Personal Narrative: My Ghetto

grew up in Chicago, Illinois, a beautiful city surrounded by violence and controversy by the media. I found things more simple when I was kid growing up here, there wasn't much to worry about but as I got older things became more complex here. The sounds of the " L "' or as you know it as, The Train, and the roaring sounds of cars passing by my house made me feel alive while growing up and as a matter of fact still does. You could wake up in the morning and see the vibrant blue skies being pierced by the skyscrapers and see other kids playing ball or riding their bikes. When it was summer time I would play ins sprinklers or go downtown and play in the fountains with my family. Of course, like most big cities I had to watch my back while growing up because you never knew what somebody was up to. It's weird really growing up here because you never know what's going to happen next , wether it's a good thing or a bad thing. All I can really say about growing up in Chicago is that if I had the chance to redo it, I'd do if a million times.

Growing up in the Chicago area was a great experience for me, I was always a good kid but I had always struggled in school. The reason that I had a hard time in school was that I had A.D.D which was the cause of my distraction. Entering Pritzker College Prep was a different experience for me because I was overwhelmed, the reason as to why I felt overwhelmed was because of the amount of homework we got. I ended up spending nights where I would do my homework and wouldn’t get a sufficient amount of sleep and would also cause me to fall asleep in class. My grades started to drop which caused me to stop caring in school, so I also decided to just stop doing my homework and it caused a decrease in my grades.

New York is a state where there are big lights and lots of people and busy streets. I live in Brooklyn, New York and I was born here and I have lived here all my life. Personally, where I live I can walk to go get groceries that I need and everything is in walking distance. I take the public subway or the bus to get to school and there are many public schools here in Brooklyn, New York. There are delis and corner stores almost around every block. Here in Brooklyn, it is very noisy and busy. I am so used to the noise that I can sleep soundly even with all the noise that surrounds my house. Personally, I think that if I were not born here or was not a New Yorker, I would plan to move here when I get older.

I have written many essays since I was in middle school yet most of my writing was not that important besides for a grade. Yet there is one piece of writing I wrote that change my life and felt that it had an important impact to The City of Chicago. My teacher during that time wanted the class to enter in a citywide competition, which is called “Do The Write Thing”. It is a way for students to voice their opinions on how to stop the violence in Chicago. I wanted to help reduce the violence in Chicago since many youths are being killed in the streets every single day. In my paper, I mainly focused on three body paragraphs. The first one was why the violence in the city was increasing. The second one was some type of violence that I have witness in my own personal life. The final paragraph

I witnessed my cousins boyfriend corpse lying on my neighbors lawn. It was a humid summer night around 3:30 when I peeked through my window and saw my devastated cousin sobbing uncontrollably on my decaying porch. Being from East chicago, Indiana has transformed me into the person I am today.

“The Things They Carried” is a short story by Tim O’Brien about a platoon of men who are fighting in the Vietnam War. The protagonist is Lieutenant Jimmy Cross. He is in charge, but constantly lost in day dreams about his ex-girlfriend, Martha, back home. She writes him letters, and he treasures every one, falling in love with her just over those short, impersonal letters. Even though it is added weight to Cross’s already heavy bag, his carries all of her letters with him throughout the Vietnam jungle. He is not the only man who carries unneeded things though. Each man carried something with him that is not essential for survival. Some do treasure practical things like an extra weapon but some carry United States dollars or the pantyhose of

“…Steel helmets… fatigue jackets… trousers… jungle boots… flak jacket… one large compress bandage… green plastic poncho… can openers, pocket

There’s few similarities in everyone’s side of the story, incidentally, that is this taking place in the “ghetto” area of Cloverdale. It all began with Keisha, Jordyn, along with myself were walking. We were visiting our friends that happened to live in the area as well as those who lived close. Our friend, Kennedy, and we had just finished a conversation. Then we headed to another friend’s house when we realized it had gotten too dark, ultimately, that’s when perspectives changed.

The things they carried were largely determined by necessity. Among the necessities or near-necessities were P-38 can openers, pocket knives, heat tabs, wristwatches, dog tags, mosquito repellent, chewing gum, candy, cigarettes, salt tablets, packets of Kool-Aid, lighters, matches, sewing kits, Military Payment Certificates, C rations, and two or three canteens of water (2).

I stayed there for a yr and I didn't like it, I wanted to go home after one week of me being

Ailleene Mendoza a student at Mound Westonka High School and Hennepin Technical College. She has straight, long black hair, brown eyes, and is 5’0 feet tall. Only a junior at high school, she attends college classes. Many would think Ailleene is a smart person because of the classes she’s talking, but that is not the case. She had to work hard to be in this position. She carried important things that helped her get in those classes. Usually her bag consisted of history book, mechanical pencils, 3 notebooks, red and green pens, highlighters, english reading books, chewing gum, wallet, car and house keys, a Samsung Galaxy phone and a silver Samsung chromebook. Together all of these items were at least 10 pounds considering that

My zipcode has given me a widespread of opourtunities in my life so far. Because of my Zip Code and the area I live in, I spent my childhood going to summer camps, and participating in Tee-Ball all because my zipcode offered these programs at a reasonable rate. My Zip Code limits us to the public schools that we are able to attend as well as some community colleges. Because of this, I would say that our opportunities are determined on where we live, and we can do whatever we want, to a certain extent. We have to abide by the villages rules certain recreational activities are sometimes available too people who live in a certain areas only. I remember when I was 8 years old I wanted to do the same golf camp that my cousin did at Marrionette

I eventually got tired and go to sleep, “ You can do this,” I tell

|Little Black Bag (small circular purse) |22” Spinner (suitcase) |Lanyard |Case for iPhone 5 |

I got a few new magazine's and some extra ammo for both my gun's in my van. In my can I also have my 'get home' bag with 4 days of food and 3 days of water, a pair of binoculars, a hunting knife, a box of matches, some camping cooking gear, basic first aid kit, and a military camouflage rain Pancho. I also have a full sized blow up mattress with a foot pump and a sleeping bag.