I grew up in the cold state of California. The city of Oxnard was my home for about 9 years before moving to Surprise Arizona. My life has changed rapidly when I loved to the City of Surprise. When my family moved here, many buildings had yet to be built, and Surprise’s neighborhoods still expanding. The house we lived in now still remains our first house in Arizona.…
Growing up in Federal Way, Washington it was a fairly mixed with all races. I spent all my school years in that city. I can remember playing sports on school teams and AAU, we were treated fairly everywhere and every one could recognize us. But as we got older and were allowed to hang out at night with our friends they, you could sense a difference the way people reacted to our friends. They were African American and had tattoos in High School, they had baggy and/or saggy pants, drove cars that had loud music and bass coming from them.…
I was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico and I moved to Jacksonville, Florida. This was a challenging time in my life because I had to get used to Florida's environment , its culture, and its people. New Mexico's environment is dry and hot. When you stand outside you can fee the sun beam on your skin, an the surrounding air is warm. There's mountains and desert landscapes.…
When I was 15, I left my dad and my sister in Kansas and came to live with my grandparents here in Arizona for my mental health. My childhood was quite tragic. I was physically and emotionally abused by my mom until my dad made her move out, and I was bullied at school. Before I came to Arizona, I was having suicidal thoughts on a daily basis and I had just attempted suicide for the seventh time. My dad, who has high-functioning autism, didn't know how to deal with it and made things worse.…
A universal theme for me moving from Texas to California is overcoming. I was 8 years old when my family moved, and had to overcome knowing no one, a new school, and being out of my comfort zone. At this age you tend to start making good friends, all hang out in groups, and be less adventurous. My parents kept saying, “Find people who like the same things as you, and everything else will be easy”. The next week I did just that.…
They say the goal in life is to live the “American Dream” and I would say I am living it head first. It all started when the time in my life came to pick an Univeristy to attend, and boy am I ecstatic with my decision to attend West Virginia University. WVU opened so many doors for me; however, if it was not for my family, I would not be where I am today. I was very content with going to my local University and living at home because that was comfortable to me, but my family encourged me to find a new start.…
I have been intellectually challenged my entire life. I entered into the gate program in third grade when I moved to Arizona, and since then I have been excelling academically. One of my favorite traits is that I love to help people in need. I am constantly helping people in my classes who don’t understand the material. One of my least favorite traits is that I can get impatient.…
Two thousand five hundred eighty-seven. I could take an eight-hour flight or a casual thirty-seven-hour drive, but no matter what, I am still two thousand five hundred eighty-seven miles away from my home in New Haven, Connecticut. Being a college freshman, trying to juggle class, homework, projects, studying, sleeping, eating, and athletics; finding the travel time to go home is an almost impossible task. Add in the cost of the $600 flights round trip and there is no chance a student can go visit home when they feel a little homesick. I on the other hand had never even fathomed being homesick from the frozen tundra I called home.…
When I was six years old I moved from Colorado to New Mexico. At the end of my junior year of high school, I found out that I was moving back to Colorado. I was full of emotions, I couldn’t decide if I was more mad or sad making me hate the world. I thought of every possibility of how to stay in New Mexico to finish high school. At the time, I was talking to a girl that I really liked and I had a lot of very close friends.…
Living in Texas is not what people portray it to be. I have never been to a rodeo, I have never owned a pair of cowgirl boots, and “Howdy” is nowhere in my vocabulary. However, I do have big hair and have a slight Southern accent. I live in a big suburban city called Arlington. I love my state and my city.…
My coming to america Immigration to a new country is always a difficult decision, and whoever experienced it understands what kind of sacrifices people go through. When I left Russia at 18, I thought I was going to be in paradise. I thought I was going to live the American dream like I saw in Hollywood movies. On my plane ride to Los Angeles, I thought I was going to be just like Carrie Bradshaw from “Sex and the City,” living in a big city, wearing designer clothes, and having a fabulous boyfriend. However, to my disappointment I found out that my life was not going to be what I was expecting.…
Growing up in Arizona, I was raised by my wonderful parents that are gratefully still here today. I was brought up through a Christian school until 5th grade. I was introduced to God, and the Christian faith at a young age. Looking back, this was the best thing for me. I was taught in a unique way, with religion tied into school.…
I remember the day I return to the United States from China at the age 6. I grew up being immersed with English in which consequently made me forgotten most of my Chinese. Before I even noticed, I had hard time communicating with my mother and grandmother. I took the first year level Chinese course at my last college in hope to better communicate with my parents, however, it was not enough. Every time we try to have a conversation, Google Translate would accompany us.…
When I was younger, my parents always bragged how I was a quiet and obedient child. Growing up in a small town of Tennessee and Illinois, where there were more trees than people, you knew everyone. Everyone knew you. Life was simple back then. Everything changed after moving to California, with massive schools, more people, and bigger houses.…
The National Honor Society is an organization that helps guide bright high school students into the right direction in which they have already shown by having an outstanding academic record, excellent attendance, etc. This organization enhances the unique and positive qualities that a person has while teaching them new ones such as responsibility, honesty, and respect. Throughout this year I faced hardships and had an extremely difficult time keeping everything I valued in place. I didn’t accomplish as much as I wish I did this year, but towards the middle/end, this sudden determination and passion started forming within me and my love for learning deepened.…