Personal Narrative: How I Lived My Life

When I was about 14 months old, my parents separated which then led to a divorce. Since I was extremely young, I cannot remember how it affected me. But once I got into grade school, I was in great knowledge that something was different. I then started to understand the affects my parents’ divorce had on me such as anger, resentment, feeling of loneliness, and prob-lems with communication. Now that I am a young adult, I still feel like I am being affected by those same problems except now I am able to control myself when I start to feel the symptoms. Divorce has had a huge impact on my life.

All things considered, I do consider myself today, to have a strong sense of self, and understanding of my own personal identity. The phases and circumstances of my adolescent years shaped me to be the strong independent woman I am today, but withstanding this journey, there were some aspects of my identity that I had considerable struggles with. As stated in earlier passages, my internal struggle with my intellectual self was a difficult and long battle, and although today I sit here writing a paper for a graduate school course (something 6 years ago was not an option) I still struggle with the drive to make right my academic failure of my past. Like my academic struggles, another internal identity conflict I tussled with for a very long was my racial and ethnic identity.

Everyone has a past with changing events that have shaped you to be who you are today. Good or bad these events are important to your life's story. My childhood was your average childhood till I turned the age of five. That’s when everything went downhill. It was one blow after the other: my Pa died and my parents got divorced. Slam, right in the face like a softball to the head. It hurt so bad and I didn’t know when the pain w When they say there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, they’re not lying. My mom got remarried and then had yet another kid to add to the four she had between her and my stepdad. Damyn was a blessing in disguise.

Those words of divorce were harsh and incomprehensible when I was nine, but now they are simply a handful of words that help define my life. Although some people feel sorry for me when they find out, I brush it off with “it’s better this way” and that’s not a lie. Though I often wonder about what would have happened if the divorce had never come about, I have perceived since those teary nights that if it hadn’t occurred, my parent’s relationship would be a sad, arguing mess. I’ve come to realize that the divorce has provided many great experiences for me.

As a child who has grown up moving around several times, I believe it has shaped me to find out who I am. It has encouraged myself to find out who I am and try new things. When I was younger I was extremely reserved but meeting new people as I moved schools forced me to branch out and become the individual I am today. One of my strongest passions is succeeding, but to succeed I've come to realize you have to fail. As a typical child figuring out what I love to do, I trial and error with almost every sport you could think of soccer, basketball, softball, gymnastics. In middle school I was in sports and also band, but I came to realize academics is one of the things I love to succeed in the most, it gives me a rush of happiness when I'm doing

Recalling my life as a junior in high school does not give me a great deal to look back on. But one intent that has always stood out to me, even as a young girl, is to have a positive impact on someone's life and make a difference, whether big or small. But semi-recently, my maturing mind and actions did not understand the difference between a positive or negative impact on a friend's happiness. After too long of a time not discerning my mistake of using bullying to change this friend, I finally recognized the negative impact that my actions were causing. This led me to search for a new course of action to mend my mistake. My then 15-year-old mind eventually understood that the words used as an attempt to fix a very close friend did nothing

An event that helped shape who I am today was when I went on a vacation to Vietnam. One day I went to a temple with my family and cousins. My family and I were walking around the temple, and the scenery was very beautiful. I really admired how peaceful and nice the temple was, everyone here was kind to one another. We were about to leave, and saw many kids trying to sell lottery tickets to visitors. I felt really sad because my parents told me that kids in this country had to work. Children that have to work at a young age usually come from really poor families. They were all wearing really worn clothes. Once we left the temple, I thought a lot about how people from poor countries live throughout the world. I did some research and learned that the government in the poor countries don’t care about how their citizens are living, they only care about how rich they are.

When I ponder upon the memories of when I was a child, I often think about how happy and carefree I used to be, and it's made me realize how much I cherish those moments and how I shouldn't have taken them for granted. When I was 10 years old, my parents split up and ended up getting divorced about a year later. Since I was so young, I don't think I fully understood what was going on, and I began to condition myself into thinking a divorce must be as common as a break-up between two lovers. However, as I started getting older, the concept of having two separate lives began to hit me harder. Life started getting tough once the heated arguments became more frequent, along with the frustration of having to pack up all my stuff and live a different

Throughout my life, I have pushed myself to be involved in my community which has shaped me into who I am today. Freshman year, I went with a group of kids from my church to a homeless maternal shelter in a downtown suburb. It was Valentine’s Day, and as I walked through those gray halls lined with rooms, void except for a bed, blankets, and a crib, there was a sense of love underlying the visible emptiness. Coming together as one, families were united in the knowledge that sometimes the only way to keep going is to give all of who you are to someone else. As middle schoolers, love for us was quantified by the amount of Valentines cards you got on your desk. However, after seeing clearly through the eyes of women who had experienced its trials,

I first hand had the experience of going through a divorce. Although it was not my own, and hopefully I will never have to go through that, but it was my parent’s divorce. As a child, this was not the ideal way to grow up, but it was what had to happen, and I believe everything happens for a reason. Although, this was not a pleasant

The moment the two most important people in my life decide to make the life-altering decision to get a divorce my life trajectory is forever changed. It not only alters their physical living circumstances but even more importantly it leaves an emotional scar that will be with me forever. My childhood consisted of fighting, lawyers, lies, and tears. The first time I was taken in an ambulance was because I didn't want to see the next day. I felt like there was no point

Who am I today? I see a man with potential. As I see myself right now I am pretty proud of myself and thankful. I am thankful for the opportunities that have been given to me such as being able to go to a very well known college prep school and I am thankful, and I know it sounds cheesy, for parents that love me and support me and give me a kick in the butt when they see me slacking a little bit.

To say that my life has been filled with ups and downs would be a severe understatement. Throughout my life I was nearly killed by a Pitbull as a child, moved away from all my friends and family in Georgia, and even had my younger brother go missing for nearly a week. However, one instance changed me more than all the others, despite not seeming as dramatic as the others. The instance I speak of is the divorce between my mother and my father.

I long to be free. To be free from the metal chains that hold me down. To be free from the whispering as I descend into my empty slumber. My heart couldn’t handle the pain of the immortal whispers and figures that popped up here and there trying to help or drag me with them.

Tears blurred my eyes as I watched hundreds of balloons fill the solemn grey skies. I tried to clear my vision by wiping the tears away. Even with the light wind, the water pooling from my eyes would not dry. After my failed attempt to stop crying, I looked down at my fingers and saw black streaks of my mascara and eyeliner. I take out the scented Kleenex tissues from my bag and wipe my fingers on them. The only thing filling the silence was the constant sobs coming from people around me and my own. I found a sense of comfort in my best friend. I could smell her fruit scented shampoo as she laid her head on my shoulders and clung onto me. As our group of friends surrounded us, we all hold on to one another, finding solace within each other. This was the first time I mourned a death of someone I loved.