Personal Narrative: My Influences In My Life

One influence in my life that has shaped me is my background. When I was a young girl, my family and I lived in Dandora slums in a single room, which was both the living room and my parents’ bedroom with a curtain separating the two. My two siblings and I shared a small bedroom, which we also used as a kitchen. While in Dandora, we shared a community bathroom different households in the compound. A few years later, we moved from Dandora slums to Kariobangi South slums, a low-income residential estate in northeastern Nairobi, Kenya.
In Kariobangi South, although we still lived in the slums our living situation was better than that of Dandora. Growing up in Kariobangi South slums was tough for me because many people considered it “the ghetto” due to its dirty nature. Living in Kariobangi South, I saw my …show more content…
Some people survive by selling street food across the roads, others by selling second-hand clothes and shoes, and some survive by opening small shops. From the balcony of my home, I always saw people selling cheap street food as a way. A broken sewage was near their place of business yet this did not stop us from purchasing those foods. The hard work and determination of these people inspire me till this day to always strive to do the best that I can.
The reality of seeing my neighbors stuck in poverty scared me and I knew that the only way to ensure a bright future for myself was through hard work and determination. My plan was to get out of my neighborhood after graduating high school, enroll at a Univerisity gain knowledge and return home to change the state of my community. When I enrolled at Xavier University and was awarded a visa to the United States, my parents reminded me that it is a blessing for someone from the slums to receive such a great