Reflection About My Family Background

Going to Catholic school allows me to grow in faith as one body of Christ. Our school, St. John Neumann, allows us to go to mass twice during the school week and on holy days of obligation. Also in our school we have religion class every day. This has allowed me to grow and flourish in my faith. This school has allowed me and my class mates to grow in the body of Christ.

The word family has changed so much in the past century. A family back in the 1950’s was probably considered a husband, wife, and one or more children. Times have changed and families have become much different. The Interpersonal Communication: Relating to Others book defines family as a, “Unit made up of any number of persons who live in relationship with one another over time in a common living space who are usually, but not always, united by marriage and kinship” (Beebe, Beebe & Redmond, 243). Families can be broken up into five different types. The first is the traditional family, which includes a mother, father, and their biological children. Next, is the blended family which includes

My parents have discovered a different religion since then, one even closer to God, and me not being religious drives a wedge between us. I believe that if I hadn’t gone to catholic school, there would be a possibility of me being religious, as I would have been taught a different mentality than Catholicism regarding religion.

I went to Catholic school because my great-grandmother influenced my mother to do so, arguing that the values that I would learn there would not compare to anything else. As a single mother, she took as many advices as possible on how to raise me, especially coming from the most important person for her. However, my mother has never considered herself a devout catholic, or religious person whatsoever, and although she enrolled me in Catholic school she tried to give me as much religious freedom as possible so that I could find my own spirituality when the right time merited it. I was raised with a hybrid of religious and liberal values, and while I consider to have a strong pillar of moral values based on what I learned in Catholic school,

I was blessed to be able to go through such a good school system. Some people complained about going to a private, Christian school, but I really enjoyed it. I do wonder sometimes though what it would have been like to go through public schooling and if that would have changed how I am today. I think the strong morals and values I hold today were largely created by my upbringing. But, I do think I used to simply claim to be a Christian because of my family. If my parents are Christian that must mean I’m a Christian, right? Going to college made me realize that my faith is something that I have to make my own. My faith is not necessarily my parents’ faith. I have to make a decision on what I believe and what I stand for, separate from my family. I remember that around the age of 14 I started to feel distant from God and was not very strong in my faith. Throughout high school I think I had different points of feeling “spiritual highs,” but felt like my faith was lukewarm. Today, I think I am starting to separate my parent’s faith from my own, and starting to make it mine. I feel like this is something everyone has to do at some point in their life. In the past year, and in the past couple months especially, I have had a stronger relationship with God. I definitely don’t feel “strong” in my faith, but I feel like I am growing spiritually. I think being here and the

Another reason why Catholic education is important to me is that since I have always attended Catholic school, it has become like a second family me. During religion class, my friends and I frequently pray for each other and we ask others to pray for our personal needs as well. Some of my classmates and I are so close, we are like siblings rather than teenagers who go to school together. If I attended a public school, with

History is defined as the study of the science of humanity in the past. It's a broad subject that spans over countless people groups throughout the years that the world has been around. Even before the times we have written word history was still being made, and it is still extremely important. We tend to forget that in our average day to day lives we are still making history. That all over the globe everyone is taking part in what might be in a history book someday.

Growing up, my parents or grandparents never told stories about where they came from. Unlike a lot of people, my family has been around for quite some time. My mother’s side has been around longer than my fathers, but both still go back quite a few generations. There are some unknowns and gaps of information from my mom’s side that no one today in my family even knows because of how far back this story goes.

My family’s heritage and culture is the main foundation for my beliefs, values and the choices I make in life. My family’s heritage and tradition has helped me developed the values I believe in and made me the person who I am. My values, religion, culture and traditions make an essential element in influencing my daily routine such as dressing, eating and talking. My family’s traditions have not changed all that much as time has passed. However, my family adopted new values as we got advanced in technology, but the principle remains the same. The three major things that made the way I am are my family and that environment, education, and

Last year I came across a shocking discovery. One that made me question my ethnic background as a whole. My biological father told me that he is originally from Ireland and at the age of 9 he moved to America. When my dad lived in Ireland he lived with my grandparents eventually his mother moved to America; after the divorce. Since his father was unable to take care of him he was put in an orphanage, since they had no knowledge on where his mother was. Eventually, after 4 years he was adopted by my grandmother who lived in Brooklyn, New York. My grandparents were on vacation in Ireland when they met my father visiting an orphanage and decided to adopt him. However, my father told me about Ireland and how the lifestyle he was custom to in Ireland is completely different from the lifestyle he had to grow accustom to in America. Some of the stories I was able to draw a comparison with to what we learned from class.

Across the span of our lives, we all experience enduring hardships that shape and ascertain the person we show to the world today. At the age of three I was taken from my biological parents, based on charges of domestic violence and substance abuse, and subsequently placed in the foster care system. I was moved from home to home, in and out of the system, for nearly seven years until I was adopted in 2013. My involvement and maturity within foster care, and my adoption thereafter, have molded my personality and demeanor as of now.

Family history is very important to an individual. By knowing where you come from, you can have a better perspective of your life. Having a clear understanding of your family background allows you to better appreciate the things that you would normally take for granted. The house, the car, and the average clothing may look better when one sees the sacrifices their family has made. They will see that their family has worked very hard just so their family can experience the better things in life. A persons roots and origin is one of the most important things to explore. It alone can bring you closer to self-discovery.

What I am today is the reflection of my family's history. History of endeavors, pains, failures and growth. One evening, I was talking to my grandma and she started telling about our family. At first, it seemed quite boring, but ended up in tears and made me learn the most important lesson of my life. It was quite a deep thing to realize for a kid but fortunately and eventually I understood.

Faith defines me: Since kindergarten I have always attended a catholic school. Going to a catholic high school influenced my decision to choose to DeSales to further my education. One of my extra electives I took at DeSales was Introduction to the Devout Life, so I could learn about the teachings of our school’s namesake. I also value praying which is something I do every night before bed, thanking God for three things that I was thankful for in my day and ask God to help me improve on one thing for the following day.

”No one is ever born into Life alone. Everyone has shared the bond of family, at least at birth, and for many people it is a bond that will follow them throughout life. For many people it is the most important bond of all.”