Personal Narrative: When I Grow Up

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.

Growing up as a kid, I was quite the troublemaker. I would act out inappropriately at unfitting times, which frequently led to consequences. It did not matter whether I was in public or at home; I would continue to act the same. It ranged from using offensive words and physically hurting others, to being inconsiderate. I was a naïve child who was oblivious to the real world, and acted on a whim without the thought of the consequences for my actions. One may describe this behavior as simply what makes a child, a child; however, I never knew how much it would affect my life going forward.

I think that I have grown as a student and a person as a whole. Emotionally I have matured so that I don't take everything so serious, I don't get upset over things I don't need too. I have become more responsible for example I take care of my items and do my homework. I have more knowledge now than ever before, this knowledge has helped shaped me to who I am. Over all I have grown greatly throughout the years.

While growing up, my answer to the question “What do you want to be when you grow up?” changed numerous times, but it has always involved a profession somewhere in the medical field, because those jobs have one thing in common- they are dedicated to helping others.

Growing up for me was quiet. I lived an average life, for example I would go to school, mom and dad would go to work, and we do it all over again the next morning. Nothing really changed until the beginning of second grade. After one week of second grade at a school I had been going to for years, my family decide to move. After we moved once we continued to move. To this day I don’t know why we moved around so much, but it caused me to check into a different school each month. I had changed five schools in less than a year.

Novelists Alex Shakur said, "childhood and adulthood were not factors of age. but states of mind." The day I recognized my transition from childhood to adulthood, this change in my state of mind, was July 17, 2015. It was a monumental day for the state of Oklahoma and its constituents. This day left an impact on our state, but for myself, however, it left a change so unforgettable. Instantly effective, it transfigured my way of thinking and constructed a standard for the way in which I wanted to live my life. This significant day marked my personal recognition of my transition to adulthood, but it wasn't the event that the average person recognizes their entrance to adulthood. Nevertheless, it wasn't the day I started my first job, it wasn't

Growing up I was raised by my mother and great-grandfather; my father was never involved and still isn’t presently. Since my mom was a single parent she was always working late at night and my great-grandfather would take care of me. He was a strong, stubborn man who loved everyone with all of his heart. However, he was dying of two arduous cancers; esophagus and colon. I was well aware of what was happening to the only father-figure in my life but I tried to keep his spirits up every day. I spent every day of my first 9 years with him and I regret that I didn’t spend more. Due to him being sick and passing away, I grew up quick. I was more mature than most of the kids I was around which inhibited my child-like character. Throughout middle

Growing up it was hard being your own person with a twin attached to you, but that didn’t stop from trying. When I was little I didn’t have a clue what the world my parents were trying to protect me from. They tried to cover up the fact about their finical issues and about their jobs. My first day of school ever was with me crying saying I wanted to go back to my mom, making any excuse to get out of school. In 3rd grade I wanted to join the basketball team mostly because my sister was in basketball, but they told me I couldn’t join basketball until I was in 4th grade thus the beginning of my athletic career stared in fourth grade.

I reminisce of the days when my mother made my siblings and I say this verse out loud every morning, “The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him”. My life has been filled with adversity. I grew up in a small village in Africa, where I was surrounded by poverty. I still can hear the little children crying out of hunger, school children walking miles to school with no shoes, little children sniffing glue or following strangers begging for money or food. I can remember the agony in their eyes. Growing up, I was very timid, intimidated (especially by those who grew up in big cities), lacked self-confidence and conscious of what the society thought of me.

This applies to me while I was growing up. When I was little, and my tummy was hurting a lot, my mom would touch it. If it felt hard to her, then she would use one of her Indian remedies of mixing various thing until it made this paste. You apply the paste to your stomach for a few hours and then shower to take it of. I would do this lot when I was a child because that’s what my mom told me and I knew it worked. As I got older, I would tell my friends and they all thought I was so weird because they have never heard of it. For me, it is something my grandparents did, my parents did and something I plan on doing with my kids. It is part of my culture and just because it is not part of everyone else culture, does not mean my mom was physically

For some, the transition from childhood to adulthood can be subtle. For others, like myself, there is great adversity that can speed up the transition and force aspects of adulthood into childhood. As a child, my family moved around quite a few times. A few of these moves made a significant impact on my childhood, defining the young adult I am today. While we moved to different towns and different schools several times, I vividly remember the lessons I learned from a time I moved in elementary school, middle school, and most recently, high school.

Have you ever heard a song that has brought you back to a special moment in your life? Music, which holds such a huge part of mine, constantly reminds of the memories that I have retained over the years. There are many songs that allow me to reminisce on those important times and experiences; from my first love, to summer days at the pool and late night sleepovers with my friends. Out of my long list, I think that a few songs in particular best represent my own personal “soundtrack” to my life.

I remembered going up to my nana's house every Saturday in the summer of 2014. My little

“Nooooo!” I screamed as I felt like my heart ripping out of my chest. It was beating at seventy-thousand beats per minute and I felt like I was frozen still like an iceberg in freezing water. The day had come where I was no longer needed and the government was ready to get rid of me. I heard the police sirens closening to my home. “Here take this” my mom told me as she handed me the government issued gun for my training. I was being trained as an operative that went undercover and was issued warrants to kill certain high up people in our opposing government of District 15. “Wee-oo wee-oo” The cops cars are closening and my heart is beating faster and faster. I started for the door as my mom forcefully took me into a hug. “I love you Michael, don’t ever forget that.” “I love you too mom.” And with those words I ran the front door and before I knew it the cops were already here. “MICHAEL CONROCKER, DROP YOUR WEAPON AND THIS WILL GO VERY EASY!” The police officer yelled through the megaphone. I knew that I had to listen otherwise I had a larger chance of dying than living. I slowly lowered my gun to the ground and turned around for them to cuff me. As they cuffed me I could sense my mother’s longing stare from the foyer window of our new home that I had just bought. I felt the rigidness of the police officer’s hands as he forcefully tightened my hands into handcuffs. The officer cuffing me was one of my best friends who knew that if he didn’t do what he was told that his day

My mom and dad know questions ask put us in the car and started driving, they didn't even wait for us to put are seat belts on. We asked repeatedly “Where are we going” or “Are we there yet.” Finally mom had it and just yelled “Shut up!” To both of us from then on it was a long quiet car ride. When we finally stopped they opened the door we crawled out, When we look back the car was half way down the road we were alone.