Personal Narrative: Single Most Stressful Year Of My Life

A few things that have influenced myself as I am today are my family history and my environment. Growing up, my classes were always fairly easy to me, so naturally I always had a higher than average grade. But when things got harder I started to work harder to maintain my grades. I always felt so accomplished when my mother and father would brag about my grades and intelligence and I wanted to always feel that way. My brother never applied himself in school and I would see how disappointed they were in him and I knew that I only wanted to make them proud. By the time I got to high school I had figured out that no one in my family besides aunts or uncles that were married into the family had ever gone to college and from that point on it was my next big goal to achieve.

Being what could be the first one in my family going to college makes me proud of myself and makes me push harder. Having large life goals is something hard to accomplish but not something impossible to do. Starting now with my life goals is going to be easier than if i wait until later on.

Over many years college has been known as a main path to success, yet many students find themselves being first-generation college student and face many challenges that come with it, despite the efforts colleges make to remove this stigma. “Thirty percent of higher ed students today are the first in their family to attend college, while 24 percent-4.5 million- are both first generation and low income” (Opidee, 2015, P.1). These percentages are very high, with 30% of students attending college being the first in their family many students and their families don’t know what they’re getting themselves into when they get to school. Students find that being a first-generation college students affects them even before they start college.

For me being the first generation in my family to attend college is a great honor. The reason I say that is because of the struggle my parents had to endure, in order for them and me to have a better life.My father finish middle school but my mother on the other hand never set foot in a school. She never learned how to read fluently or even write. My mother's unfortunate childhood made me value education even more. As a first generation college student you get to open new doors.I truly Believing that education is the key to becoming a better person and also student. Being able to be successful in college and also graduating from a nursing program will give me the satisfaction to say that my parents struggles didn't go unnoticed. Having

Being a senior I had already expected that life won’t go that easy. Throughout my Junior year I was being prepared through my AVID class and from all the different articles, and activities we did in class. Kind of reality hasn’t hit me yet, I was making a huge list that marks all I wanted to accomplish in my senior year. But there is this thing called ‘stress’ that is invented and it began to slowly eating my brain away. Just a little stressed what I tell everyone who ask how am I doing. Stress is something we all need to be prepared for in our early stages in life but we can’t help it due to many trials and tribulations that come in our everyday life. For high school seniors like me some of them already developed this disease called, ‘senioritis’ if you haven’t known yet it's a disease that affects your mind, and body from being able to function properly due to the amount loads of work that you have to do. Well if you have good time

A chaotic time period started my first year of high school. I expected this time period to be filled with new experiences, new relationships, and overall positivity. Unfortunately, this time period was surrounded by uncontrollable sadness and constant worrying. I never felt so exhausted in my life, yet I always got eight hours of sleep. Music in this time period was the only thing I had to allow

On September 2014, I began my first cognitive therapy session, where I was told I had a Panic/Anxiety Disorder. Two months after my first session, I was placed on antidepressants. Depression became the annoying neighbor who would not leave Anxiety alone. To this day, I continue my battle, but it has not held me back. My academics have never fluctuated. I maintained my record of academic excellence. My education never had to accommodate to my anxiety and depression, my life outside of school did. The reason? I knew that I had to be the best that I could possibly be, not only for myself, but for my parents and their struggles. My mentality as a first generation American, and as a daughter of immigrants, was to always work towards the best, to always be the best. My struggle with anxiety and depression, has only made me want it so much

When I started college, I was very happy, but clueless. It felt amazing that I had the opportunity to continue my education, but I did not know how to make it through my first semester. However, I said to myself that I should grab this great opportunity, or it would go pass me. I looked up for supports from every resource I could get from college, and surprisingly I made it through smoothly for the last three years. I feel so grateful and honored that I am going to be first generation in my family ancestry who is graduating from college.

As dawn began to approach, on the 22nd day of September 2016, my father followed his path directly for his bedroom. Normally we would sit and talk about our days, and complain about how hard life is. That month was nothing but a cold silence that rang through the house as the garage doors shut. Today was the day that my father would tell us the truth. At the time our family and I were attending a church in Decatur. We had been members for over 10 years, and it was all going to come to a complete halt. Emerging from his room, my father had a blank stare on his face. A look that I would never forget. He began to inch forward and call us all to the dinner table. The topic of conversation began with a sudden burst of tears, and my mother reaching

The feeling of being overwhelmed was emotion that grew larger as the days progressed . Lastly, my first two years of high school, I never made my mental well being and emotional health a priority, my lack of self care not only contributed my academic demise, but my personal as well. For my second half of sophomore year, I had panic and anxiety attacks daily , which made my day to day life miserable . After I acknowledged the errors of my habits , I made a conscience effort to correct my behavior in the upcoming years. I took classes that I took interest in, I found a system of organization that as effective for me and that I still use , I only participate in activities and extracurriculars that I have time for and most importantly I made sure to make myself a priority. These four changes not only improved my grades , but also my overall happiness increased. The failure of my Advanced Geometry course landed me in the classroom of success, not only for my senior year but for the rest of my academic, personal and professional life

Junior year, perhaps the most important year in highschool, aside from senior year. It's the period in which your suppose to feel the most relaxed social wise as you by now have established a group a friends and get comfortable branching out with all of yours peers, It is also the year in which your academics matter the most. In other words the most stressful and difficult year yet. All these expectations of this year have definitely been a reality to me. I'm definitely not stressing out on what crowd I belong to and who I should and shouldn’t hang out with. I have definitely felt the pressure of all my classes and having to keep up with all of them. From my two AP classes to taking a third year of chinese. I have tried to seek out more opportunities that will set me apart from other students as colleges look for the individual when alling. In my efforts of that I took part in the Los Angeles World Affairs Council meeting with the California senator , Adam Schiff in which I grew both as global

Earning a college degree will allow me to explore not only higher fields of academics but also to ultimately realize the full potential of my capabilities as an individual. Coming from a first generational point of view college is a privilege that was not made available to my mother and other loved ones around me. I often listen to elders talk about how much they wished that they had received a college education and how better things would be if they had the same privilege of education that I do. Although my mother highly intelligent, innovative, posses

The primary stress in my life is my job, I work in the banking industry. Where I am currently employed I work in the loan operations department and was recently promoted to a lead position. Now as with any promotion comes more work, my stress was solely based off my new boss and her demands for the job and not wanting to train me properly. The one thing that was noticed is that our personalities did not click and it allowed for a stressful workplace. I am a calm person, but emotionally I was not equipped to deal with someone yelling at me and always telling me I was not doing a good job.

It is two years back, the utterly most memorable, distressful year of my life. 2015. That year taught me numerous lessons, lessons that occurred so vividly to me that my hyperactive brain, nor sensitive heart could ever bear to forget. The intensive, emotional memories that are inevitably carried with me through spirit and thought. Almost as if to make a statement that they intend on staying permanently. They are embedded so deeply and passionately into me that they have developed their own setting. Their own setting of determination that compels me in the direction where I dread of drifting away to, alone. These life lessons that toss and turn you, yet shape you into a better person are beautiful.

“Quinn! Come on, your brother is going to take you and Bella outside to explore the neighborhood,” called my mom from downstairs. I closed my laptop and walked down. I had no clue that this would turn out to be one of the worst days of my life. When I got downstairs, my brother Tyler and my sister Bella were eating breakfast. I grabbed a plate and joined them. “When you all finish, you’re going to take a walk around the neighborhood. Quinn and Bella, you two listen to your brother,” Mom said. Tyler looked at me with a smug grin on his face. I glared at him. He was fourteen, only two years older than me, and acted like I’m his dumb little sister. Even Bella is more mature than him, and she is only seven. We just moved here to Virginia from Georgia because my dad got a promotion.