Personal Narrative: My Simulation Into American Culture

It is true in life that everything happens for a reason. It is also true to say that sometimes it is all about being in the right place, at the right time. There was never a more prominent example of this than a traumatic summers evening, only a few years ago.

The most important game of the year was coming up and I was ready. Everything was going perfect for me, because I was the starting QB as a freshmen at Englert High School. We were playing Joston High School the number 1 team in the nation since 1960, it was going to be a tough game because they had the number 1 ranked defense, but we had the best offense. The day before the game was just a normal day I went to school and had football practice after school. A couple weeks ago one of the other teams that we had played earlier in the year wanted another game so we decided to play them. They had been the hardest team we had played all year, we had only beat them by a last efforts field goal it hardly went in as it bounced in off the crossbar.

Like everyone else, I was very nervous for my first simulation experience mostly because I wasn’t sure what to expect. Before the simulation started my partner agreed he would focus on administering medications and that I would focus on doing the assessment and helping with whatever else the patient needed at that time. After talking to the patient for a little, we discovered that he was having difficulty breathing. What we did first was elevated the head of the bed. He said he was still having trouble, so I ensured his nasal cannula was working properly and asked him to do some deep breathing exercises with me. That still wasn’t helping so I knew that albuterol, a fast-acting bronchodilator, would need to be administered before any other med.

My heart is racing, my palms are sweaty, my head is spinning, as I prepare myself to go into my least favorite place in the whole world; Chemistry class. I find myself sighing as I go to my seat, get out my book, and prepare to try to understand any word my teacher spits out at me. As I look up from my books and binders, I see the goofy, crazy, curly haired, Ms.Moser staring up at me like she has just seen something unworldly crash into my school and land right in my seat. She hands me a paper facedown, and I wish I did not exist for that few select fifteen minutes. As I flip my paper around, I see the dreaded words, F I P Q U I Z. For the next fifteen minutes of sitting in my seat racking my brain for some sliver of an answer for the questions

The Latinos in my class differed in the way that they were proud to say they were Puerto Rican, Mexican, and Dominican. Thus, I pursued a relationship with these classmates and I began to feel differently about Latinos. I realized that I was taking part in the prejudice thoughts my previous classmates had toward Latinos by concealing my identity. I also recognized that Latinos were struggling to pursue a better life and that we are looked down upon. As a result of discrimination, it is difficult for us to accomplish our goals in life. Presently, every opportunity I get, I talk about my culture. I discuss the hardships Latinos face and I describe my experience growing up Puerto Rican. Although I am Puerto Rican, I don't know as much about my culture as I should. Reading Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America by Juan Gonzalez has brought new insights to my knowledge of Puerto Ricans and Latinos in general. Gonzalez focuses on language and writes that speaking Spanish is treated as a handicap instead of as an asset.

My older brother used to tell me about all the fun simulations that he got to do when he was in challenge. I was very envious because I had never done a simulation. So, when my 3rd grade teacher announced that our class was going to take part in a simulation, I was very excited. We had started learning about how in the olden days, native Americans didn’t use dollar bills to pay for things. They traded things like food, weapons, and clothing for things they needed.

In the United States we can be so self-absorbed and have no regard for other people and their feelings and well-being, it is a distinguishable norm for American society at this point. We always ask ourselves “What do I want?” or “What can I gain from this?”, but we never ask ourselves “What do they want?” or “What can they gain from this?” This is where Japan separates itself from the United States. The people in Japan hold such high esteem for everyone they know and meet, while we can hardly treat the person next to us with even the smallest amount of admiration and generosity.

My role in the simulation activity was a homeless male with a 8 year old son. I felt overwhelmed being homeless. I had nothing to work with no money, no bus passes. I ended up asking others around me for help. Thankfully, I found a retired gentle man who gave me his last $10, which I was able to use to purchase bus passes. The good thing was my child could go to school, eat breakfast, and lunch. I learned that others are why more resourceful than I am. Others were stealing and they were able to get ahead. I tried to do things the “right” way and I was still in the same place when the stimulation ended.

August 2014 was the coldest August I had ever experienced. The month was filled with blankets and heavy coats. Though usually Brazilian winters aren’t much different than American autumns, this one made everyone chilly. I was born and raised in the United States of America with my father, mother and younger brother. But my mother was born and raised in Curitiba, a city in Brazil. When my parents got married, they decided to live in the United States to raise their family. Despite that, I grew up with a part of Brazil in my heart. We visited Brazil many times throughout my childhood, but when I was at home, my mom brought Brazil to us through her cooking. My family loved sitting down to various Brazilian meals, many of which were rice, meat,

The lights and sirens filled the otherwise quiet neighborhood as I was drug out of my mother’s arms and put into the back of a familiar car. I watched as my home became nothing but a speck in the distance. From that point, I sat dumbfounded focused on what had just happened. How could a choice end this badly? Nothing made sense to me, then. It was in my grandmother’s home where my mother and I resided. My mother stayed with my grandmother since she was merely 21 years old and was beginning to enter into adulthood. However, an opportunity arose which meant me making a decision. I could move with my mother into her new home she bought in White Oak, West Virginia (in Raleigh County) or stay at my grandmother’s. Being the adventurous five years

The summer of 2013 was one of the best for me. It changed the word “sister” to me forever. NO life shattering events occurred – that I specifically recall – during the summer of 2013. That summer was different than all previous ones because I was going to be beginning my high school career, and at the same time, my older sister was going to be concluding hers. At the time, it didn’t occur to me that this would be the start of a lifelong friendship. Typically, my sister hung out with her friends and I hung out with my friends. That was it. We didn’t have much in common at the time. That was the summer I realized my sister was my best friend, instead of just my annoying sister.

One of the biggest turning points in my life was when I got my first job. I wasn’t even old enough to drive yet when I was first hired at the Middletown Sportsmen’s Club. I remember the anxiety and excitement that came along with it. I was so scared that I would mess something up when I first started and I remember my dad saying to me “don’t worry about because everyone makes mistakes especially when they are doing something that is new to them.” This was one of my first responsibility that takes place in the adult world. I developed many new skills that I would’ve never known it wasn’t for this job. I learned to handle myself in a polite manner in front of adults and I also learned about work equipment such as how to run a tractor and a bobcat. Getting this job was very life changing for me. I found that after working for several months I was starting to get more mature and responsible.

Some people just love to corrupt innocent things, don't they? Scott slammed his car door and stepped into the dim, vacant parking lot. They were just rumors. False ones at that. Of course, bad publicity was enough to close down a family entertainment business and ruin the hopes and dreams of children everywhere.

After five great years of marriage, my beautiful wife, Megan and I started to buy erotic magazines, many of which had stories on other people's fantasies. We would have discussions on many of these fantasies followed by fantastic love making. As months passed, I began having a fantasy about having sex with our newly divorced next door neighbor Jill and her 20 year old daughter Linda, but I refrained from telling Megan, not knowing how she would react.

I woke up. Feeling groggy, I went to take my pills. Being the way my brain was, I needed pills to function. I see things, but others don’t see them. These things, they are right in front of my face, but they are not visible to other people. I could not find my pills, I looked everywhere, even in my drug stash. They were not there. Wait, I sold them to Angelo. Well, remembering this, I need to go to the drug store.