Personal Narrative: Growing Up

When this year began (2015) my writing skills were in a scrabble to be at the level i knew they could achieve. TSi prep has brought me to a whole new level of writing and reading , by thrusting me into college literature and writing samples i feel more advanced in my academics.

Aristotle once said that “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” While other children grew up amazed by the night sky and all its wonders, I grew up captivated by the orchestration of the tiny universe within each and every one of us. Throughout my life, I am constantly mesmerized by the human body’s uncanny resilience against adversities. What fascinates me the most is the body’s ability to constantly overcome obstacles in its battle for survival. The intricate and interdependent symphony of our inner machineries working ceaselessly, enabling us to not only survive, but also thrive fascinates me unlike any other fields of knowledge. Yet, despite the body’s best effort to maintain this inner harmony, there comes a point when it can no longer burden the stress placed upon it. I learned this harsh reality through my father’s battle against his chronic kidney diseases.

While big events can make major changes, little events define how we become as adults. My earliest memories is at a five year-old. It is one spot where I have been to, in my thoughts, more than any other has. In this memory, it was evening, as I stood on a dirt path. It was an unpaved driveway for the church parsonage.

I came to Ridge Family Center for Learning in second grade. On top of being “the new kid” in school, I didn’t know anyone besides my neighbor. She had been going to this school since kindergarten and I ate lunch with her and her friends everyday. One day, as I ate my usual PB & J, she said “Are you excited for the musical?” Apparently it happens every year, yet I was not aware of this. Naturally, being a little kid, I was excited and screamed “Really? I love watching people perform!” My parents loved musicals and took me to see my fair share of them. She gave me a strange look and laughed. “You don’t get to watch. We’re performing on the stage, silly!” My jaw dropped. All I could think about was how scared I was. I was about to sing on stage in front of 200 parents.

Growing up I did not have what most people consider a normal family. I grew up in East Texas with a drug addict for a mother and a older gentleman for a father. My family was greatly affected by my mother's drug addiction. Even though we did not go without the necessary tools to survive there were major aspects that come a long with growing up that I missed out on. While my mother never actually harmed me or my siblings her actions had a negative lasting effect. While I was the middle child I was the most mature one so therefore when my mother would leave on her drug binges I had to step up and take her place at a young age. Having to step up at such a young age made me mature at early age which caused me to act out once I was older

Change is the constant thing in the world. From infancy till now many dramatic changes take place in my life physically, mentally, emotionally, psychologically intellectually etc.

I'm going to be twenty-three in February, and only one more left I'm until twenty-four and then my brain will be completely developed, I can go into high-end strip clubs and be able to insure a Lamborghini plus my insurance should be at its lowest. Not that I plan on ever going into a strip-club or wanting a Lamborghini I have other things on my mind. Today I've decided to talk about adulthood and growing up in general. I don't see myself by any stretch as an adult because all my life I've envisioned adults as super intelligent human beings. A transformation that would allow foresight, judgement, decision-making, multi-tasking, and the end to assholes everywhere. What a fantasy I was living in, instead you're thrown, cradled or never make

People have challenges, they have an obligation to overcome constantly, whether it be; school, the daily grind, going out in public, or simply making it through their day. Here is what I have overcome as a child all the way from when I was probably around 5 until I was about 10, so about five years. During this time, CPS came around about three or four times. Due to this, one time I was at an elementary track meet and I was about to go to my favorite event, but, before I could go to my event, I got called into a room considering CPS was there to talk to me. The principal got in touch with my mother and she didn’t have any other choice except to pick me up. As we were leaving, the man followed us to our house for the reason that he wanted to inspect the house. When the man left, my sister and I got screamed at by

The growing up process is all about messing up and learning from your mistakes. I don’t think the amount of mistakes you’ve made determines your character but rather how you learn and grown from them. People tend to learn a whole lot during the teenage years and I certainly did.There were a few situations in particular that I definitely think I learned from.

As adolescents, our brains are just starting to develop to help our bodies and our personalities mature. Hormonal changes in boys and girls include adrenarche, gonadarche, and menarche (King 2002). Adrenarche usually begins when a child is between the ages of 6 and 8 and controls skeletal growth, skin changes, and hair growth. Gonadarche contributes to the growth of genitals and breasts and menarche refers to the beginning of girl’s menses. Menarche comes later in the advanced stages. Although these phases of development happen outside of the brain, they are the first change that an adolescent goes through and the increase in hormones can cause mood swings and different ways of thinking.

When I was younger, I would often say “I will not be like that when I grow up!” or “When I’m a mom, I will not do that to my kids!” Much of my childhood was spent competing with others for my parent’s attention. They were divorced when I was three years old and constantly in relationships with others, which always took priority over time with me. My sister got pregnant at the age of 15 because she wanted to and that was something that I wanted either. She also battled an addiction to drugs throughout her life that I knew was not for me. With all the bad examples growing up, there were also some good things that I knew I wanted to be a part of me as an adult.

One experience that I believe has contributed positively to my growth as an individual was being named captain of my football team sophomore year. This was a surprise to me, I was a good football player however I was not the best on the team. My coach selected me because he felt as though I showed strong leadership qualities however I had never formally been named the leader of anything other than while playing follow the leader as a child. I was nervous about it at first because the captain has a lot of decisions to make and everyone counts on him to make the best one.

Going through life is not an effortless task for just about everyone, but a huge difference is made when one is guided through it along the way. Growing up, my brother has been a close companion and someone I relied on a surplus amount of times. I was awful at being sociable, attentive, or judicious as a little kid. Even though I still do not have much to show for those categories, I was able to drastically improve off of them thanks to him.

Like I mentioned in earlier chapters, I am in recovery. I have to figure out how to pick up the pieces and become the best me. I let the bullying dictate how my life was going to be. Physically there was a lot of damage. My hair started coming out in clumps, I gained a significant amount of weight. I lost my mojo and became a person I am not very happy with. I asked myself every day for months: “How do you turn this around?” To be completely honest I am still figuring it out. I lost a large part of my identity. My best friend was such an influential piece of me. We were known together as a pair. Then we have leadership, this would have been my third year in the program. I am a little lost without it. I am going to be a senior. This is my swan

When people start high school they’re usually so excited. They can’t wait to experience everything that comes with being in high school, I mean who wouldn’t? Everyone says that high school is the best four years of your life. Now that I’m months away from graduating, I can’t say they were my best years but I can say they were my most educational years, of course I wouldn’t say that they weren’t fun because they were. When I say educational, I mean I’ve learned so much about myself and so much about life. I learned what the words family, love, betrayal, law and life meant. All these events changed me, and I’m glad they happened because I wouldn’t have learned all these lessons. My personality hasn’t changed; I’m still a carefree girl,