As I was growing up I did experience the feeling of being in 2 seperate worlds. My parents orginated from Albanian and I was born and raised in the United States. When I visit my home country every couple of years I get the feeling that I didn’t belong here. The city my parents grew up in was not very wealthy and people envied foreigners because they barely had enough money to get by. Stealing was very common and when I would roam the streets I was always given cold stares and rude gestures because they knew I wasn’t from here. I always felt unwelcomed because of the dangerous enviornment. At one point I almost got robbed but i managed to get away before he could take any of my belongings. This experience really put distance between me and shattered my confidence. I was always a quiet person throughout middle school and some of highschool because I always felt weak and scared I didn’t bother getting to know many people and it took a toll on my learning career.
With time I slowly started to accept my other world instead of turning a blind eye. I realized one bad experience should not taint my view on my home country. I have many friends and family over there even though I might not be very much aquianted with the culture and language. I knew in order to overcome my internal conflict I had to face it directly. I was able to overcome it and it has drastically helped me throughout my learning career. I still recieved these rude remarks and cold stares everytime I would travel I simply put it behind me and continued to march foward.
It’s great that you overcame this. One bad experience doesn’t always equal that a country is bad.
Glad to hear you overcame the drama and learned that one bad experience can ruin the future. But you also get the experience and joy of being able to travel every couple years when most can’t ever go.
Gentian: This is good —
NOW turn it into more of a narrative, a story with scenes:
As I was growing up I did experience the feeling of being in 2 seperate worlds.
My parents orginated from Albanian and I was born and raised in the United States. When I visit my home country every couple of years I get the feeling that I didn’t belong here. The city my parents grew up in was not very wealthy and people envied foreigners because they barely had enough money to get by. Stealing was very common and when I would roam the streets I was always given cold stares and rude gestures because they knew I wasn’t from here [HERE is a good place to create a SCENE: describe the street scene the city streets of WHAT CITY? WHERE EXACTLY? And HOW do people talk to you, or look at you? WHAT are these rude estures? HOW do the Albanians know you are American?] . I always felt unwelcomed because of the dangerous enviornment. At one point I almost got robbed but i managed to get away before he could take any of my belongings. [MAYBE THIS IS THE SCENE THE BEST SHOWS the reader what you mean about being an outsider in Albania? SO show me this scene!]
This experience really put distance between me and shattered my confidence [even though this happened in Albania and NOT in USA? CLARIFY? Make clear!] . I was always a quiet person throughout middle school and some of highschool because I always felt weak and scared I didn’t bother getting to know many people and it took a toll on my learning career [WHAT thoughts inner thoughts of self doubt did the time in Albania create for your American young self? Give example of inner dialogue or create a SCENE from your memory of your “scared” self in middle school in USA].
With time I slowly started to accept my other world instead of turning a blind eye. I realized one bad experience should not taint my view on my home country. I have many friends and family over there even though I might not be very much aquianted with the culture and language. I knew in order to overcome my internal conflict I had to face it directly. [WHAT event helped you to overcome this “internal conflict”? SHOW ME the scene of your accepting this dual identity and resolving your fears. HOW did this happen? What was the occasion that made you understand?] I was able to overcome it and it has drastically helped me throughout my learning career. I still recieved these rude remarks and cold stares everytime I would travel I simply put it behind me and continued to march foward.
Has this experience of two worlds shaped who you are as a student, shaped how you became the person you are today at City Tech?