Starting at a very young age I was confused about who I was and what to believe in. When I was about 5 years old my parents decided to tell me I was adopted. I was adopted straight out of the hospital so my adoptive parents are the only parents I have ever known. Since this is the case I genuinely don’t know anything about my birth family which makes me wonder where I came from and who I would’ve been. I’ve asked my parents countless times about my adoption but their replies are always very evasive. Most people begin to find their personal identity through their parents and their family but when I was younger and people asked where I came from countless questions came to mind. I lack a connection that most people take for granted. A connection that could be as simple as a quirky mannerism or a laugh. This …show more content…
From a very young age my parents ensured I was involved in church. As a confused girl searching for a connection the thought of a God who loved me and always watched over me was very appealing. I enjoyed going to church and prayed every night. As I got older and gained confidence in my identity I decided to put the questions to rest and enjoy my life. I put more effort in and attempted to have a better relationship with both of my parents. Being adopted played a large role in my belief and faith in God at a young age. It is easy to be faithful when life is going great but very difficult when nothing seems to be going right. One of the hardest experiences in my life was when I was in the eighth grade. My mother was put in the hospital for what the doctors thought was just a heart attack. She was in the hospital for a few days and sent back home. As the days went on my mom didn’t get any better. Later that week my dad decided to take my mom to a different doctor to make sure everything was okay. This new doctor discovered that what my mom was going through was much more serious than a heart attack. My
I have always known that I was adopted. There was never one day when I realized that my parents were not biologically related to me. Being adopted has always been a part of me, ever since early childhood. Almost every year, in my elementary school classes, I had to create a project in which I had to describe myself. Sometimes I would have to use objects or pictures, at other times I would have to write an essay or poem. Every single time I completed a variation of that assignment, I included the same three facts about myself: I like to dance, I enjoy going to the beach, and I am adopted. I remember being so proud to
To begin, what led up to my adoption. This was very difficult part of my life, which began when my mom and my dad split up. They broke up when I was very little and my mom met a guy that I really did not like. He was a major alcoholic and always beat my mom, brother and I. There have been times that we tried to get away but he would seem to always find us. This was when finally my brother and I ran away and which caused us to
However, I admit as a young child I hated church and religion. I felt as if it was being pushed on me in way that made me uncomfortable. It took me years to become comfortable in church. While my mother was heavily in the church she was very judgmental and everything that was ?worldly? was of the devil. My biggest fear about church and religion was being judged. So, early on my decision making was solely based on what I wanted and my need for immediate gratification. I must say that it never ended
I remember the day she born. I was nervous for the simple fact that my life would never be the same. Soon no longer would I be known as just Ayanna, I would take on a new title. A title that I would share with so many woman, and after eight long hours of labor, I would now be known to the world as mommy.
A new year had just arrived. I can still picture January in my mind, the mood was sullen and dark, I could feel the cold reaching my bones, but now I know that was the best feeling I‘d ever had. I had only a few weeks left to start college, which had been my dream since I can remember. My dad had already paid for my tuition, I was so exited I had promised to do my best. Then, I realized there was an obstacle in my way. I knew I needed to make a decision on whether or not keeping my pregnancy, it sounds rough, but it was definitive. I did not want to miss school, so I was definitely not taking this to the last term. I just could not think of myself being prostrated in bed for so long, as an impediment to start school. Never, nothing would make me give up on my dreams, and that was another promise I had made to myself.
As a child growing up, there were times I would feel my mother would be out to just make
Education is not to teach men facts, theories or laws, not to reform or amuse them or make them expert technicians. It is to unsettle their minds, widen their horizons, inflame their intellect, teach them to think straight, if possible, but to think nevertheless. Robert Maynard Hutchins
I first learned to be a Christian from my parents. They took me to Sunday School and “preaching” on Sunday mornings when I was young. They made sure I was involved in the youth group and children’s and youth choirs while growing up. They taught me to say a blessing before every meal, and they laugh when I still occasionally break into our traditional “God is great, God is good . . .” version of grace I learned as a child. My parents were also the ones who taught me to ask for God’s help when I am in need of something or worried about an issue as well as to give God praise for all of the blessings in my life. My grandparents also helped further my Christian education. My Grandmother Hall made an impact on my understanding of church because she was very opinionated about what her preacher should and should not be preaching about from the pulpit. Her opinions caused me to think about what I believed in and why I believed that way. My family was very important to my upbringing in the church.
When I was nine years old, my family and I attended church every Sunday and Wednesday. The church we went to was a non-denominational organization so it wasn't a very popular religion, but somehow we still managed to find it. This church gathering was held in the home of an older woman, and twice a week fifteen people would arrive for a bible study, or what they called "meetings." Many people around the world also practiced this religion so, as strange as it might seem, we weren't the only participants. However, behind its quaint facade, this religion ultimately caused me to become less religious today.
Which brings me to Fowler’s Theory of Faith Development, specifically Individual-Reflective Faith which occurs in early adulthood. Growing up as a family we went to church every Sunday and sometimes even twice a week, everyone in my family was a catholic and that was expected from all of us, no questions asked. I even got baptized as a baby and did my first communion when I was about nine years old. I did not mind the expectation from my family when I was little because I loved church, especially the singing. Then came a time where both of my parents started to work on Sundays, so did my sister, and so my brother and I helped out at my parents restaurant. Ever since then we really have not made church a priority, I believe this is what effected my encounter with my mother when I was eighteen years old. I was currently taking a class called “religion in the modern world” and learned about all rituals and how different religions support different things than others, and it got to me to reflect on what religion I grew up learning about. Some things I liked and some things I was horrified by. So talking to my mother, I was telling her my opinions and what I believed in and that there is not just one way to believe or think. She was furious, I was stepping out of the norm, but it had been because of my Individual-Reflective Faith than lead me to this stage. I am very thankful I was able to reflect on my faith, I now have a stronger bond on my beliefs and now my mother totally supports me on it, so it was all for the best that I went through this
Recently, due to a false accusation of my parents, my brother’s acceptance and enrollment in a university sponsored summer program was compromised. This caused a great deal of stress for my parents, who did not know how to properly and safely defend themselves from the accuser who was intimidating them with threats, and for my brother, who was spared the details but was ridden with sheer confusion at why his hard-earned acceptance was suddenly revoked. I also initially felt distressed and helpless, as this was a complicated and precarious situation that neither I nor my parents have had experience dealing with. With my cacophony of emotions and thoughts, I reached out to trusted friends who effectively calmed me and set me on a track of rationality
I am the third child out of four in my family, I have one older sister, an older brother and then a younger brother. I was born on January 20th 1997 in Clinton, Ontario. This means I was probably conceived the middle of May sometime. My mother did not take pre-natal pills before I was born because I was not really expected, but she was taking vitamins during this time to stay healthy. My mother did see our family physician while she was pregnant with me. She saw the doctor every month for the first and second trimester and then she saw him every other week in the last trimester. In these checkups they would see if I was gaining weight, check blood pressure, blood levels and just to see if everything was healthy. My mom did not have any screening tests done to see if there was anything wrong because it was not very common to get screening done in our
When I was 4 years old I was adopted from a Armenian Russian orphanage in Kotlas. I have never been told much about my adoption or my hometown from my adoptive parents, but when I tell people I am adopted from Russia they all are very interested. They all ask questions about where I am from but I have never had the answers or wanted to remember much about Russia to avoid the discomfort of those feelings. It is hard to describe to others how it feels to be adopted, especially from another country and that is why I feel this is something that defines who I am.
Throughout my childhood, I cannot remember ever being told that I was adopted. Instead, I grew up in a way I would call normal—the same as my two non-adopted brothers. That is until other people began to let me know that I was unique. They made comments about how most families look the same whereas I am Asian and my family is Caucasian. Others assumed I grew up in China and started
As far back as I can remember, I have been raised around good Christian people with good Christian values. I felt safe in church, knowing that most of the families I had connected with had the same set of values and beliefs that I was educated on throughout my life. Learning what I have in