Personal Narrative: How I Saved My Life

I was raised on the South Side of Chicago. I pretty much raised myself due to the fact my father is an alcoholic and gang banger. My mother was always working trying to support my four siblings and I. My mother could not always keep up with bills so we would get evicted a couple times a year. This was the norm for me. Lucky, for me I was accept to a boarding school where I begged my mother to let me attend. I honestly believe that school saved my life especially when I would lose a friend to gun violence. Not only that, there is where I found Jesus. My family did not raise me to be a man of God, but I met a man who taught how to become one. He would go out his way to take me to church driving an extra hour for I can receive the word of God.

There’s a story that I always tell people about when I talk about how much I love helping people. As a kid, I have always wanted to be a superhero. Of course, every kid wanted that too, but I feel like I always took it more seriously than others. The story that I tell is when I saved my little sister’s life. It was a day at the pool, and we were so little even I did not know how to swim yet. Our caregiver was not watching and my little sister fell in the pool, I immediately dove in forgetting that I could not swim either, but that did not stop me. I think I was around 4 years old, I grabbed my sister and pushed her above my head so that she could breathe, while I was nearly drowning underneath her. Finally, our caregiver jumped in and saved the both of us,

I asked many parents about how early do they teach their children about finances, I got answers like four to six to teenage.Few of them, didn’t ever think about it.

In these event my life has been completely altered. Whether it was through my personality or physical things. I cannot complain about these events because as far as I know, they have changed my life for the better.

“You can’t live in this. When it warms up more, you will need fresh air in the apartment. Have you told the Superintendent that you want something done?”

The sun beamed down on my tiny little head as I walked up the stairs onto the top deck of the cruise ship. I was only ten years old and about to do the scariest thing I had ever done in my life. On the ship, there was an obstacle course that hung over the deck. It seemed like it was about thirty feet tall and I thought it was crazy. To add to the tension, I was also extremely afraid of heights. There was even a part where you would walk out onto a ledge that hung off of the ship. Nothing was between your feet and the water about forty stories below, except for a little yellow platform. The people up there doing it were insane and I couldn’t imagine doing it myself. The thought of me going up there was already crazy, but knowing that I would have to do an obstacle course too was insanely crazy!

When you’re in a life or death situation the only thing you’re trying to do is

A significant event that shaped who am I today was being, hanai, which in a loose sense means adopted. It happened when I was very little, and I was blithely unaware until my parents told me sometime when I was younger. However, back then I felt completely unaffected and didn't realize how different my life could've been. The birth family, had two other daughters both of which got pregnant at age 13, the family was on drugs, and I remember one time while having to go to their home, seeing their poor dog with gashes on it's leg. In sum, they were a very problematic family from my standpoint.

I changed, I didn’t' even realize that I did, till now when I had to write about it. Throughout my years of living, I never payed much attention to myself, I've always been caring about others and making them smile and happy and comfortable . Looking back I realized throughout those years I've been helping others my characteristic been evolving me changing me without me realizing it adapting me to my environment. That changed made me better, looking back and seeing how much I helped others without realizing it made me smile a little.

My parents saved their money for all my life, with the goal to pay for one year of my college tuition. I came into my freshman year without having to worry about applying for student loans or having to worry about a lot of FAFSA aid, because my parents could help me out. After the year actually started however, I began to reconsider my approach to the options of paying for tuition and housing. Right at the beginning of my second semester, my family was hit with a terrible situation in that my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. At the time when I was supposed to be preparing for midterms and keeping up with all my other activities, I was stuck in my dorm room worrying about her prognosis. Her doctors could not totally be sure about her prognosis

I distinctly recall the day I found out that my cousin was ill and in need of a kidney transplant. It was November 2, 2014. As I hurried through the grocery store after work to purchase something to cook for dinner that evening, I received a call from my cousin. As I answered the phone, I could hear my cousin sniffling on the other end. I knew immediately something was wrong. I could hear the despair in Tiara’s voice as she began to tell me the world –shattering diagnosis she was given just a few short hours earlier. Tiara had been diagnosed with End-stage kidney failure, also known as ESRD. ESRD occurs when one or both kidneys are no longer able to function at the necessary level for life. I tried to remain calm for her even though my heart was breaking for my younger cousin. This was one of the worse bits of news that I have ever received. I unsuccessfully tried to comfort her with warm words of reassurance. I remember feeling hopeless

One event in life can alter a whole world. The small mishaps that happened on our wedding day, still resulted in our lifetime marriage. Accordingly, I pranced down the aisle, with my best friend Sean. Soon, I knew I was going to become a newly doting wife. The thought had made me anxiously overjoyed on the inside. Consequently, our lives were forever altered once we had proclaimed our love for one another with the exchange of our vows.

Imagine your arms and legs held back as you squirm to break free from the grip of a transporter. Imagine a bloody, scarred, and battered body and mind falsely believing that a jail cell was next. imagine three near death events to be remembered two years later, from overdosing. I am human. I am sober. I am the whole me. They saved my life.

Everyone will undergo a life altering experience at some point. It may only change a small aspect of everyday life, or it may change everything. Sometimes it is a surprise, other times it can be panned for; either way, no one is ready for the changes that are soon to follow. A lesson is always taught by these life altering experiences, but not always learned. I realize tragedy is inevitable, I remember that when I think about cancer taking my best friend, my mother. I was young at the time, but never young minded! I knew well beyond my years, but I learned more than any teacher could ever teach me when that awful disease won the battle.

In my college years I had to be very fiscally due to the fact that I could not count on anyone to help me out with my expenses. I am not bitter about this fact, quite the opposite; I cherish the fact that I was able to make it completely through my undergraduate career without having to rely on someone else. There were rough times that in which I had absolutely no money and missed out on opportunities to travel and gain valuable experiences. I have also been put in the situation where emergency expenses have come up and I have needed money and not been able to get it. This has happened with medical bills, tuition, rent and other very important things. So personally I have erected a barrier within myself to save as much money as possible when I have it. There are things I may need but because it is a certain percentage of my income or what not I neglect it, essentially kicking the can down the road until I do have enough money. The barrier that I have created was due to seeing my mom struggle with money even still in her 40’s and not saving any money throughout her career.