Personal Narrative: The Last Ten Years Of Age

Walking away from everything you once knew and starting over is never a picnic. Leaving Iraq, and moving to America has impacted my life more than anything. I was only 4 years old at that time, and the only English I spoke was “excuse me, water please.” My family and I did not know it then, but our lives were going to change; we would become “Americanized”. Learning English was one of the massive changes that occurred, the way I dressed (culture), and even the way I had power to go to school and educate myself.

If I ever had a single kryptonite to bring me down on my knees, it would be not knowing. Ironically, but befitting the way of the universe and life, I am completely and utterly lost. Most of the time, if not all of the time, I have no idea what I’m doing. I am either stuck in the same place, bolted to the ground, or circling the same spaces, making the same mistakes over and over again. Just thinking about this makes me feel so frustrated I could actually cry. “I’ve been here before. What am I doing?! What’s wrong with me?! I don’t know what to do,” is the ever-present monologue in my head. I couldn’t change it if I tried.

I am a first generation child to have been born in my family, the first generation who is about to graduate high school and the first generation to go to a college and succeed in life.

It all happened about 5 years ago my husband lost his job and things began to go

Leaving home signifies a coming of age into the beginning of adulthood, they say that’s when you really start to grow up. I was around thirteen years old when when my mother and I left home. It was around that time that I realized I couldn’t be a kid anymore, I no longer had that privilege. Thinking back, it seems like a dream you’ve just woken up from that you only have a vague memory of.

I'm going to be twenty-three in February, and only one more left I'm until twenty-four and then my brain will be completely developed, I can go into high-end strip clubs and be able to insure a Lamborghini plus my insurance should be at its lowest. Not that I plan on ever going into a strip-club or wanting a Lamborghini I have other things on my mind. Today I've decided to talk about adulthood and growing up in general. I don't see myself by any stretch as an adult because all my life I've envisioned adults as super intelligent human beings. A transformation that would allow foresight, judgement, decision-making, multi-tasking, and the end to assholes everywhere. What a fantasy I was living in, instead you're thrown, cradled or never make

Have you ever been so desperate for something that you redevelop your motive in its entirety? Throughout my life I’ve found myself placed in this frightening situation multiple times; the most confusing of which would be what I’ve endured this year. People in their 20s have it rough anyway. We’re old enough to feel like we’re supposed to know what we’re doing, yet young enough to be clueless and it still be acceptable; then there’s those of us who think we’ve got it all figured out only to be proven tremendously wrong. I have learned, however, that being tremendously wrong can lead you right where you need to be.

I would say distraction was one of the challenges I had to overcome to get where I am today. My friends, relationships, staying up late, watching television or doing something else rather than doing my work, would always back track me even if I thought “I’ll be okay” and just catch back up; it’s not that easy. I use to focus so much on other people in my life, I’d forget about myself and what’s best for me. When I was in the middle school, I would get so distracted by my cell phone, my mom would have a restriction on it so that I couldn’t send or receive text within school hours. Nevertheless, I didn’t understand, but now I see where it could hurt my grades.

Coming from a family of four and living with only my mother has been very difficult. She has been my only parent figure growing up and I have overcome endless amounts of barriers and hardships. I am the oldest in my family and required to babysit. It is my responsibility to help her out by working with her at her job because she doesn't obtain much money. My mom works at a small cellphone shop where I help her manage inventory, make payments, and solve telephone related problems. I learned how to communicate with customers and gain people skills. It has been rough balancing life at home and at school. I had nobody to look up to and felt alone. Being first generation, I felt as if I was carrying the world's weight on my shoulder. College is

J. R. R. Tolkien wrote, “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” I have taken this quote seriously in the way that I have lived my life thus far.

At times, I can be very composed. Other times I can be the fool that I am. When I entered the airport from the plane ride from London, I started freaking out! I was in Africa, but still surrounded by White people and I could not understand their English! Luckily, Elders Reese and Spillane met us at the airport and calmed me down. They told me that the language that those people spoke was Afrikaans. Initially it sounded to me like English that I did not understand, but as I heard it more I became used to it. The thing that I wanted to do most was use the French I know to speak to someone about the gospel and I got the chance! I saw this Black guy who spoke French, who helped load our kombi or van with luggage. I testified

Have you tried and failed to get together with a girl or guy? Well this roller-coaster of a story will surely get you to empathize or sympathize with me, or maybe if it is that big of a failure to you, both.

The years seem to fly by as you get older. Blending together the years only possibly highlighting the day you turn one year older. That moment for me was, in fact, my birthday and I could finally drive and four days later going to London. But the months leading up to that were chaos. Many people are busy throughout the year from start to finish such as sports, school work, looking at colleges, or even jobs. I was one of them; having plenty of things that would keep me busy - (most of what I liked to do like soccer, basketball, and spending time with my family and cousins, but some not so much like having the burden of housework chores).

Tomorrow, I will sit in somber silence as my neighbors set fire to their money in the form of loud noise and spectacular light shows. Very few know WHY they do it; it's just a day to party. I was born (so I am told) in 1965. I became aware of the concept of "freedom" sometime in the seventies. While in school I learned I lived in the “land of the free” and got my drivers license, my fishing license, hunting license, and was given all my shots, certainly against my will at the time. The eighties and nineties, I quit school (Thank you, Mr. Harrison for being a man of honor and telling the class that you did not believe what you were required to teach!)and went in a pursuit of the almighty dollar, starting a family, maintaining a home, sitting

At any rate, before I knew it I was 26 and entering a quarter-life crisis. As a result, I felt trapped by commitment, and something had to change. Ultimately, I decided that the solution to everything was that I needed a change of scenery, so I began applying for positions with cruise lines as a shipboard photographer in hopes of leaving everything that was trapping me as soon as possible. Not long after I started submitting applications I received an email from Ocean Images asking if I would be able to fly to Texas to meet with their hiring manager, and I was elated. I responded promptly agreeing on a date to fly out and meet with Michael for my very first formal interview.