Personal Narrative: Growing Up In Poverty

I have been going to school since I was four years old and, that means that I have been attending school twenty to twenty two years, including kindergarten, middle school, high school and now college. As every student, I had my ups and downs in school; I had some failures and some successes. One of the failures that affected me the most and that I will always remember was the time that I was in high school during my junior year. I failed almost all my classes and, I only passed two classes and with a C. In the other hand I had some really good success. The most recent one and the one that I am still happy about is getting my Family Development Credential. We learn from our mistakes and also from our successes, these two times in my life

I decided that I was going to go to Craven Community College and work on finishing the classes I needed to get my high school diploma. Unfortunately, that did not happen either. When I was seventeen, my mother unexpectedly passed away. My mother was my best friend and it was a huge loss to me and the rest of my family. I went through a period of grieving which lasted for almost a year. The subject of school was brought up again and I decided to get my GED from Craven. The fall after I received my GED, I started my first semester. I had to deal with anxiety and this feeling I had that I was a failure. I had to remind myself that I suffered in school because of my mental illness, not because I was stupid. I have recently started my third semester at Craven and I have a 4.0 GPA. I still have to deal with anxiety, mood swings, and stepping up as a mother figure to my little sister, but I have never let any of this bring me down. I have not given up and I never will. I use my past experiences as a way of reminding myself have far I have come, and that I am strong enough to take on anything I want to do in the future. That is why I feel like I would be a good candidate for

After barely graduating in the spring of 2017 from Lopez Early College High School, I went straight to my parent’s house not knowing exactly what I was going to do with my life. I knew I had ruined my life after not paying attention to my teachers and counselors about applying to colleges. They said I was a wonderful and intelligent student with a tremendous capacity of succeeding in life. Although everybody thought that about me, I never did. I was constantly under pressure thinking that I had to work in order to support my family economically, so our house was saved. I was also worried about whether my parents were getting divorced after every insignificant argument they had. I had to be an excellent example for my two younger siblings; but even though I tried my best, I never was.

1. After graduating from high school I decided to move back home with my mother from growing up and living with my grandmother. The main reasons for my decision was to go to a college back home, well long story short I ended up missing what could have been two semesters of college I had missed several deadlines trying my hardest to collect the documents the college needed I had no support and I just came crashing down after missing the deadline for the first semester. I felt like a complete failure and that everything else I was going to try to help myself would result in failure, I did not believe in myself anymore I did not have the confidence that I came with I just gave up. This feeling of failure did not last very long for me after a few days, three at the most I began to say to myself this will give me time to gather all the documents they need and this will give others time to provide me with them, and from there by the time the next semester for colleges came around I was enrolled and ready to go.

Imagine the news headlines filled with nothing but people like you - same hair, skin, defining features - except all the headlines are filled with death. Death at the hands of people we are all taught to trust with our safety. This is how my 2015 summer had been. Days upon days of headlines with black people being killed by “peace” officers. As the list of names grew longer, it became apparent that there was no intention to protect the black community, instead, the public was being “protected” from us. Growing up in a community of minorities, I had come to believe that there was a sense of solidarity in our struggles. I was wrong in thinking our shared status meant unity. At the core of every marginalized community, is a sense of anti-blackness. This harsh realization happened during a class discussion when everyone was throwing into my face that ultimately my feelings and thoughts did matter. I was reminded that I was an other and I stood alone in this fight for my community.

I didn’t grow up poor, we had nice clothes, a nice home, good schools and plenty of food and we went on vacations every summer. Me and my 8 siblings had a great childhood. It’s one thing to read about poverty and it’s another thing to sit in the dark with an empty refrigerator, hungry and wondering how to get yourself out of poverty.

In order to complete my heart's desire I've made sure to do above and beyond. My parents have also pushed and encouraged me to become the best me. I went to some of the best schools and took the best classes in Miami Dade County because my loving parents and I made sure that my grades remained on top. Even though I strived for the best, still I struggled with family issues. In middle school, I had a difficult time because my family was about to lose our home to foreclosure. When you lose someone or something so precious in your life, it can be a draining and learning experience. On the outside to everyone else they thought I looked blissfully happy, and like nothing was going on in my life. I was wearing a perfectly painted mask as my disguise. Little did they know that in reality I was constantly worried and I felt powerless. I had my father who worked as a construction worker and he tried to help out as much as he could, but he had his other kids and bills to pay. My hardworking mother was a Registered Nurse who graduated from the University of Miami for crying out loud and she did whatever she had to do to try and get a job but it was like everywhere she turned there was a roadblock. Finally, she got a

All I could fit in my only small bag was a few clothes and a toothbrush and all my parents

My public high school had misbehaved students and kids who didn’t care much about school. This resulted in the school having a poor academic system, although I did well it didn’t do a good job of preparing me for what was next. I attended Trevor Day School which at the time was a top 50 private school in New York City. They were granted the privilege of being on this list by having great teachers, a good learning environment, and one of the most rigorous curriculums in the city. This was a very cutthroat society that I had yet to encounter. As expected it was a drastic change, everyone was wealthier than me, there was racial tension, and in some ways it felt as if these kids were somehow smarter than me. Nonetheless, I had yet to realize that they weren’t in fact smarter than I was they just obtained the necessary tools to succeed in such an environment. I was one of the only colored guys in the school and I was on the basketball team. It was obvious that I was on financial aid and many people thought that I was granted with too much and I would fail off. Up until this point in my life I earned everything I received, but this was different; this time it was given to me. Therefore, with a lot given to me there would be a lot expected of me. I knew this prior to arriving at school, there were already a lot of eyes and pressure on

Service is important to Confirmation because it serves others and also God. The Holy Spirit inspires and helps us serve others. Service is a way to give back. It is a way to be grateful for what we have and help those who have less than us. Through service we are doing God’s work by helping others. For seventh and eighth grade year, I did many different acts of service including; works of mercy, church service, community service, and liturgical experience.

When one indulges in this with a weak heart might make one loose hope but thanks to my parents, siblings, family members and friends who have been a part of this walk. During my early stages, our family was undergoing some financial crises that always saw us move from place to place and even moved across states in search of better work condition. My father was in search of a job with better pay that would help the family survive because at that time; my mother was employed neither was she doing any business and was just a loving and caring housewife. This affected my schooling procession and catching up at those different institutions was a major challenge. It’s my mother who used to give me some heads up on how to go through all

Out of high school I went off to college with a plan. I was so naïve, I had my life all planned out. I was going to a state school study accounting to become a CPA, where I would go to work every day, sit in an office and take home a decent paycheck. Halfway through my degree I realized something was missing, passion of what I was doing. To be completely honest I gave up, I stopped caring and my grades were horrible, in the course of a year I had gone from an A student to a C student. My family was adamant about me staying in school, and sticking it out another semester. I agreed to try but eventually stopped going to class, I should have been dropped from my classes but the university I attended was so large that with 400 plus students to a lecture no one noticed or cared. I dropped out of college, had I not made the decision to continue they would have dismissed me anyway. The grades I received my last year at SUNY Albany do not reflect my academic ability. I regret giving up, I realize now that there were alternate routes I could have taken. However I am one of those

Growing up in a lower class Hispanic household is one thing, but growing up in one that is so closely intertwined with gang member activity and narcotics is a whole other. Most people do not stop to think about how that may affect one’s language and how they use it.

As a family of six I was raised on section 8, barely surviving on welfare. I shared beds and clothes with dreams of making it out of poverty, but with little guidance I was at risk of continuing this lifestyle for generations to come. My mother was always at work and my father was absent, which made me skip childhood and mature in order to become independent. I was never that child who had their mother sitting at the table telling them how to do their homework, but rather a child who stood on the table all day and night trying to teach myself. I knew from an early age that I wanted more in life than used clothes and a bike as transportation. I had the dream of attending college and becoming a doctor in philosophy.

“In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure” (Bill Cosby). Reflecting back on my life I have dealt with numerous downfalls but I always bounce back. I was born in India and moved here when I was six years old. As I grew up in California I was not a bright student at first. I was enrolled in Carmichael Elementary in which I was the only one with Turban on my head, which caused me to get into a lot of fights with other students who were making fun of turban. Not knowing how to speak English at the time affected the way interacted with teachers and students. On the other hand my family always had a tight budget at home. Both of my parents worked at the store we owned which was the only source money. At school kids were always talking about their new shoes and the iPod which his or her parents got them. I didn’t get everything I wanted as a kid but as I got older I understand if did I could be a spoiled brat. When I moved from Carmichael to Sacramento and I was enrolled at Maeola R. Beitzel elementary. Going to this new school I already learned English so I made marvelous friends and was surrounded by positive people. Going from a chaos environment to this harmonious environment in part because I was speaking English, made me have unique personality .I was playing sports and growing as a student. Those years went by in no time. Now I am in high school and my family’s income has been growing. My mom changed her work to now at Jack in