The Day Of My Life

My father’s career moved my family to a new place every few years, totaling at five countries and four U.S. states before I turned eighteen. My first memories are of the ocean in Australia, although I was born in the deserts of New Mexico. Four years in Singapore remains the longest stretch I have spent in one country, but I have spent the longest cumulative time in the Middle East. I am an American, both by my passport and my parents, but I am not an American from America. My belief system was forged by my Filipino baby sitter, my Danish best friend, Omani women who invited me into their homes and gave me tea and halwa and painted henna on my hands. The

The decision to leave Pakistan behind and start a new life in the United States was a decision my parents made to make certain that their four children would have better opportunities. The circumstances of a perpetual outsider lead to some difficult situations requiring maturity from every household member. Technically, I am an American, but my homeland is not directly beneath my feet. My disproportion of cultural identity, in the onset of my childhood, left me confused. Being South Asian in post-9/11 America changed my identity from “outsider” to “dangerous outsider.” My home maintained my mother’s culture, yet the rest of my world seemed to have no place for it. Regardless of the diverse backgrounds, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, and Arabs were identical and the expectation for us to assimilate submissively seemed to be the proper solution. In school, my Urdu, Hindi, or Punjabi made others uncomfortable, and my effort to speak proficient English caused astonished commentary on my articulacy. While I was trying to find myself, I began to feel neither South Asian nor American. My mental fortitude made me realize that my

Roosevelt once described his service in the Spanish-American War as “the great day of my life” (www.nps.com). Roosevelt’s incredible leadership ability was first put to the test and demonstrated during the Battle of Las Guasimas as he braved a hail of enemy fire from horseback and led his men to a flanking position that broke the back of the Spanish forces and sent them into retreat. Following this action, Col. Wood was promoted to General, and Roosevelt was promoted to Colonel, giving him command of the 1st Volunteer Cavalry Regiment. Las Guasimas was a defining moment in Roosevelt’s life; however the greatest of these moments was no doubt at the Battle of San Juan Heights. Pinned down by heavy enemy fire, Roosevelt mounted his horse and cried “Are you afraid to stand up, when I am on horseback,” (www.artofmanliness.com) as he charged headlong into the fire and up Kettle Hill. After taking the first hill, Roosevelt saw that the American effort on the adjacent San Juan Hill was faltering, and he once again rallied his men for one final assault on the Spanish position. The following description of Roosevelt’s action is from his Medal of Honor citation, which was awarded posthumously in 2001.

Amir’s belief of travelling to America has clouded his common sense and morals on how to act. He believes that by travelling to the land of freedom with his father he would be allowed to drop all his past responsibilities and guilt to start a new life with no strings attached. This is known as the American dream, many immigrants from several third world countries see America as a new beginning where they can leave their old homes and work in the ‘’new world’’. In which they can provide their families with better opportunities in life as they grow up.

Have you ever thought to yourself, “Today is the day that I will part from my family to go to a whole new country to work for a plenty amount of money to support each and one of them,”? Well, that’s exactly what my dad thought to himself when the time came for him to move to the U.S. when he was just only 16 years old, he heard that the United States was a country where you could be free. He was the only child, in his family of 3 siblings, to move to the U.S. hoping to earn the money that can support his family because of the place he lived in. A poor city, named Xiao Ao, with only a few cars and no tall buildings, unlike New York. My dad lived in Xiao Ao until 1990 he moved to New York not knowing a single thing about English hoping to go down a different path to change his life forever.

There is not a day in my life that I wake up and do not ask myself why? Why did my mother have to leave? Why did this happen to me? Without a doubt the absence of my mother has been the hardest obstacle I have had to overcome at such a small age. At just eight months old, my life took a drastic change, one that I would not have dreamed of happening. My parents separated and I was left to live with my dad and his family. At that age a mother to a child is everything, I needed her to do the most basic things yet she was not there. I grew up not knowing what the love of a mother was and having to do everything on my own. At an early stage in life I had to become independent and do everything on my own. I did not have someone to hold my hands and guide me through my childhood because even though my dad and his family were there, he was too busy working to provide for us and they had enough kids of their own to take care of to worry about us. His family although they loved us, they made difference between my sister and I and their children. We had to do everything around the house while they did nothing. We felt as if we had no voice, we had no one to support us. Being in those situations made me in who I am today. I am motivated to be someone in life, to make a difference. I will do everything in my power to become a successful person and do not let my past define me. The situation with my dad’s family has a big role in my determination to become someone. Their rejection and

I was 15 years old when I walked through the door and the smell of sweet chocolate and the slightest hint of cinnamon found its way to my nostrils. The scrumptious smell lured my feet into the kitchen. I found my mother, her auburn hair glistening by the windows light, leaning over the dark granite counter top scooping out chocolate chip cookie dough from a silver mixing bowl. The sign of my mother baking implied she missed my father, especially when she baked cookies. Chocolate chip cookies were a tribute to my dad because they were his favorite cookie or dessert for that matter. He had been deployed to Iraq early in the fall and it was now approaching summer. The months he was gone seemed to linger more than any other months he was home.

“If you want to live a happy life tie it to a goal, not to people or things.” I think to myself as my dad yells up the stairs. “C’mon Mer, get ready,” his fruity voice echoes throughout the halls, booming as if he had a microphone. Echoing off the walls and filling the entire upstairs with his deep voice. Today is the day, my greatest dream and goal finally comes true. The day that dad finally lets me tag along on one of his missions for work. I’ve been nine for about seven months and he said I was finally ready. He didn’t even get to go out on a mission with his father till he was twelve. That means I’m way more advanced than him I don’t even try to be modest when I mention it practically every other second. This is literally the best day of my life! I don’t see how anything will ever top this, and the day has just begun.

After my wife passed away, I didn’t think there was much more meaning in my life. I knew eventually everybody passed from old age and I didn’t have much time left in my own life but I had hoped that what little I did have I could spend with my beloved wife, Ruth. We had been married 52 years before the angel of death came and took away my light in the middle of the night. At least she had passed silently and painlessly.

The worst day of my life was August 8th, 2016. Strangely enough, it was the last ten minutes of the day too. At 11:50pm, I learned of the death of one of my closest friends, Harvey Bell III. Harvey was riding his bike when he was struck and killed by a teenage driver. Harvey was seventeen years old. The woman who killed him wasn’t drunk, nor was she texting. To this day, I still don’t know how she hit him, but I and everyone he knows must accept that it happened.

Saturday september 2,2017 will never be the same for me! This will always be the worst day of my life. A day I will never forget. A time that will linger around me forever

When I was younger, things were so simple. I was getting good grades, winning spelling bees, and even making honor roll. Everything started going downhill when my parents seperated. As I got older things became more difficult. My teenage years were some of the hardest times of my life.

February 22, 2012- a day I will always remember, possibly because perhaps it is by far the worst day of my life. Losing someone very beloved, someone very close to you is a tragedy, now imagine me, a 10 year old experiencing this for the first time, it was a very rough experience for me, from this experience,however, I learned that it is true what they say, death does bring people closer together.

ld meet someone who will always be there for me and love me for who I am. Every time I think of that day it reminds me of how lucky I am. My greatest love was to be a mother and have a loving and devoted husband who gives me support in difficult times. I wanted someone who had strength, knowledge, and compassion. This is the reason I married my husband, Sergey, who did all those things for me and more. He is a good person with great attributes. I am also grateful that I had parents who took care of me when I left to go to America. They were my support when I needed it. It was hard leaving them because I had lived with them throughout my life. My parents made me who I am today. I know they raised me well and I am thankful for all they have done. My husband's parents have given me compassion and welcomed me with open arms. For that I will always be reminded of how I should raise my children. I wanted to have a baby, which would be the greatest day of my life. When I gave birth to my daughter, Rosie, I felt as if something in my life forever changed. The day she looked at me was a day I will never forget. For a mother it was as if the world was an entirely different place. It felt like I was in heaven.

The first time I went to states was in 9 years old in 2013 I went two and two and out, but was the greatest day of my life it was awesome. First it’s the day of the weigh-ins and i 'm going for 55 pounds and it is you do and wrestle or you don 't and you go home. I have been cutting weight to make it all week and me and my dad are in line, first the check you in and you get a ticket then you go. Soon before I know it i 'm up and it is cold and i’m in shorts and i 'm freezing and of course so hungry but then I step on the scale and I make it 53.2. After I get into something warmer, thank goodness and we go and they give your stuff to get in tomorrow and then we go to my favorite place Steak and Shake. Then we go to get a hotel room and they