When I moved to Colorado at the age of 7, it was like traveling to a different world, from the hot and dry streets of Mexico to the beautiful, snow-capped mountains of Colorado. A crisp, foreign air that seemed to whisper stories of mystery and adventure surrounded me one day, and the next, the warmth and familiarity of my family. This move marked not just a change of scenery, but also a significant turning point in my life. This will be colored vividly with the themes of hardship, self-discovery, resiliency, and compassion. From my youthful innocence to the brink of adulthood, it was a journey, with every chapter full of lessons that shaped my spirit and personality. When I first moved here, it felt like a lonely cactus in the middle of an …show more content…
School, which used to make people anxious, is now a place of growth and achievement. I discovered that having common interests could help me close the distance between my past and present, so I joined sports, specifically soccer. My sense of belonging was strengthened and my confidence was boosted by these activities. I am a respected part of a community now, not just the new kid from Mexico. Though I lost the motivation for the sport over time. My school years were a small sample of the greater opportunities and difficulties that awaited me. Each day was an exercise in adaptability and willpower. I became a chameleon, gradually learning how to blend the new American palette I was given with the colors of my Mexican heritage. I felt the sweet triumph of facing my fears for the first time here, in the classroom. I learned English not just as a language but also as a key that allowed me to enter new worlds. This ability was like a lifesaver, helping me to cross the vast ocean of loneliness and arrive at the shores of …show more content…
I started participating in community groups that addressed immigration rights and education, lending my voice to those who were still pursuing theirs. My convictions about the value of community and giving back were strengthened by these encounters. They showed me that with each of us contributing to the overall structure of our society, change begins with little deeds. As my eighteenth birthday approached, I was (and still am) at a loss for what to do. The blending of two cultures during my childhood and adolescence shaped my past. I've learned resilience, empathy, and the importance of diversity from this self-discovery journey. The promise of new challenges and experiences, as well as the large, unfamiliar territory of adulthood I am waiting for. As I approach adulthood, I understand that my journey is a shared one. It's a narrative that many who have crossed and discovered their identity at the intersection of various streams have shared. I am driven to use my experiences to uplift and encourage others as I look forward and feel a sense of purpose. I want to build something where people can come together to celebrate and tell their stories, and where people see variety as a source of beauty and strength, rather than just something to be
Soccer has guided me in many ways to become the person I am. Especially in high school, the sport has showed me how to be much more cooperative and open with others. Before high school, I isolated myself from others and had only a few close friends. Rather than being a sociable, I acted as though I was the only person in the world and had the outlook that as long as I do what is right individually, there is no need for me to work with others. This outlook changed when I joined the soccer team at Holy Spirit, my high school. With the way soccer is at the high school level, I had no choice but to cooperate and associate my selves with others. Once on the field, instead of introducing myself as "me" I had to introduce myself as a part of the team. You win as a team and you lose as a team. Sometimes I wanted to drive to games myself, and I was not allowed to because we are supposed to travel together and it would be wrong to the team for me to separate myself from the group.
Many folks go their whole lives without having to move. For them it is easy; they know the same people, have loads of friends, and never have to move away from their families. As with me, I was in a different situation. I grew up my entire life, all eighteen years of it, in a small town called Yorktown, Virginia. In my attempt to reach out for a better life style, my girlfriend and I decided we were going to move to Shreveport, Louisiana. Through this course of action, I realized that not two places in this country are exactly alike. I struggled with things at first, but I found some comforts of home here as well.
Have you ever looked off a gigantic cliff? Now imagine traveling 30 miles per hour on a bike with curvy roads with enormous cliffs on your side with no rails. This is exactly what I did with my family when we went to Colorado. From the hotel we drove to a bike tour place to take us to the summit of Pikes Peak. After we arrived at the building we saw pictures of how massive the cliffs were, but what terrified me was the fact they had no side rails. This observation was thrilling as well as terrifying. It was an odd mix of emotions, but I loved the adrenaline rush it gave me. My dad whispered to me, “ This will be absolutely horrifying”.
When I was 7 years, I moved from my home in Australia to the other side of the planet to Dallas Texas. When I heard that I was moving, I felt a wave of despair wipe over me. As Taylor says “I have never in my own memory been outside of Kentucky” (Kingsolver 12). This was the same for me since I had never been
I often wonder how I ended up in this little town in the mountains. I came from a relatively large city in Indiana, but knew that I had to escape the Midwest’s conservative grasp. I never really intended to end up in Flagstaff. For as long as I can remember, I had wanted to go to the University of Arizona and live in Tucson. I obviously didn’t end up in Tucson.
As a child I was not in to many sports or involved in school activities. Going through high school I figured out that being involved in a sport or a school club would make my high school experience better. The first and only sport I chose to do was track. Track changed my whole high school experience and life. I learned to never give up, and it kept me out of trouble throughout my four years of high school.
I’ve always been the type of person that truly enjoys athletics and have participated in nearly all sports offered to me. I started playing sports in elementary with club softball and basketball. As I entered my middle and high school years I was able to add the school sanctioned sports to my list of activities. This afforded me the opportunity of competing in volleyball, basketball, golf, track and softball. The camaraderie and life lessons of sports seemed invaluable to me.
Each game, my passion grew. Each team, new memories and lifelong friends were made. Sports sometimes make me feel disappointment and at loss; but it taught me to be resilient to a lot of things, like how to thrive under pressure and come out on top. Being the team captain of my high school’s football and lacrosse team showed me how having a big responsibility to bring a group together to work as one is compared to many situations in life. Currently playing varsity football, varsity lacrosse, and track I take great pride in the activities I do. Staying on top of my academics, being duel enrolled at Indian River State College, working three nights a week, and two different sport practices after school each day shaped my character to having a hard work
Participating in a high school sport was a fantastic way for me to stay involved and an even better way to make close friends. With only losing one senior my sophomore year and one senior my junior year, three soccer seasons have and will be pretty much the same team. Spending four months, everyday, each season with teammates gives a person lifelong friendships. After graduating high school most people forget about games won, games lost, and high school sports in general. None of those are the important things anyways. It's the friends made throughout the
Aspen, Colorado, the town I grew up in. The town where I first learned to speak, swim and do many other things. Life in Aspen is perfect. Skiing on the powdered slopes during the winter, hiking grueling mountains during the summer and exploring it’s majestic beauty any season. Aspen’s captivating beauty is also filled with fond memories everywhere that take me back to my childhood: seeing mom bears desperately reaching for the tart crabapples to feed their young, playing volleyball with my brother on the scorching sand, and getting frustrated because I could never hit the ball with enough force to make it over the net, watching the crystallized ice charging to take over the last bit of green left. I had it, the mountains, the snow, the house, I had it all. Although in the summer of 2012 everything changed.
At age four, I started my first sport, soccer. From the very first practice, I was simply hooked to the new responsibility to show up at practice every Tuesday and a game every Saturday for my new Blue Valley Recreation team. I had so much fun with my soon-to-be kindergarten classmates! As I grew, I joined more and more sports like softball and dance classes, and I would do anything to get outside and play some football or tag with my family. From the time I was four until now, my love for sports and exercise has only multiplied and multiplied. Apart from the love of playing, I feel I may have gained something more from playing sports all these years. Though I was not entirely certain as to what or why I benefited from playing sports so long, I knew I had some attributes that many other non-athletes did not.
Have you ever had to leave behind almost everything that you loved, and go somewhere new, and try new things? I have, and that’s something that’s still happening today. This is about my experience moving from Georgia, to Columbia, South Carolina. But before I even lived in Georgia, I lived in a small town in Virginia. Now looking back on it, I’m glad that our family left Virginia, because in Georgia, and now South Carolina, there’s so much more opportunity for success. But at the time it was very difficult, because that was all I knew. But that’s the reason I have hope for moving to Columbia. But I had to leave behind a whole lot of stuff in Georgia, and now it’s like I have to work really hard to get back what I once had.
...ents, and my English problem. I didn’t even have control of my own identity at that point. In the bilingual classroom my education depended upon the teachers and the system. I couldn’t express my viewpoints to faculty members like I do now in college. For instance, in college when I need help in a certain class, I can just go and talk to the professor or even to my counselor. Unfortunately, in grammar school, I didn’t know how to talk about the situation. As a result, in college I have been determined to change my study habits and take back control of my identity because I see how a student cannot survive with inefficient study habits. I realize now that, as a child, I was disadvantaged in many ways. Today, I have to be prepared to do extra to make up for a poor educational background by spending more time studying, focusing on school, and controlling my life.
Throughout my high school career, I have done sports. I did Circlet, swimming and rugby. High School, especially matric is known to quite stressful and full of lots of work and it was certainly for me. What those sports provided me was an escape, an escape from all the work, stresses and problems that did came in to my life. I not only did those sports to escape but to meet new people, create new friendships, to experience a family outside of home and also to form a brotherhood.
I did not want to move, because I had so much going for me in school. So I decided to stay in Colorado on my own. I had to learn to be disciplined, mature, and responsible. The imaginary border between childhood and adulthood had been unconsciously crossed at the moment when I decided to stay; I had entered the foreign world of adulthood.