Personal Narrative: My First Day Of Middle School

“You b****!” said the 8th grader standing in front of me. I stood there shocked. It was the first day of middle school, and it was the first time I had heard someone swear like that. It was one of the words forbidden by my parents and something I would never think of saying. That was the day that I started to realize I was in my own little bubble, naive about the world.

My parents, both avid converts to Christianity, met each other while both majoring in theology in Bible college. I joined the church the day I was born, and my religion continued to play a big role in my life, shaping my mindset and morals.

In middle school, my faith took on new meaning as my family went through conflict. My father is Chinese and my mother is Japanese, and sometimes this clash of cultural values created tension between them. My mother was a strict and controlling person and my father did really did not like that aspect of her. They would argue for hours on end over the smallest things. No vacation would end without a fight. During that time, I struggled to focus in school and my grades suffered. My parents eventually turned the anger they had on each other on me for my poor academic performance, many times comparing me to my other asian peers.

My self confidence slowly deteriorated. It was in

After my freshman year, I slowly became much more emotionally stable. I decided to re-focus on my grades, and to reinvent myself. I began paying attention in class and fixed my study habits. I began to look at others around me, making new friends and joining new social circles. I want to be more presentable; instead of bedhead, I started to fix my hair everyday. I began following men’s fashion and building a wardrobe of my own. I learned my life should not just depend on religion but that the biggest catalyst for change is to depend on