Personal Narrative: Living In The State Of Poverty

The poverty simulation for me was exiting and interesting, but most importantly, it stand as a learning experience that I am willing to carry throughout my journey as a nurse to assist and improve on the care I provide the poor and the needy people. Walking in the shoes of those in poverty during the simulation, I was frustrated because as a twenty-one year old my goals were not probably staying home and take care of my siblings or run around to find help with food or shelter but to be in college with my peers, go out on a date and parties. I was exhausted from going from one place to another just to get help with food, clothes in addition go to school.

Understand how to prevent poverty has been a great concern within the United States and across the globe. Many people believe that if you live in poverty you are lazy and you put yourself in that position. Well that is just not the case. Having said that, while I was doing the simulation, I noticed that I had to make difficult decisions that would result in whether or not I would make enough money to pay bills and keep my family intact. I know what it's like to live in poverty. I've experienced what it's like to have no running water or no electricity. When my parents came to the United States in the 90's they had a tough time getting situated in Nashville, Tennessee. When my mother had me and brother, everything seemed to be going well for

Today is the day for State track, the day I been working the whole season. When we pulled up to the stadium there were lot’s of people. I was so nervous, because I never been to a track meet like this before. We got everything unloaded from the suburban, walked into the stadium and was suprised how many people was there. When it was time to walk over to the discus ring, I saw girls throwing far. I was nervous. It was time for me to warm up and I had three practice throws. The first one was close to the hundreds, second one past hundred, and third past hundred and five. I looked over at my grandpa and he smiled. He said, no more practice throws, I was happy but nervous at the sometime. When it was my turn I went up to the ring and threw around the hundreds. After I got done

Beginning both poverty simulations, I was optimistic that I would be able to manage leisure, work, and family time. That was not the case. In each simulation, I was bombarded with decisions that forced me to make concessions. As part of the international simulation, I learned the importance of time management in regards to poverty. After the domestic simulation, I experienced the immediate effects of each decision I made on my pocketbook and wellbeing.

During this simulation I got a different outlook on what it is like to live in poverty. Hearing about it and actually experiencing it are two different things. In the simulation I was a grandmother taking care of my daughters children with my husband. I was the only one in the household, who was bringing in any money so it was very important I kept my job and was not late to work or did not do my job correctly. I felt really limited because even though I was bring in a steady income, my husband was the one, who had to go around and pay the bills, buy food, and made sure the children did not get into any trouble. My husband had diabetes and received a disability check which was helpful to the situation. I learned that it is very important to budget everything out or not everything is going to get done. Being the parent that only work the whole simulation gave me only one side view of the

In this paper I will be talking about the poverty simulation that we had done for class. I will be talking about how it connects to class, my role, and my fake family that I had worked with during the simulation, and my views of poverty after finishing the simulation. Poverty means something different to everyone and I feel like this simulation was a very good way to show how everyday people can struggle with money, kids, and finding resources that they might be able to utilize to benefit themselves.

People living in poverty have to prioritize their “needs.” That is the main thing that I learned while doing this simulation. The needs for my family and I were food, shelter, and healthcare. When placing our needs in order we all picked food as our number one priority. That often left us without functional shelter. For example, another family had gotten evicted from their house, because they had chosen food before paying their rent. My family had gotten their utilities turned off because of lack of money as well.

Relative poverty has been defined as the level of deprivation, where individuals are unable to play the roles, participate in the relationships, and follow the custom behavior that is expected of them by virtue of their being in society. Inequality tends to influence people’s perceptions of poverty. “Policymakers and analysts use poverty rate to measure programmatic successes and failures and to create, defend, and dispute new policy initiatives” (Oslen pg. 4) The level that any poverty line is set to may be considered random and debatable. Poverty is the inability of having choices and opportunities, a transgression of human dignity. It is a lack of capacity to participate effectively in society.

I am mixed-race from the Navajo Nation and Caucasian communities; thus, I walk among two distinct communities with differing world-views. Unfortunately, most people I have talked with are unaware of the difficulty Native peoples have in breaking out of the cycle of poverty, but it’s a heavy reality in my life. My grandmother often tells me about her turbulent struggle raising seven children on a tight budget. This cycle, and the accompanying social factors that plagues my family motivates me to pursue college and to break this cycle! These hardships have motivated me to work even harder to improve my grades, because I know I can build a better future for myself. Understanding my grandmother’s unrelenting drive, has shown me that I can draw

The act of simulation is a recommended teaching and learning strategy, known to provide knowledge which is

The cost of poverty… Feelings of aggravation, anxiety, desperation, and hopelessness occurred during this simulation. As a participant, my name was Shelly. In fifteen minutes, our family had to decide what our priorities were. Opportunity costs were the conundrum. Do we pay our rent and neglect our medical needs? Do we have food for the week or do we instead pay for our utilities? My boyfriend and I were unemployed and lived in a rental home. Medicaid and food stamps were our only comfort measures. Throughout the simulation, my boyfriend was arrested for public intoxication, and I was arrested twice for possession of drugs. At week 3, we were evicted and lived in the homeless shelter. All of the participants received a small taste of what it feels like be living in poverty. The experience was informative and appreciated. The assertion, “do not give them fish, teach them how to fish” was learned. When giving and trying to help others, we tend to take away their sense of self-worth, pride, and dignity. Instead of trying to eradicate someone’s problems, we need to work with the individual. Show individuals how to be self-sufficient. Help them to recognize the programs and benefits that they are eligible for.

First, the complexities of poverty impacted my mother’s behavior by limiting her ability to properly parent. For example, my mother was a single parent who was solely responsible for raising three children on her own. The level of parental stress she experienced created additional issues within the home. According to Kuther (2016), “Parents’ attitudes about child rearing, ability to show affection, and beliefs about discipline shape children’s emotional development and behavior” (pg.456).

The students in the poverty simulation are divided into tables, which becomes families, and their goal is to survive the four weeks. Surviving includes going to work, if they have a job, buying food,

Poverty is defined as inferior in quantity or insufficient in amount; however, poverty strikes much harder than simply lacking physical objects, it fosters a lifestyle tough to bear. After completing the simulations and videos, it was evident that one cannot truly understand the magnitude of poverty unless it is first hand.

The following report is a reaction and reflection in response to a personal five-day poverty simulation and the close reading of Under the Overpass by Mike Yankoski.