What Makes You Me?

My relationship with my father has been different. He used to drink a lot while when I was younger, but although he would come under those conditions, he still would have the time and dedication to play with me. When I was younger I used to spend lots of time with my father, he would try to show me how to repair cars, I remember getting all greasy by trying to help him, but after a while I was sent to live with my grandmother, so our

One warm summer morning my sister, dad, and I were sitting and watching T.V. and my best friend’s dad called and invited us over for the weekend. He said

When I turned sixteen, my dad bought me my first car. Regrettably, I wrecked it not even a month later. In need of a vehicle for work and other after school activities, my dad bought another car for me, which became my brother’s when I bought a newer car. My father also put me through soccer, band, choir, and cheerleading because he saw the best in me and did the same for my brother with soccer, baseball, and band. He attended every competition and game he could as long as work would allow him the time. Every summer he takes the family to a lake cabin in Minnesota for vacation. In Minnesota, my dad taught me how to bait my hook, catch a fish, and how to filet one. Who knows how long my dad tried to teach my brother and I how to string a fishing pole or tie a fishing knot.

What does it mean to be me? I was born in Atlanta, Georgia with a Hispanic father and an Indian mother. I can Identify myself in many ways and my parents have made a good impact in my life and showed me what it was meant to be me. I can interact well with others who are (or appear) different from me. I also have an impact of being more culturally aware.

My father is the most special person in my life. He is a very intelligent and kind-hearted man. He runs his own business, and he works hard to support our family financially and emotionally. Although he is busy with work, he manages to make time for me and family. Every day, he takes out time for me to acknowledge my daily life and makes jokes that bring a smile to my face. My father has always been there for me at moments of joy and times of hardship. No matter how terrible the situation might seem, he always can look at the positive aspects of the situation and says, “Stay positive. Be happy. Don’t let the negativity ruin your day!” Therefore, whenever I face struggles and weaknesses, I remind myself that I am strong and live for the day.

The places people grew up are significant to the development of the person they’re today. In my life travelling from state to state has helped develop me into a more understanding person of how the world works in different ways. In my travels of moving from Hawaii, Maryland, California and now Florida, I have been engulfed in all the United States has to offer from these very different places. The travels I took were built upon the culture, the sights, and the education from these states.

During my childhood my mother and father expected me, my brother and two sisters to be respectful, obedient and polite. They set a conservative tone for our house that was not as strict as a boarding school, but there were similarities. Now that is not to say they beat us, or were mean, in fact they loved us very much but the love was shown from a specific distance. We talked, we laughed, but we never talked loudly, and we never laughed too much. I can remember hugging my dad, but it was when I was pretty little. I guess he felt that I was a boy, and as such I had to stand on my own. My only problem was he worked so much I never really learned how to stand on my own as a man. He never taught me how to defend myself. My mom always told me to walk away from a fight, problem is kids don’t view the world as adults, and the kid looking to avoid a fight probably didn’t know how to fight, and that was just too tempting a target to pass up. After we mover to Cerritos it was different, my relationship with my dad changed. He was getting home after work on time, he was around in the evenings and on weekends. I could see he was more relaxed, under less stress than he had been before and it was great! We started doing things together more regularly. We went deep sea fishing 4 or 5 times a year, we went to science fairs, hobby shops and down to the local harbors and checked out sail boats. I was getting to know him, where he came from,

November 5, 2010 we received a call saying my dad was getting released and deported to Mexicali. Our father asked us to go see him there, and of course we said yes. My older siblings were excited while my little brother had no clue what was going on, because he never met his own father before. That night i couldn’t sleep, because of the excitement and happiness i felt. The next day we took off at 6pm in a van. The way there my little brother would ask me questions on how our dad looked like and how he was like. I answered his questions with pride and told him that our dad was a nice man and would always bring a smile to your face when you were down. One question he asked me was “ do you think he would love me and accept me” i was shocked. I answered him saying “ he will never judge you, he never judges his children and will always love you and support you and accept you” i told him. Once we made the trip it was the most

Like many little girls, I grew up worshiping my dad. A small shy girl, hiding behind him, using him as my protection from the world, by his side every possible chance. I wanted to be whoever he wanted to be, wanted to do everything he wanted me to do. I did everything to make my dad proud of me, for years, trying to do my best in everything…all for him, yet somehow, it was never enough. The summer going into my sophomore year, when my dad was, as he usually was, drunk, told me that he was ashamed to have me as a daughter. This was the ultimate turning point that marked my transition from childhood into adulthood.

We rarely saw Dad without a smile, except when we left food on our plate, and it wasn’t because there were starving children in India. We also learned never to say we were hungry because Dad would mutter, “You kids don’t know what it is to be hungry.” At the time I didn’t know why he said it, but I did know it was terribly important that we gratefully eat whatever food was put in front of us. Dad was loving and thoughtful

Growing up in a home with both my parents, I was fortunate to be able to spend a lot of quality time with my father. We used to go out together and play soccer, baseball, and ride bikes. I remember we used to play a lot of old school video games and my mother would get pretty upset at the hours we spent playing and not doing anything productive. In my point of view, our relationship was perfect; our bond was strong like any father and son. I was only four years old when my world was turned upside down. My life changed the day that my mom and my dad separated, I felt alone. The process of a divorce was too much for a child that age to handle; it was a hard time for me. Although I had no father figure for about 12 years because my dad moved

My father passed away in 1991, two weeks before Christmas. I was 25 at the time but until then I had not grown up. I was still an ignorant youth that only cared about finding the next party. My role model was now gone, forcing me to reevaluate the direction my life was heading. I needed to reexamine some of the lessons he taught me through the years.

Staying me Wiz Khalifa once said “The most daring thing is to be yourself and to do exactly what you want to do at the point in time and not to be worried about what other people are doing or what's popular.” The poem “Me” by Walter de la Mare reminded me of this quote by Wiz. Walter says “as long as I live I shall always be myself” reminds me of when I was first coming to Shep and I wanted to fit in. When he compares himself to the trees, there is all different kinds of trees and all different kinds of people he could be but he chooses to be himself and so do I. The last verse of the poem he says “always just me” shows that he only ever wants to be himself and I feel the same way.

I don’t think that my dad knows how much I really do appreciate him and everything that he has done for me. My dad has been there for me every step of the way. From teaching me the essentials like walking and talking to just the simple joys in life like riding a bike and driving a car. Every step of the way he was right there telling me how proud he was. To some those are just simple words but to me they mean so much more. The one thing I want in life is to make my parents proud and to never disappoint them. But what my dad doesn’t know is how proud I am of him. I’m proud of how he puts family first, always. I can always count on my Dad to be there at everything I do. I’m proud of his sense of humor, and how he lifts the spirits of those around him; how he can lift the spirits of our family when times are tough. My dad did not have the easiest childhood, he lost his mother as a teenager and grew up with just a father but still today he is one of the happiest most joyful hearted men I know and for that I am proud. I’m proud to tell you that he took the time every night when

Having been homeschooled for the first twelve years of my life, I had a rather untraditional childhood. While my friends were required to go to school from 6:20 in the morning to 3:30 in the afternoon, I was at home studying or on a field trip to a relevant lecture or museum. Incidentally, this less rigid environment also gave me the opportunity to freely explore my own interests. Following my curiosity, I realized that the pursuit of literature was one of the most compel-ling paths I could follow. As a result, I quickly developed a fondness for reading by the age of eight. Alternatively, my desire to read also inspired me to take up writing as a semi-serious hob-by. Despite all my passion, I never took the time to learn any particular writing style besides advanced placement essay format. Instead, I developed my own through imitation and experimentation.