During my freshman year in high school my parents decided to separate, and later divorce. The decision was an abrupt one, and the beginning of many challenges for me. The first decision I was faced with was which parent I wanted to live with. As a fifteen year old who had just entered high school and loved/needed her parents equally, this was a challenging task. Ultimately I resolved this challenge by choosing to stay with my dad. This decision had the most positive outcome because two of my other sisters decided to stay with my mom. Neither parent was left alone, and I was able to stay in the house I grew up in and continue to attend the same high school. Although this divorce was extremely hard on me, and it was difficult adjusting to a life without my mother and …show more content…
Although I did my best to maintain a “normal” life, my parent’s divorce was complicated by many factors, the most prominent one being their economic situation. Since both of my parents had a child that was under the age of 18, neither of them needed to pay child support, so both of them were raising children with only one income. In addition to that, my dad got laid off from work and was also dealing with the recent death of my grandfather. This put a big financial burden on him and forced me into a role of responsibility in caring for myself. At the time it seemed unfair and burdensome, however, taking this on at such a young age ingrained the values of responsibility that I hold very closely. Gaining a great amount of independence and accountability as a teenager has aided me a lot in my undergraduate years. I learned that no one was going to hold my hand and that I needed to work harder than most of my peers to get an education. I fully believe that my success academically can be attributed, at least in part, to this experience. My parent’s divorce was certainly a hardship growing up and changed my life forever, but I don’t reflect back on it negatively because of what I was able to take away from
Father, computer server engineer, alcoholic, and felon. My dad, Jason Wayne DeHate, has influenced my life, not only genetically, but he has also improved my character and creativity throughout the years. Beginning at age two, I was cultured with profanity spit from rappers such as Eminem. While my mother was at work we had multiple videotaped “jam sessions” and coloring time that allowed for the foundation of friendship we have today. The jam sessions consisting of me mumbling and stumbling in front of the television, as he was “raising the roof” from his lazyboy. Since then, he has taught me how to rollerblade, change wiper blades, and play my favorite sport, tennis. Along with influencing my leisure activities and the music I enjoy, his prominent personality allows me to grow as a person. Being the only male figure in my immediate family, I
I have always grown up around the influence of hard work. My mother and father’s life together began off to a rough start. My mother got pregnant at the age of 20 with my brother. Her family was not very supportive of it; therefore, she was on her own. She used to tell me about how she would sit and cry in a one bedroom apartment that she lived in with my brother wondering what she was going to do. Although she had to grow up faster than she
Students are becoming more stressed due to academic demands, social life, and work. First-year college students should receive more help from school to learn how to help themselves and become independent. In college, students must learn how to manage their time, organize their schedule that meets their college and personal duties, how to be resourceful, and how to interact with people whom they never met. Before college, a variety of students already learned how to accomplish these skills, but only a few of these students are fully responsible for themselves before leaving their home. Students who are dependent are most likely to have been helped by their parents who took an overprotective or extreme interest in the life of their children.
My parents’ divorce has affected me in such a way that I am honestly happy that it happened. It seems strange to think that, but I honestly feel as if their divorce has made me a better person. I have become more comfortable with who I am and the way I see things. I have never been a judgmental person, but I feel like their divorce has made me realize that you can not look at someone and assume that their lives are picture perfect, because on the surface everything may seem fine, but nobody knows what somebody’s life is like until they have spent a day in their
When I was only nine years old I sat on my mother’s lap and heard the news that would impact my life indefinitely. When I learned that my parents were getting divorced, I never expected there to be any positive effects. However, in dealing with this drastic change in my life, I became a stronger person in numerous ways. Carrying my new maturity, new self-sufficiency, and new resilience on the weight of my shoulders these past 9 years have proven to me that I will succeed in life. Undergoing my parents’ divorce has heightened my level of maturity. I’ve learned life skills that allowed me to improve my self-sufficiency. Furthermore, going through this tough period of time has made me far more resilient in the face of hardships.
...ary Ellin Logue. "The Effects Of Parental Divorce On Students." Journal Of Divorce & Remarriage 46.3/4 (2007): 83-104. Academic Search Premier. Web. 8 Apr. 2015.
When I was born, my mother breast fed me for two weeks, I stayed in the hospital room with her instead of going to the nursery, and she was home with me for the first five years of my life. My father worked and my mother tended to the home, with the help of her mother and grandmother. I ate Gerber baby jarred food and my mother read to me every night. My family did not adhere to many other cultural norms however. It was culturally expected that a husband and wife would have a home, with stable jobs and an established relationship before having children. My father was eight years my mother’s senior, and my mother was only 18 when I was born. My mother never earned her high school diploma. My parents were married the month before I was born. My father worked in construction and had a criminal record. Every single one of these descriptions violates the cultural norms of where I grew up in North Carolina. Although my story starts to sound a lot like a Lifetime movie, my mother defied all odds to provide a safe and secure haven for me. “When they sense that a parent is consistent and dependable, they develop a sense of basic trust in the parent” (Crain, 283). I could rely on my parents and trust that they would be there to take care of me which lead to my development of “the core ego strength of this period: hope” which emerges from the child developing a favorable balance of trust over mistrust. “Hope is the expectation that despite frustrations, rages, and disappointments, good things will happen in the future” (Crain, 285). My mother is the living embodiment of that sentiment. As early as I can remember, I can remember her insistence that as long as we were together, we were
Today many people undergo challenges in their lives and they can either let it stop them or push forward. As the eldest child of a single mother, one huge adversity I had faced growing up would be helping my mother with my two younger brothers. My parents divorced when I was six years old and my father being in the military was deployed around the world. I don’t think not having my father active in my life put me at a disadvantage but there were times where things would’ve been easier if he were there. My mother wasn’t able to work most of the time because she had to watch my younger brothers. Therefore, we are considered a low-income family. Throughout my life, I had to learn how to prioritize and balance my education with home life. As I
My whole family lives in the same county and we all live within a 15-minute drive of each other. I grew up learning that family will always come first and that they will always be there. I cherish this value bestowed upon me and am glad I was raised on this value. I believe these values have made me a more caring and forgiving person. In addition, I would say I was given many family roles that I took on. I am the oldest of my siblings, and I took on the role of raising them since I was about 13. Both my parent’s worked late jobs and after school it would be my responsibility to care for my siblings. I would make dinner, do homework with them, bathe them, and put them to bed. In addition to this role, I also took on the role of being a homemaker per se. I cooked, cleaned, did the laundry, organized the mail, etc. I basically took on the role of being both my mother and father, because they just couldn’t 24/7. I didn’t mind, and today, I appreciate these roles I took on. I am grateful for the opportunity to grow up a little sooner than others because I know hold the values of hard work close to me. I believe these roles helped me mature into the responsible young woman I am today. Without taking on these roles I do not think I would be as knowledgeable and ready to be on my own as I am. My ethnicity, family values, and roles have all shaped how I view myself, but also how I view the
A lot of children tend to develop “normally” with two married parents. Others don’t develop the same. To me, children who go through divorce don’t develop normally. My parents are no longer together and I thought I turned out okay. I have social skills, friends, and a close relationship with both my parents. On the other hand, I believe some children or teenagers have a difficult time developing when going through the process of a divorce. It could lead to trust issues, make the kids feel alone, change the perspective on marriage, and affect the way they communicate.
It was the last Saturday in December of 1997. My brother, sister, and I were chasing after each other throughout the house. As we were running, our parents told us to come and sit down in the living room. They had to tell us something. So, we all went down stairs wondering what was going on. Once we all got down stairs, the three of us got onto the couch. Then, my mom said, “ Well…”
I can strongly determine that the separation from my father not only affected emotionally then and now but also made it more difficult for my mother to raise two children on her own. While both income and family stability have an important role of deciding whether to obtain a higher education or not, the available opportunity is also
Many Canadians will experience mental and physical health conditions over the course of their lives. One in two will have or have had a mental illness by the time they’re 40 years old. Physical conditions are also quite common: among Canadians aged 20 or older, 8.7 percent have diabetes, 8.3 percent have asthma, and 17.6 percent have arthritis, says Statistics Canada. These conditions can lower quality of life in many ways.
The night my husband proposed to me was full of family, good food and wine, but it was also one full of anxiety. His family was uncomfortable with me, and I with them. I don 't believe anyone truly wanted us to get married, and his mother was wrought with nerves. His brother and pregnant wife felt confused, and torn . Yet, we sat down, we smiled, we drank, we ate, and ignored the silent accusations permeating through the air.
Growing up in a divorced family was the beginning of the development of my need to be a strong individual. My mother had to work many jobs to support myself and my brother. This left the two of us alone and together most of our childhood. While I know that my brother truly loved me, sometimes a teenage boy does not show a small girl the compassion that she requires. I had to frequently take care of myself while my brother was finding more important things to occupy his time with.