Success is what we strive for to pay homage to the ones who raised us. Whether they being your parents, grandparents, uncle, etc… you overcome the obstacles you are given to make them proud. Bridget Nalam, a Senior in Unalaska City High School, was born from a first generation immigrant parents. The typical student of her age tend to procrastinate and/or give up on school due to the lack of motivation. What sets Bridget apart from other students is that she has strong motivation and motivators. Her motivators are her loving and supportive parents. Even though Bridget had to deal with her parents being gone for long periods of time, and constantly moving to different cities, she used those setbacks and the love she receives from her family …show more content…
to motivate her to being the best at everything she does. In January 11, 2000, Bridget Nalam was born in the city of Puyallup, Washington.
Her parents are first generation immigrants from the Philippines, moving to America in the late 1980’s. Around the time Bridget was born, her parents had financial issues and those issues were solved when Bridget’s dad found a job in Dutch Harbor, Alaska as Project Engineer Manager. The job forced Bridget’s dad to move back and forth from Puyallup to Dutch Harbor and back until Bridget’s freshmen year high school in Dutch Harbor. The inconsistency of her home caused Bridget to become a very introvert student in school. It was not until seventh grade did Bridget join a club. Her mom helped her take initiative to help her come out of her shell by signing her up for Unalaska High School’s Varsity Basketball …show more content…
team. Although Bridget needed some help coming out of her shell, she was able to break out of her shell her freshmen year when she finally made a group of friends she called “Squad.” She hung out with the right crowd who positively influenced her. Her friends helped and motivated her to join more clubs and extracurricular activities in school. This where Bridget discovered her favorite sport, Cross Country. An extremely difficult sport requiring the athletes have high pain tolerance and strong endurance. Bridget fell in love with the sport dedicating most of her time after school to be the best at that sport, which she became the captain for her team. Bridget joining Cross Country created a chain reaction, causing her to be more comfortable joining other activities.
Since she was captain of her Cross Country team, Bridget seeked for other opportunities to help her with her leadership roles. She became the School Board Representative for her whole school district. She gained respect from the very well respected leaders of her school and her peers. She was chosen to attend and represent her district in the Youth Leadership Institute conference in Anchorage, Alaska and to also represent her school in Alaska Association of Student Government in Wasilla, Alaska. To her, being a leader meant to her “quote”. Therefore she stayed on top of her academics. She ranked tied for first place in her class and currently in the running valedictorian. In an Academic summer camp she took, she was ranked in the top ten of the class going against the smartest people in the state of Alaska. She knew that being a well rounded student did not only stay in the classroom, but also to in the stage and the court. She is able to play two instruments, which are the oboe and the flute. In Basketball, she is starting five for her varsity team. She strived in anything she put her mind
too. As a young child, Bridget has many setbacks, and they being constantly moving to different schools, and having to deal with her parents being gone for long periods of time But she did not let these setbacks bring her down, instead, she used this as a motivation. Bridgets biggest motivators came from the love, support, and all the hard work her parents have given her. Without these motivators, Bridget would have made all the academical progress and athletic achievements possible. She is talented, smart, and athletic. She is unique compared to the average teen in our generation. She does not worry about her images in instagram or her social media friends, she prioritize the people she is surrounded by the people she loves. She sets an example that for success, you just need a little motivation to get you there.
She led the team to a Conference championship and a State Championship. As a Senior she was the #1 player in the nation, averaged a triple double with 31 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists. For the second consecutive year in history, she led the team to a state championship and led the nation in scoring. All four years in high school she was selected to be on the all-state team, all-region team, and all-conference team. During the summers of her High School years she would continue practicing and playing for an AAU team.
She would mostly be alone and sit by herself being buried in books or watching cartoons. In high school she attended a program for troubled adolescents and from there she received a wide range of support from helping her get braces to helping her get information to attend community college. (59) Even with this she was already too emotionally unstable due to her family issues and felt like she couldn’t go through with her dreams to travel and even go into the art of culinary. She suffers from psychological problems such as depression and worries constantly about almost every aspect in her life from work to family to her boyfriend and just hopes that her life won’t go downhill. (60) Overall Kayla’s family structure shows how different is it now from it was in the 1950’s as divorce rates have risen and while before Kayla’s type of family structure was rare now it is becoming more common. This story helps illustrate the contributions of stress that children possess growing up in difficult homes in which they can’t put their own futures first they must, in some cases, take care of their guardian’s futures first or others around them. Again, this adds into the inequality that many face when it comes to being able to climb up the ladder and become successful regardless of where one
Zoe Webster, our protagonist, (in the stereotypical Young Adult trope) has parents that have just divorced which, in turn, forces her to move to a small, unknown town with her mother. As we all know from other novels which use this same formula, the main character ends up feeling depressed, bored, and extremely annoyed with whatever parent took her – in this case, her mother. Zoe has always been a lot closer to her high up there father, and she establishes that very quickly in the start of her narration. She believes that moving to a new, public high school will be the death of her chances of getting into the preppy private school of her dreams so she can then go to college – which, she believes, to be her one chance at escape. Yet another
The article “How to Be a Success” by Malcom Gladwell speaks about how success is something that can be achieved if you put the time and work into it, and how success is not achieved overnight but rather through long hours of constant practice. His article is targeted to more than one group of individuals. The groups of individuals that his article targets are teenage students, young adults, adults, people who want to become an expert, or want to succeed in something they have an interest in and in general society. Another article also related to the success of an individual “An A+ Student Regrets His Grades” by Afraj Gill describes how in society many schools focus more on students’ grades, rather than their learning, and how a student is
Jill Brown is a 38 year old mother of one, who lives in Carmel with her husband, and son Mathew. Mathew is 12 and is in the 6th grade at Carmel middle school. He keeps Jill busy by playing basketball and golf all year round. Jill is married to her husband Andrew who works for Alison transmission as a shift manager. With their provided dual incomes, they are able to live in an upper middle class home, and go on vacation once or twice a year. Unfortunately, Andrew has to work 3rd shift and is not home in the evenings to help Jill with the majority of the responsibilities. Jill also continually volunteers at St. Jude Children’s Hospital where she manages activities for children to do. Jill is an only child and also went through her entire education at Carmel. She grew in a home with both parents living together. Her mother Janice, worked as a receptionist for an insurance company in Indianapolis. Her father Daniel worked for a used car dealership on the east side of Indianapolis. They were very involved in Jill’s schooling and taught her to be disciplined and work hard. She spent most of her summers with her grandparents who lived on Brookeville Lake, in Richmond Indiana. Going through school her father allowed her to follow him around and learned how to speak to customers to build good communication skills.
I was raised in an encouraging household where both of my parents greatly valued education. Although they were high school graduates, neither could afford to attend college; a combination of family and financial woes ultimately halted their path. As a result, my parents frequently reminded me that getting a good education meant better opportunities for my future. To my parents, that seemed to be the overarching goal: a better life for me than the one they had. My parents wanted me to excel and supported me financially and emotionally of which the former was something their parents were not able to provide. Their desire to facilitate a change in my destiny is one of many essential events that contributed to my world view.
Going into 9th grade is when it hit her; she knew she could go to school and work hard and eventually obtain a career in anything she desired. High school was her turning point, and high school became her favorite. After she came to the realization of what she could do, she worked hard, and strived to make good grades, especially because she wanted to keep playing basketball. Mawmaw played on her high school’s varsity team starting in just 9th grade, and made a big name for herself in that. She became very popular because she didn’t follow anyone and lead her own way, becoming a star player and scoring over 20 points a game. She said she lived and breathed basketball, and it helped her with so many things, including confidence, and independence. When she was 15 years old she lost her father, and not long after her father passed away and her mother remarried to his brother, which according to Mawmaw this ended up being an even worse living situation. All through high school she had her eye on her diploma and knew if she had that she could eventually do what she had dreamt of doing, and eventually moving out and making a better living situation for herself. Her parents influenced her, but not in the ways most parents do. Mawmaw said they influenced her to do the opposite of what
Pat had a seemingly hard childhood, not in the way that she was poor or abused, but emotionally searching for acceptance. She was always seeking approval from her father that she thought she would never earn. Pat developed a hard work ethic hoping to win her fathers approval, but found that building a shell around her emotions proved easier. Having 3 older brothers and growing up playing a male dominated sport she was always frowned upon for participating in something out of the “social norm”. Pat was far from what society pictured as a girl in the 1960’s. Her height, stature, and athletic ability was not the portrait of a young female in the small town of Henrietta Tennessee. As she grew, she used her God given talent and meticulous work ethic to accomplish the goals she set for her life.
This Memoir discusses the hard life Cupcake Brown lived. Brown was thrown into foster care at age 11, after her mother’s death (Brown). That same year she started getting raped by the the foster owner’s nephew (Brown). After multiple attempts of running away, She was brutally beat by all the foster children and the foster home owner’s daughter, which caused her to lose her baby at age 13 (Brown). When she turned 14 she ran away to her great aunt and 4 male cousins in South Central, Los Angeles (Brown). While in Los Angeles, she joined a gang which provided her with the love and protections she lack as a child (Brown). On her 16, birthday she was shot and was nearly paralyzed (Brown). Shortly after this she used the same motivation she had to run away to turn her life around and become the successful author she is today. Through all of her struggle she still found the strength from within to make something out of herself and become successful. This just proves that teens can motivate themselves by wanting to be better than their past
The United States is the land of opportunity, and there are many good schools here, where are also a powerful force for students entering an amazing career. People like to live and set up plans for their life in America, and so do I. My dream is gone to school and is graduated with a mathematical professor’s degree. Although I am a full-time mom of two sons, it is never too late to do something I really want. Thus, my sons and seventy-four credit hours of college are all my treasure. I am proud of that for studying hard, evolving things, and resolving problems with any conditions to survive in school and life, and I have changed from that. Every different stage has every different circumstance for dealing with, and obstacles or conflicts in life cannot stop me reaching my goal. My exceptional hardships and opportunities have just shaped my abilities better.
In my house hold, my parents raised their kids to be the best. I remember my brother coming home and telling my mother he got a 96 on his history test. My mother replied, "What happened to the other 4 percent?" A 94 on a test was not good enough for my mother, so my brother strive harder in his schooling. Because my mother was on top of his grades, my brother focused on
Juliana is a normal 15-year-old girl in high school. Her primary occupations at her age are a daughter, sister, and a student. She lives in a household of 4 with 1 younger sister, both of her parents, and a cat. Juliana has a close relationship with her younger sister and she told me that “I’m her role model” when her parents are away. Some of her strengths are, she is an honor student who is currently enrolled in the International Bachelorette Program (IB) and National Honor Society. The IB is two-year program that challenges high school students and gives them an idea of what college is like after they graduate. She is an intelligent student to be at her level. She is always prepared and ready to start her day in school by being
“Every child deserves a champion – an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection and insists that they become the best that they can possibly be” (Pierce). This quote offers the very reason adults should have a desire to encourage our students and help them be successful. In high school I did not have the benefit of having parents who encouraged me or guided me to be my very best nor help direct my future. Guidance counselors were not there to advise on how to get to college, but rather to help with personal problems. Though my goal is not to teach, I want to help students learn to be successful, be their best, and gain the knowledge to prepare for their future.
“You better learn how to be successful”, my mother would tell me as she left me alone in my room. My nine-year-old self was always pressured to someday be successful by my mom. Growing up she pushed me to study so that one day I can do something great with my life - she is the typical Asian mom. Instead of playing with friends, it was reading time. Instead of playing video games, it was homework time. While my neighbors were out playing kick ball and having fun, I was inside on the family computer looking at websites about things that interested me: primarily space, cars, and technology. During childhood, many kids choose to go outside, make friends, and play games. During my childhood, I chose to watch videos on the future and read up on cutting
Mara was a beautiful girl; she lived with her mother and two sisters. Mara was very smart. She would always made sure that she was her best at very thing she did. One thing about her was that she was very competitive. She always made sure that she was the best in her class. She loved to read. She began reading at an early stage. When she was in middle school, she wouldn’t do things girls her age did. She would stay in side her home most of the time reading or doing her house work. She loved her mother and her to sister, to an extent that she would sacrifice what she has to help her family out.