Personal Narrative: My Work With Underprivileged Children

Growing as an undocumented child made me value the true meaning of the American Dream. When I was seven years old my mother and I left our country because of the violence Mexico was facing. Crossing the border in the hot days and freezing nights of July in Arizona. while walking the only thing that I could think the better life America could offer us; while walking my mother got injure in her knee, I had told her “no Mom we have gotten this far to give up and I am not leaving without you”. When we arrived at Phoenix a family member took us to the airport in Reno to fly us to Atlanta, Georgia

Everyone needs assistance in their journey in becoming self-reliant. In order to shape a successful child, you must first analyze the foundation of that child. Children of minorities, especially Africans, have every card stacked against them. The schematics of this country is not designed for minorities to be successful and dominate the way it benefits the white man. From the moment the average African child is born he or she is at a relative handicap. This handicap remains with an African child into elementary school throughout high school, through graduation rates and standardized test scores. African are not only at a racial disadvantage, but they are at a social and economic disadvantage as well. Poverty is only a small part of the drawbacks

By the way of introduction, I am Aleem Punja's cousin and he suggested I reach out to you to explore possible opportunities at the Children's Aid Society of Toronto.

A few months ago I worked as an attendant to a 12-year-old boy with autism. I would go to his house and help out his family with anything that had to do with him. Some of the things that I would do were pick him up from school, prepare food him, and help him complete daily tasks. He did not speak at all, so it was really hard for me at first, but as the weeks went by I learned his facial expressions, his chart, and his sign language. Although it was difficult to work with him, I would like to continue working with special needs kids but in another setting.

In August of 2008, I went to Eureka Community Nursery School. The very first day of school for me, now it would be as easy as counting to three.

Like many people everyone wants to find their calling and figure out where they belong. My parents moved to the United States risking their lives on a boat from Haiti but soon separated while in america . My mom did a great job raising four kids on her own and I being the second child took part in raising my two younger siblings. In elementary school I struggled in many subjects but excelled in art, when I finally learned to read and went to middle school my grades were high enough to have honors reading and social study classes and even apa classes in highschool. I continued to excel in a lot of my classes, turns out I was smarter than I thought and all I need to do was learn to read and have people who took the time to teach me.

Maybe I was too little, or maybe I was too short, but either way I did not make the jump. In the second grade I was your average eight year old, who always wore her hair in ponytails, and enjoyed playing tag at recess. One day I saw the fifth graders on the monkey bars at recess doing something I had never seen before, they were jumping to the fourth bar. I waited untill Kids Inc. that day to try the jump, but it was no use I was acting like a scared baby.

Service is important to Confirmation because it serves others and also God. The Holy Spirit inspires and helps us serve others. Service is a way to give back. It is a way to be grateful for what we have and help those who have less than us. Through service we are doing God’s work by helping others. For seventh and eighth grade year, I did many different acts of service including; works of mercy, church service, community service, and liturgical experience.

Working with children has been a motivating force for me to continue on my journey as as a student. While studying at my community college, I obtained a preschool teaching permit so that I could teach preschool and I also have been a behavior interventionist working hands on with Autistic children. I am inspired because, I also have a learning disability and I know the struggles that it takes to be successful. I have dyscalculia, a math disability. Being a student with this is not easy, but never let it stifle me from being the best teacher and student I can be, and without the help of great teachers, I might have never had the chance to achieve my dreams of becoming a Sociology student at UCLA. So I want to give back. This is what inspires

After six years of working with children and teens, I have gained the knowledge and experience to know how to approach different situations and children. I have developed the ability to learn, observe and implicate what I have seen to make the lessons more enjoyable and relatable to the students. I am outgoing and high energy and I believe that it my genial personality can radiate throughout the camp. As a high school student, I have taught myself multiple languages and have created a curriculum for Unity that I taught to high school students. I also know a great deal about iD Tech camps since I have attended the Yale Robotics Course, the Adelphi Java Course and the Princeton Arduino Course. This program has helped me discover a love for coding

I am a volunteer at the Inpatient Pediatric Child Life Center, located in MedStar Georgetown University Hospital. My job is to keep the children, who are staying in the hospital, company. I read books to them, play games with them, or watch television with them. In addition, I have to help keep the play room clean. I make sure to keep all the books and toys organized, as well as making sure to sanitize the toys used.

I took quick glances at my dad to look at his expression and at the same time, looking out the half-rolled down van window. Our minivan was riding along the far left side of the road, giving me a better view of back then, horror, now, reality.

The work I have done at the Food Bank it is makes the community a better and safe place. Even though my group in the food bank makes posters and advertisements instead of packaging food to the needs people, with our posters, we create awareness among the people in the community of the resources available. Without our posters, the people who are in need wouldn’t know where to turn to when they’re hungry. In a way, I would like to think that we didn’t just create posters; we created support and the comfort of knowing the Food Bank is right there on the main campus just in case anybody needed it. As a matter of fact, a woman who couldn’t afford food for her family of five kids, came to the Food Bank the other day for help after seeing the signs

As my role as a member of the group, what was done was Adding on to others' points, and needed improvement was my role work. Adding on to others' points was done well due to the amount of effort was given in finding connections with their points and mine, then eventually either stating text evidence to add on to their opinions or stating my idea and how it adds

As a family of six I was raised on section 8, barely surviving on welfare. I shared beds and clothes with dreams of making it out of poverty, but with little guidance I was at risk of continuing this lifestyle for generations to come. My mother was always at work and my father was absent, which made me skip childhood and mature in order to become independent. I was never that child who had their mother sitting at the table telling them how to do their homework, but rather a child who stood on the table all day and night trying to teach myself. I knew from an early age that I wanted more in life than used clothes and a bike as transportation. I had the dream of attending college and becoming a doctor in philosophy.