Personal Narrative: Who Am I Here?

Improved Essays
For as long as I can remember, there is a specific question that I have asked myself: Why am I here and where am I headed? The fact that I am unable to answer this question completely drains my energies. While I am sure that a number of individuals struggle with this question, I have found that I do not even understand the question itself, much less its answer. For the longest time, I remember being so lost that I no longer recognized the person in the mirror. Looking back on my high school days, everything was so simple when I was a senior, so much so that I took it for granted. I let opportunities slip away from me and I never truly learned how to recover from failure. At this point in my life, I feel that I can see a clear path again; I feel enlightened by my hunger for more. I know that I can now address the question that has been nagging my newly-acquired wisdom. Why am I here? Complexity goes hand in hand with the answer to this question. The simpler I try to make it, the more convoluted it gets. My family emigrated to The …show more content…
I know that I must focus on my future because of its hidden potential, but I also know that I must always come back to give back to my community. I know that the question that bothers me will be answered fully when the time is right. I am still unaware of my complete purpose in life, but I believe I have gotten a good glimpse of what I am meant to be and do. My mother, a simple woman, often says “El que no vive para servir, no sirve para vivir”. This translates directly into “A person who does not live to serve, does not deserve to live”. I understand that I must serve others through my hard work and dedication. My purpose in life should not be to be selfish, but rather to work for the happiness of others in order to achieve my own happiness as well. A vessel for my family when things were falling apart is a glimpse of the vessel I can be for my community when the time is

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    There are a couple of obstacles that have played a major role in me becoming who I am today. I've had naysayers trying to negatively influence my thoughts, and crush my dreams by saying that said I will never amount to anything, or that I should give up on my dreams and get realistic with my goals. A couple years ago I was a completely different person. I was out of shape physically, my academic performance was very poor, and I had a terrible attitude. I improved greatly in athletics and my academic career.…

    • 524 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Who am I? For some people the answer to this question is simple. They are able to answer this question without much thought. However, while some find solace and pride in answering this thought provoking question, it has always stirred in me a feeling of angst and confusion. These uncomfortable feelings emerged because of my interracial background and upbringing.…

    • 648 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    College Essay Growing up in New Haven, Connecticut there weren’t big mansions, people with expensive cars, nor any sign of wealth .It ’s a small city filled with homeless people, violence and poor neighborhoods that made me into the person I am today. A city so small you see the same people everyday.…

    • 669 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Mark Twain once said “the two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why” (Twain, ND). I found out why when I was 19, pregnant and homeless living on the streets of New York City. I knew I had a purposed and that there had to be something more to life than the cards I was given. I believe change starts with one and that is why I decided that it will be my life’s mission to help end homelessness and be a service to other people.…

    • 170 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Who am I? That is a very deep question. I think the only way I can answer that truthfully is by saying, I do not know exactly who I am, but I know who I want to become. I want to become a well rounded individual, someone who everyone likes and looks up too. I want to be someone my family can be proud of.…

    • 306 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When asked to define myself in one paper, I find it hard to show the details that I want to in the right light. When asked about my future after high school, I also have a hard time describing everything I want to get done because there are far too many things to name. The quote “ _____” (i want to be everyone and do everything and there isn’t enough life to do it all in) describes me to a tee, and I believe this college is the place I could do this in. Being a shy person for most of my life, many things were difficult for me. Specifically, last summer I had the opportunity for a summer job.…

    • 409 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When I think about the boy who I was growing up, the young adult I am today, and the man I plan to be in the forthcoming years, one aspect of my life stands out to me far more radiantly than anything else: my culture, my skin, my identity as a Bangladeshi-American. There aren't many clubs or organization for Bangladeshi Americans such as myself. Make no mistake, there are certainly events for Bangladeshis living in the United states, many that I have attended due to various entreaties from my parents. These are event where the only language spoken is one that I barely speak (Bengali), the only music conversed about is that which I don't listen to or understand, and the only events discussed happen in another country that I have spent only a…

    • 646 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Who am I? This question has been on my mind lately. Just to think about it, brings me feelings of a doubt and uneasiness. Many times I was told that it is impossible to figure out what is behind my defiant and troublesome face. Also I had a chance to hear that same face is like the mask, hiding the real me beneath of it.…

    • 228 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Vincent Van Gogh once said, “How can I be useful, of what service can I be? There is something inside me, what can it be?” In life, one usually seeks their great purpose and of what use they can possibly be to the world. Since a child, I have always wanted to be able to create an impact in the lives of others around me. I always dreamt of being remembered in an honorable way because of the difference I know I could make in people's lives.…

    • 875 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    One’s identity is who they truly are as a person. People don’t define you. you define yourself. You define yourself with your actions, personality, and the roles you play in other people’s lives. At this point in my life I’m still trying to figure out who I am.…

    • 408 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Where do I see myself five years from now? I haven’t ever been asked this question before so it never occurred to me to actually sit down and think about it. I’m seventeen years old so at my age kids don’t really think about the future and where we see ourselves five years ahead. I know for myself I am a live in the moment, looking for the next adventure type of person. Being asked this question really makes me slow down and think.…

    • 378 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    I am someone who smiles Someone always telling jokes to make sure no one thinks something is wrong So no one suspects a thing when they see my smile I am someone who fixes the feelings of those whose hearts are shattering like pieces of glass I am someone who loves to dress up and wear makeup so no one sees how truly I am From the bags from staying up at night to the red from crying, both under the concealer Tears behind my eyeshadow-covered eyelids Cracks underneath my red lipstick And the pain within the mouth that contains whitened teeth…

    • 845 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    I was born in the Dominican Republic to a nurseryman and my mother was a homemaker. My father had a high school education, while my mom was never allowed to attend school. However, I saw the brilliance in my mother and I know she would have done great things if given the opportunity. We lived in one of the poorest area of Santiago and I would see the struggles of the people around me.…

    • 290 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    While my college colleagues filled bookshelves with James Patterson novels, my library was quite different. The Tale of the Dueling Nuerosurgens, by Daniel Levitin and Sam Kean sat atop my bedroom dresser. When I learned my aunt was diagnosed with Schizophrenia, I turned through the tear-stained pages and found out that she was in battle against her own brain. Mid 2012, I experienced an event that altered my entire life when my aunt, Kulbir Kaur, at the age of 28, was announced dead after taking her own life. I was enrolled as a student at California State University of East Bay at the time and on my visits back home, I could not understand why staying in a church with only a thin curtain separating her from an elderly priest seemed more appealing…

    • 1068 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Holly Bradbury Mr. Snelgrove English 12 9/20/2015 The Trail of Transition “I, in my state of self-discovery, am fulfilled. The Trail echoes this as each footstep knocks, proclaiming ownership of my fate. The way is mine as my beliefs pave the lengths before me. They are not smooth, yet mine.”…

    • 1518 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays