had my arm linked with my best friend, Ridley. Ridley and I had been friends for years, growing up in Naperville together. We had done everything together, and we had practically become sisters. Our matching caramel brown hair and similar green eyes helped look the part as well, we were often mistaken as relatives anyway. Ridley was a bubbly and energetic person, always sweet to everyone she encounters. I, however, wasn’t nearly as sweet. I was more of a pessimistic person, and I prefered to keep my distance with people that I didn’t know. If they weren’t my friends or

I slowly walked into the building as my feet softly caressed the cement. I opened the door, and took a few subtle steps and listened to the loud creaking of the door closing. I was taken abruptly by the warm and soothing welcome that I was given by the committee and other people in attendance. I smiled and slowly turned from the lovely people. I found my glowing face of joy directed towards the exquisitely detailed walls. The breathtaking amount of anti-automatic weapon banners that slowly swayed back and forth on the walls was overwhelming. I stood proudly and walked slowly to the podium and made my statement. I thought to myself “If we didn’t have these engineered merchants of death, the murder rate in Chicago would be much more declined.”

It was only a matter of seconds before I heard the insignificant sound that marked the start of my day. “Tsss,” hissed the brakes as the bus came to a complete stop in front of the waiting crowd and the driver opened its doors to allow passengers to get on. I hopped on as adults and students alike fought for a place on the vehicle that would take them closer to their destination. As the bus started to move, I stared out the window and watched as the buildings slowly passed by, creating a mental list of the establishments in my neighborhood. To this, I added the many libraries, hospitals, convenient stores, supermarkets, and restaurants that were scattered on the blocks leading to my school. As I mindlessly performed this task, I could not help but think of how these buildings were so different and yet so similar. On my right was a Chinese convenient store and a Latin American restaurant, and on my left was an Indian grocery store and a Middle Eastern restaurant. Although they represent countries from different

Daniel and I met up with a friend in Chicago and throughout the whole day we socialized and shared laughter. She had to catch a train home so we walked her to the train and she was trying to order us a Lyft back to where we were staying but we didn’t want her missing her train so we decided to walk home. It was an hour walk to the apartment me we were staying but throughout the whole walk I didn’t mind because I was with the love of my life. We were walking through downtown Chicago at midnight, they say Chicago is one of the most dangerous cities in the world but in that moment I felt nothing but bliss. The glimmering lights hitting the water while walking with Daniel made me feel infatuation that cheesy movies always try to get to but never hit the mark.

We live in the Capital Heights Kensington Area, and I have lived here all my life! There are many factors that went into my parents choosing this place to live. The originally moved to DC because it is a good place to find jobs. My parents wanted to live close to the city, but in the suburbs, making this a perfect area. They wanted to be somewhere that you don’t need to drive everywhere, and somewhere that had plenty of bike trails. Where we live also had many human factors that influenced their decision, like having sidewalks, pools and farmers market. Also, having stores and the metro close were a good things for shopping and getting to work. Another big factor was good schools, and since we have family near here, which also was a deciding

Summer is fun supposed to be fun, right? Well not for me. My summer of 2015 was pretty boring. I had a few interesting things happen to me this summer. I know for a fact that your summer was a lot more exotic than mine. Besides that here a some of the very (not) intriguing things I partook in over the summer.