The Journey Of My Life

I don’t remember most of my parent’s marriage and most of the memories I do have of them being together, they were always arguing. I was in 3rd grade when the arguing started. Being so young, I always thought my parents were happy and that they would stay together forever, as every child thinks. In the beginning, they never fought in front of my brother and I and they seemed perfectly fine in front of us. But as the year continued on, they fought

September 27th 2009. I was on my dad’s weekend and my mom was in the hospital for a weeks. I would visit her every day and sometimes bring her flowers. But on september 27th I woke up and walked into my living room and my dad was sitting on the couch looking sad. I asked what was wrong and then a knock was heard on the door it was my step dad and half brother. My step dad had puffy eyes he was crying. He told me to sit down and my brother came out and sat next to me. My dad looked at us and he spoke up your mother had just passed this morning. I was shocked I was hurt I was scared.I didn’t know if i should cry or run away. I’ve learned that losing someone you love is tough.

Through the course of my pre-pubescent years, my mother and father would always argue. The fighting was not so frequent at first, but it eventually was a daily occurrence. The arguments were so intense and rapid that I could not comprehend what they were arguing about. We, as a family, would not genuinely do anything together anymore. As a result, I spent a

My mom would be back from work, at 8. Along with my little sister. When was she going to tell me? I couldn’t not say anything to her about it. I was so mad at her. I wanted to blame her for the divorce. It seemed like she initiated every argument these days. I thought if she would just keep her mouth closed they wouldn’t be so hostile towards each other. My dad loves my mom, I could never imagine him filing for divorce against her. I had butterflies in my stomach when I heard the garage opening. My mom casually walked into my room and said “hi sweetie”, I must have sounded upset because her next words were “What’s wrong?”. She was an expert on my emotions, anytime I was mad or sad she could tell. I felt my bottom lip quiver so I couldn’t reply. After I walked out of my room, I went to her dresser and plopped the yellow envelope in my mom's lap. “Why?” I said, my mom looked defeated, “There are some things that you are going to understand one day Naya” her reply enraged me. I couldn’t hold back the tears. She got off the bed and embraced me. My little sister threw a book from my desk at my mom and screamed “Stop making sister cry mommy”. I couldn’t help but laugh at

My story begins at the age of six. I am standing in my school uniform with a stain on my shirt from the ice cream my mother gave me on the ride there. My little sister, Gianni, lay in hospital bed staring at the polysterene tiled ceiling. There was nothing much else to look at save the cheap print of an uplifting pastel on the opposite wall. The air had a stagnant smell of bleach and sickness. My parents paced back and forth occasionally glancing forced reassuring smiles to my sister. We heard a moan on the adjacent bed through the cubicle curtains. My sister began to cry. Panicking, I ran to her bedside and started singing Jesus Loves the Little Children a song I learned in Bible school the Sunday before. I look at my grandmother and she gives me a reassuring nod from across the room. My sister gives me a hug and drifts off to sleep. The doctors come a bit later and take her away.

I just entered 9th grade in Hampton Bays High School. I enjoy playing soccer and I love photography, I think that it’s such a beautiful art. Before I came to Hampton Bays I was from East Hampton. Entered Hampton Bays towards the end of 8th grade. I learned a lot about transferring schools. I learned in many ways from negative to positive. People would always tell me that people in Hampton Bays were nice that I should be happy. That just entered from one ear and left right through the other. Now I have started to learn that I should be happy about starting a new chapter in my life. Because moving from place to place doesn't always have to be towards the negative, it can always be towards the positive. I think that everyone who has taken part of my journey in my life is part of who I am. People that I am close with, or not and just have only spoken to them once. I learn from them knowing what is right and what is not. No matter who the person is I learned something about them. That’s what I think makes me who I am, learning from others.

It was a beautiful Monday morning. The dew on the grass and the smell of fresh flowers made everything appear great, except for the fact that my mom wasn’t feeling well. I knew something was wrong, because she’s never sick. She is the type to deal with pain and not bother anyone about it, so when she said she was skipping work, I got worried. She told me to get ready for the bus, but I refused. I needed to help her. I was an only child and my dad died when I was younger. If I left her, she’d be all alone. I gave her some Aspirin for her headache, suggested she lie down, and told her I wasn’t going to leave her side. She demanded (in her quiet, kind voice) that I must go to school. I didn’t want to argue with her, so I finished getting ready and walked down to my bus stop. As I was waiting for the bus, I felt a sense of concern. “Should I be leaving?” I thought. As the bus approached, I stood up tall, took a deep breath and hoped that this day would get better.

As I got older, about age 7 or 8, i remember my parents started fighting more and more. Sometimes they got violent and things were broke, but no one got hurt. A fight started because we were playing and broke my dad's fathers chair and so he got upset and broke a PlayStation drum set. They would either fight in the living room, garage or basement. Me and my sisters would sit at the top of the stairs crying or we sometimes went to my sisters would come to my room to make sure I was ok and we would just sit there and cuddle, sit there and cry. Sometimes my mom would have enough or my dad and my mom and us kids would leave aurora and come up to Longmont for the night. But it they didn't last long after all the fighting really started because the separated and moved into separate houses. My dad kept the house and my mom moved into an apartment. My sisters who were older, had a better grasp on what was

As I am sitting by the bay window I start to see all the things that could happen instead of what is happening. I try not to be as negative as I am, I try to be the best did you see there that I tried to be positive for a second, but it just goes away, I don’t know why, it just feels as if I am walking on water and at that point as I feel free I fall right into the water just like that but you will know why. So, here I am telling you my story about my life,  my problems, and solutions this is how it all started.

Life is a journey filled with lessons, hardships, heartaches, joys, celebrations and special moments that will ultimately lead us to our destination, our purpose in life. The road will not always be smooth; in fact, throughout our travels, we will encounter many challenges.

This paper will detail the journeys of my life that lead to my marker moments. Each marker was born out of a circumstance or ah-ha moment. A moment that opened my mind and heart and branched out towards the path of leadership in my life. There are three that I will speak about for the purpose of this paper although there are many more. The three that stand out the most are my first trip to Jamaica, Transitioning into Christianity and Returning to School in that order.

“A Journey” is a short story written by Colm Tóibín in 2006. The story follows Mary who picks up her twenty-year-old son David from a hospital. The car ride home is not only a journey in itself but becomes a ride of memories. A ride that through flashbacks shows Mary her journey of life which gets her to start reflecting on the decisions and choices she has made in the past. It is about acceptance. Accepting your life as it is or turned out without looking back and that is the key to start looking forward instead.

God opens doors and he opens doors for people who never believed they could be used by Him for his glory. He took me and literally ripped the doors off the hinges. In Proverbs 16:19 it says, “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” After 6 months of fundraising, planning, and even along the way doubting, I flew out April 14, 2014 to Jamaica. This trip completely changed my life from the traveling experience, to what I did there, and to the things people taught me there that I will never forget. In one week God completely wrecked my world.

For the past 37 years my life has been anything but easy. I think most people can sympathize, to a degree. I am a middle child, with two older brothers and a one younger brother. We have an immense age gap; my older brothers are 15 years older than me and my youngest brother is 7 years younger. I grew up in a split family and bounced between my parents. I changed schools more times than I can count but still managed to graduate high school, start a career and a family, and achieve some degree of success. The saying “you are a product of your environment” does not ring true with me; you must go out and earn respect and success. Only you can achieve your goals.

My life thus far has brought me through many journeys. The experiences I had disciplined me so much, I don't even know where to start. I am content for all the lessons I have learned through these experiences. God is my everything and is the only reason for this life. He has showed me the meaning of many things and is directing me to the right path.