Essay about Personal Narrative Self Identity

race? Or was the world trying to separate me, from setting all odds aside and loving all; no

I was born in Denmark and lived there for six years during which my friends asked me countless times why I looked so different from them. I did not have a particularly strong understanding of genetics at the time but I was able to grasp the basic concept that I looked different because of certain factors in my body. I learned that I was Chinese pretty quickly as well since this was the language I used in order to communicate with my parents. My grasp of ethnicity was reinforced when I moved to the US at the age of six and began to attend Chinese school every Sunday for two

You needed to be liked, no matter what it takes to fit in with society. I always made sure I put on makeup before I left the house. Although, I never felt like myself when I used makeup, it was necessary. Then, I started to isolate myself, I didn’t want anyone to notice me. I ignored my friends and family, it was terrible. I spent most of my time in my room, because I was so scared to be judged by others.

Was it the clothes I wore? How I looked? How I acted? How I talked? Was it even me? Would I ever be good enough? These are just some of the questions I asked myself every day! I would constantly try to fit in and make others like me so I wouldn’t become a target. Even throughout my efforts to just me “normal” I was picked on, teased, hit, and brought down every day by the same group of people. After wanting to switch schools and endless attempts to just be what was “normal” I lost myself. Who was I as a person? It took many years before I realized that I didn’t want to just be a “wallflower”, I didn’t want to be someone who I wasn’t! I just wanted to be me and wanted that to be enough, but realized for the people who surrounded me it would never be! One day I woke up and realized it was okay to just be me and that was enough. After, I quickly became my outgoing self again. I quickly realized that I wasn’t the one who needed to change at all! It was the people who bullied others who needed to change. In this I learned another important lesson in my life. I learned that it’s okay to be different. “I’m different; I’d rather follow my passion than follow the crowd. I’d rather do what’s right than do what’s convenient. I don’t have time for negativity. I’m positive and have embraced that I am

I’m neither high, nor low. I’m neither satisfied nor empty. I don’t feel a sense of love, I don’t feel hate. Not judging, nor feeling. No thought gives rise to an emotion. I am truly liberated; I am separate from emotions; no longer tied to subjectivity. I do not feel what I see; I do not embody the thought bubbling inside of me. It’s neither cold nor is there heat. The entanglements of subjectivity have released me, leaving me in a state of weightlessness. There is no weight brought by subjectivity weighing me down. I’m not saying subjectivity is good or bad; it just simply is. I am completely objective; I’m not viewing life from any perspective. Our minds distort what simply is by defining and labelling it with with emotions. The dark can no longer overshadow the

Fitting in was always a factor in my childhood, because being unique was frowned upon by society. Growing up without a voice was difficult to express my inner feeling and thought. In world where

As I grew older I quickly learned that in order to be accepted, I should act and behave

I was different from the other girls at school, and their disapproval was evident. I didn’t feel welcome

Then, I came to the U.S during my sixth grade year without knowing a single word in English. It was as if all doors were shut and a wall came up between myself and others. I was no

I’m a 100% Indian. The culture of India is what I most recognize with and exposed to initially, and that really shaped the way I am today. My parents and I have been exposed to many different cultures over the years, whether we’ve traveled and visited countries or lived in those places, you get the idea, we have been exposed to many cultures of

I lived in Ethiopia for quite some time before given a chance to move to America. When I arrived in America, the only people that were around me were Caucasians. They did not look like me or act like me. I found this very difficult when I first came to America. I was jealous of my classmates because they spoke clear English, they had cars to get them to and from school, and they had nicer clothes than me. This exposure at such a young age was difficult. Because I spent many years in Ethiopia with people who looked just like me and acted like me, this taught me how different everyone really is.

I continued to carry this burden on me for an incredibly long time. It was difficult to look at him the same way. I started to act different, not on purpose, but because I was disgusted.

In middle and high school my core group of friends was white, and most of the people I identified with were from the South. We had the same sayings, went to the same church, and had the same values. These were the people I would do things with on the weekend. At school, I would hang out with anyone of any race or culture.

at the same time. I would wake up, be dropped if to the "religious white land,” then arriving home to the "universal zone." My friends at school and my friends at home were far from the same. All my friends were the same at St. Alfred, where Dearborn Hts, mostly all my friends were guys and my best bud was an African American boy named Sean. I remember once when I had brought my close St. Alfred girlfriends over and the first time they met Sean, they made fun of him. I was at the age 10 and what was going through my mind was to agree with the girls and hurt my best friend who looked different, or stand up for him. I choose to stick up for Sean, but subsequently, I lost two friends because I choose him over them.

I came from a Spanish speaking household and I still do to this day. Having my first language as Spanish and not English caused me to learn English later