What Makes Me Unique

I failed a chemistry class, even with tutoring, meetings with the teachers, and at home tutoring from my roommate who was attending EWU as a Biology/Chemistry major. The disaster of that course, diminished my thinly restored confidence and I fled. I took up an opportunity to become an expat and live in Lebanon. The first summer I was there, I witnessed the war between Palestine and Israel, only a country away. The impact my experiences changed how I viewed privilege and what I had taken for granted back home. I felt ashamed at what I had so readily given up in self-pity and comparatively meager issues. Thus, after teaching English for a year and traveling, the profound realization of how imperative my education was towards helping the world become a better place sank in. I wanted to go farther than I ever had but this time I was going to do it right. My life became an awareness of the worlds pain, its need, and my insuppressible desire to solve it. I moved back to Chewelah after nearly a year and a half in Lebanon, and with a wholly renewed

I came from the world that is far from which I live in now. My friends were not as fortunate as me as they lived on the streets of Addis Ababa Ethiopia. They had more responsibilities than most adults in the USA. Many of my friends and family were not in school regularly and had to work at a very young age. I remember many stories that still give me goosebumps when I think of them. I lived thru the AIDS epidemic as well as many droughts in Ethiopia where many of my friends lost their families and their homes. Reflecting on what things shaped me to be so driven I think would these very trying times for my people would have to be it. I always wondered why I was blessed and fortunate enough to live in a stable household when my friends were suffering so badly. I knew that I had to push for their sake and not take my life and opportunities for granted.

Would most people put their lives in a challenging situation to learn something valuable? Despite the fact that relocating to another country is difficult; adapting and learning the culture of that country could be time-consuming. Two years ago I came to this beautiful country, and I encountered a challenging cultural barrier. Although I initially struggled when coming to the United States, I accepted the challenge. The most exacting aspect of this challenge for me was to overcome my anxiety about collaborating with people. However, I took many steps to conquer this problem. The first step I took to overcome this cultural barrier was to seek an intelligent friend who could spend their time to work with me. Therefore, after a tremendous effort

My own parents reminding me, “You can do better,” just once a month while growing up cascaded into my love for learning and pursuit of knowledge. A meaningless entry level job exposed me to reality and caused me to develop a plan to become something more while still reinforcing that idea of never forgetting where I came from. Interactions with as few as five to ten people were enough to make me hesitant and guarded. These little things will continue to haunt and encourage me as I progress towards whatever it is I am to be in this world. I have goals and I have plans to meet those goals. All that is left is to see how the trifles take me

My chosen picture reflects one of the key characteristics of my identity. In this photograph, I am wearing my favourite piece of jewelry, my mala. It is not about the piece itself, but what it means to me. Malas are known as ancient prayer beads and each stone signifies something. The main stone on mine is a quartz, which stimulates happiness, promotes kindness, and clarifies thoughts. My mala reminds me that everyday is an opportunity to bring happiness to my life as long I choose to be kind. I think that it is a privilege to receive kindness, but a gift to give it. These are the words I try to live by as much as possible.

One thing that makes me special is that I have ADHD also known as attention deficit hyperactive disorder. It took 6 years for the doctor to diagnose me. I used to always get in trouble, run around constantly, and couldn't focus in class. I swear there never was a day when I wouldn't be in trouble at home or in school. But after a few trips to Long Branch the doctor was able to diagnose me.

I never thought too much about who I am or at least what makes me who I am. I do have very strong convictions concerning who I want to be or who I feel as though I should be, but never have I theorized about how my makeup plays a part in it. As I viewed the pie graph in figure 2.1 of Ferdman (1995), I attempted to put my life in percentages basing them on what I felt I thought was most important. I immediately began to recognize who I am is a mixture of many things and from each I have built my perspective on life.

It has been said that much about a person’s lifestyle can be predicted just by knowing his or her own culture. With this being said it would make sense as to why my life has always been so unpredictable, seeing that I’ve never known much about my own culture. It’s not so much that I’m unaware of my African American culture, but more in fact that despite being a product of my culture, I could never really relate to or fit in with other members of my own culture. I always seem to feel out of place wherever I go, from classrooms, to my workplace and even at family reunions. I think this deep sense of feeling so out of place stems from my diverse upbringing. As the son of a military family I moved around quite frequently, sometimes changing states every other month and subsequently was consistently required to adapt to different environments & cultures throughout my life. It wasn’t so much the fact of having to adapt to new cultures so frequently that was difficult in fact it was due to this experience that I developed such a diverse personality and became so open to embracing and learning about other cultures. I believe my main issue growing up without a consistent culture or concrete background was that it seemed like I was always being forced to adapt and I always felt like the only one who was different from everyone else, even if I looked similar to everyone else.

Life presents all with triumphs, challenges, and tragedies; it rains on the blameless as well as the corrupt, I have read. What determines success and greatness is not the experiences themselves, but how one chooses to internalize and use those experiences. When asked if I believe where I come from has influenced where I am going and the unique way I see the world, I emphatically respond, “Yes!” I wholeheartedly believe my life’s background and up-bringing, family, and experiences, have all played a major role in who I am today as well as who I am determined to be as my future approaches.

There are many different places in my life that mean a lot to me, that have a significance to me. In either their significant from a certain memory or just what they represent to me. Not everyone will understand the importance of these places’ that mean so much to myself. Majority of these places are important not because of that one time, but because of the many times. They are important because of how they played a part in shaping me, who I am today. I have a second home with two grandparents who love me as if I were their own child. I formed a tradition that helps me remind me of what I have, a family that loves me. And I was able to travel to a new country that helped me find my true self and become the strong independent woman that I

‘Pop!’ I opened my lunch box to reveal a lovely, fluffy looking cake. Saliva started to slowly make its way out of my mouth when the sweet smell of chocolate assailed my sense. I couldn’t wait to devour it. All that was left was to sprinkle the icing sugar on now. Eating had become my new addiction after I had got away from drugs. Looking up from my cake I could see my friend running towards me.

My life has been and continue to be nothing but a series of amazing and interesting stories, filled with ups and down as any other normal person experience. What is more special about me is the fact that I have been very instrumental in the remarriage process of my parents who were divorced when I was only nine. Five years later when I turn 14 years I realized that I cannot continue to stay in a single parents house whole under the custody of my father and his mother (my grandmother). Because in a traditional African society, a divorced wife is usually sent back home to her biological parents where she belong. Usually children remain home with their father because that is where they belong, unless they are very young like new born within the age of one month old to 5 years old. I may not know nor was I curious enough to understand the reason behind my parents divorced but I do know this that they still love each other during divorce period due to the conversations I had with both during divorce period. I will often go tell my mother sweet things about my father and will vice versa to my mom and eventually to my surprise and credit, my grandmother just informed me one morning that my mother is scheduled to be back home soon. I could not believe what she was saying. I asked what? She said because she and my father have both realized their mistakes, embraces their differences, apologized to each other and realized that the life and the children they had together and the

Initially, I never thought moving to another place like Hawaii could change my life completely. When my mother and I were on the plane, I thought to myself that when we arrived in Hawaii and finally, our family was all together everything would go back to normal. I was mistaken. This was a immense and crucial changing point in my life. Originally from Arizona, I was a negligent student. Concealing my homework from my parents and fibbing that I completed the work. Thinking I was clever, but the consequences were C’s and D’s. Abruptly, when I arrived in Hawaii my work ethic started to transform. When I enrolled into Lanakila in third grade, I wanted to be superior. This was a first. Wanting to be the smartest in the class. Wanted to ace all the tests. This event changed the way I aspire to be. This event ended up making me want to work sedulously and become successful. If this event had not occurred, I would not be present today creating an essay for AP English. That is why this event was so significant it has changed my life.

Being unique is a quality that everyone fulfills in one way or another. The thing that makes me unique is that I tend to be very humble and confident, yet misunderstood due to my independence. Although, being confident makes me very open to others I also am a very quiet person who enjoys alone time and has no problem being alone due to the high amount of independence I have.

My parents raised me to understand that there is value in everything no matter how big or how small, show an appreciation for even the simple things of life and also that I could accomplish whatever I set out to. In that moment, I decided that I would further my education in the United States. Life outside Nigeria has been was an eye opener. I’ve experienced different cultural backgrounds and barricades and I’ve also realized that adaptation