Personal Narrative: Growing Up In High School

Through my time growing up in Corona Queens as a kid I had come to realize something, I was beginning to get shorter as time progressed, the odd part was that I was the tallest in my class, standing at 5,10 in the 7th grade I was considered tall for a kid my age, in addition to only being 12 but regardless as I kept on coming home, I only felt as if I'm getting shorter. one day returning from the library and my reading session about the book Nature I was still in shock about what Henry David Thoreau has said about "sucking the marrow of life", and as I was attempting to think of how I can accomplish what he said, I fell and nearly broke my skull. it was then that I realized that what seemed like a footstep to walk into my home was a 10ft fall.

Going through high school the days were all the same, except for game days. There was just something different about the culture of the school. You could almost feel the excitement in the air. Every “Good luck tonight,” that was received made it feel like the whole school was rooting for me. This was my senior year and tonight was an especially big game. The game that night would decide if we made playoffs and if I could step on the court as a Hawk again.

Coming into high school was amazing because it was nice to experience, a whole new school setting. But in reality my first year was the worst year. I lost my grandfather along with three uncles, and it shook my whole year. The fact that i am still in school is outstanding, when i look upon it. The most difficult obstacle for me was getting back on track after what i went through my freshman year high school.

My palms were sweating, my heart was racing, I had no idea what to expect or who I was going to meet. I was never the type of girl to embrace new situations, I hated change and I wasn’t very good with meeting new people. I figured once I got to high school it would be my chance to start all over, turn the page in my book of life, and flip over a new leaf. I wanted to finally be the girl that fit in with everyone. I had imagined myself going to parties with big groups of my new friends, having sleepovers and doing all of the things cool high school kids normally do. I was certain that my high school career would be just like one of those really corny teen movies and I would live happily ever after with the homecoming crown and the boy of my

It has been 40 years since these group of people has step foot in America, and today it is one of the fastest growing and successful minorities group. One of the keys to their success is their value in education. Though, the first generation of Vietnamese American

(1990), “In Laos children get hid hard with a ruler if they don’t behave. And they also have to kneel on rocks for a long time if they are bad. It hurts. Our children hear stories about this, and they are glad they don’t go to school in Laos.” If students are hesitant to speak up or seem rather uninvolved in the classroom, it is potentially out of fear.

It’s always been a goal for me growing up to go to college, but you have to like school to be able to apply yourself completely right? Throughout elementary school and middle school, I hated school mostly because I never had a good relationship with my peers and was bullied growing up this would make me really not like going to school and not like my time there. In result, I never enjoyed school or applied myself as much as I wish I did in my years leading up to high school. When I got into high school is when it all changed My freshman year I went completely out of my comfort zone and tried out for cheerleading and made it. Freshman year through senior year cheer completely changed my relationship with the school and my peers. Freshman and sophomore year I started to involve myself into a lot of community service activities and clubs. I

As a student, I want to promote a worldly view to my peers and, by being open-minded, I hope to create an environment where my peers and I can view everyone as a culmination of unique and diverse experiences. I truly believe that, especially within the realm of education, people’s distinct stories and backgrounds can contribute to everyone, whether through exposing others to new ideas or providing a new outlook towards problems and discussions. As a Vietnamese-American, I am proud of the qualities that make me unique and I want to use the philosophies I have gained as an immigrant to contribute to those around

Growing up I learned about financial trouble by my parents telling me that Santa’s workshop is under construction, so he’s limited on supplies. I got told that at a young age and at the time I didn’t understand. Once I got older and started following financial situations and saving money, I realized what they meant. Looking back at it now, it isn’t a big deal because I understand what happened. At the time I was upset because I knew I wasn’t going to get everything on my list.

Since I was a child, I would hear the story about how my parents were forced to flee from their country due to the Vietnam War. They were always open about their struggles assimilating into the American culture, and in order to minimize the cultural shock for my siblings and I, they chose to live in a Vietnamese enclave in Orange County. As a first-generation Chinese-American, I had the privilege to be part of a family decorated with a multitude of Chinese-Vietnamese traditions and celebrations. It was when I began to attend high school that I realized that I was a minority and with that label came bias among my peers. As I began to feel that I had mastered the challenges of high school, college began to loom ahead of me. It was then I saw how the advantages my affluent peers had could make a huge difference in one’s future. Even though neither of my parents obtained a college degree, they always encouraged my siblings and I to pursue higher education. Unfortunately, due to financial constraints, it was up to us to figure out how to make our dream come true. Being awarded the Mithun Scholarship for academic excellence was one of the many tools I would use to overcome this barrier. College gave me the opportunity to better learn how to budget, time manage, and be self-sufficient. My drive and work ethic gave me the invaluable opportunity to pursue a college degree.

The summer of 2012 was the start of the downward spiral into my high school career. This ass hole guy decided to dump me and my dumb ass kept going after him when I know I shouldn’t have so I got hella drunk one night (as a 14 year old) and made this hilarious video with my bff that people hated apparently even though we looked hot. And so we got kicked out of cheer lol. Stupid mrs hatfield even had the vid on her phone like wtf lol. So yeah great start to high school.

Going into High School I didn’t know what to expect, I was nervous but I knew what classes I wanted to take and get over with. World Geography was an option and I was discussing it with my sister, she did let me know that there would be mostly all sophomores in that class because it was a sophomore class. That did get me a bit nervous because I only work well with a certain amount of people. The first day of school I was a little calm because when I walked in, I already knew most of the people in my class. Somethings that I will take from World Geography is how I somehow managed to improve on my time management skills, with the help of Mr. Brubaker and DJ, I got to see what I needed to improve in my writing and I took what I learned in this

Last year, I was shy of speaking English because I didn’t know a lot. I was afraid that the people would laugh about me If I said something wrong. But the last day of school, my English ESL (English Second Language) told me, “Saul, come”, so I went, “I just wanted to tell you that you have developed your English a lot, and next year you are not going to be in the ESL program anymore, I don’t want you to be afraid of talking English. Good luck.” I thought she was right, so this year I’m not scared of talking English anymore.

Growing up a quiet girl in a family of outspoken children and adults left me tasked with finding a place for myself. When I was younger, when asked a question, most of the time I would be too shy to answer. On the rare occasions where I'd build up the courage to speak, I could never get my response out before my mother or some other relative would answer for me. If someone asked me "How are you doing?," there'd be a long pause of silence before, finally, someone else would pipe in and respond "Sorry, she's just shy, and she's doing fine." Countless recurrences of this scene eventually led me to realize that within in my family, I would always be spoken over and that if I wanted my voice to be heard, I would have to find another medium to express myself.

I not only started college in U.S. but also became more mature than in China. Like normal children, I preferred fiction in childhood and always dreamed of being a royal to rule others, which caused self-centeredness. However in America, I began thinking about others more than myself and trying to improve myself through the reaction of others. Having a roommate, I learned to organize my personal belongings and take care of others. Especially after working part-time at the dining hall, I enhanced the way I treat others: always being patient and polite. At eighteen years old, I