English Honors 10 Essay

Moonisah Ali
Mrs. Bosch
English 10 Honors
17 August 2007

People often wonder why they are who they are. There are many effects in a human’s life that shape their personality to make them who they are in the future. It takes time for a human to develop and seep into the final stages of their persona. Usually it is family history or the memory of it that shapes one for their future. People must go through pain and devastation to learn from their mistakes and become wiser as they grow into adult hood. From time to time it does take one life changing event to force one to put there lives into perspective. Knowing the intimate details of a human being’s family or cultural detail can move one to reach out to one’s loved ones with empathy. When one can be able to reflect on the patterns of one’s choices and manners they may happen to be unaware of the impact of their ancestral history has on them. Many traditions shape and develop a person by expanding their knowledge of their past and their ancestor’s past. Also new relationships and broken ones can be learned from and grow a person’s emotional maturity. Though a person’s desire to grow coerce them into looking to the future, one can learn so much by peering into the past.

As I develop into young adulthood, I have succumbed to the realization that due to my past experiences and family traditions I am who I am, or am becoming. I have often questioned my reasons for my thoughts, actions, motives and etc. Never in my life would I have thought that I like who I am becoming because of the mistakes I have made or because of my parents actions. They teach me so much day by day by not even doing much. Just because they are my parents they have the most largest effect on my life. Their judgment seems to matter the most. Given that they have more control over my own life than I do. I have found out that my mind is existing because of the trial and error I have gone through in my life, the traditions my family has followed for years and possibly the people I have met and known such as family members and friends, are what have shaped me and continue to shape me.

Error indeed, is a horrific word, but through error is the only way a person can grow and learn from their mistakes. Through out my years I have made many drastic errors that have forced me to question whether I regretted the error of my ways or not. I can honestly say no, because error has taught me many lessons. How to not commit that same mistake again. Making mistakes has also made me wiser. Many of my mistakes were the cause of me not paying attention or not bothering to ask questions. Often I would get very angry at myself for committing any inaccuracies, but as I grew older I understood that by doing wrong I knew what right was. As time progressed I learned how to control my emotions and how to think before I speak, also how to articulate my words so that people would not confuse the meanings of my explanations. I knew how to not do the wrong again, or else it would be very foolish of me. A person’s fault teaches them what not to do.

My family has many traditions which I follow, or used to follow that have reared me towards thinking reasonably and unreasonably. From my family’s heritage, they come off as very conservative and respectful, not only with their actions but also with their minds. My parents’ thinking is often very narrow-minded. Obviously, they think this way because of the way they were raised by their parents. They often want me to think the way they do because they think they have come out very intelligent and successful. My parents do no understand that the times have changed and it is no longer the way it used to be, I have learned from them and have become more of a liberal thinker. Their narrow minded thinking and actions have forced me to want to be different. Not a thing like they were or are. I am thankful that they have tried their best to watch out for me and my well being, and raise me as what they consider to be right. Do to their ways of thinking I have adapted my own ways of thinking as well, they can only teach me so much. After a while a person must take over and think for themselves. People must realize that they won’t always have a sense of a guiding light to lead them through the right path. Such as parents or friends. I have learned this by understanding what my parents want for me, and then figuring out what I want for myself. Knowing that I differ from my parents and that I am not as conservative and have a more free mind, I choose different career paths than they do for me. My parents influence me to be a different person than they had in their minds. They influence me to be not a thing like them.

Language is apart of my heritage that happens to bring the people closer to each other and develop a correlation with each and everyone. People often feel closer and connected with people who seem to speak the same tongue as they do. I adopted the Hindi language from my parents who happened to speak it often around the house. I often speak in Hindi to elders, as a sign of respect. People often enjoy speaking their native language because in a sense it is as if they are preserving their culture. A piece that still lingers on with them whether they move to a new country or continent. Their language is something they can take with them wherever they go. Language is very important in a culture because it forms a sort of connection towards a person’s family. When people have language in common it often makes them feel more secure with the person they are with, when I speak with people in my language, I often feel more closer to them and feel a certain connection and trust with them. With language and speaking to other people, people pften have an understanding towards each other when they speak.

Believe it or not, but everyone you meet has influence you in one way or another. Whether it’s the lunch lady at a school, or a stranger you bumped into, or even your brother. As I develop I have realized that everyone I have ever met or spoken to, or even heard about had influenced my life in the smallest to the largest ways. The music I listen to has liberated my mind into thinking about religion, freedom, diversity and so on. The people I am friends with have taught me how to be more comfortable in my skin. That I do not have to fake my true personality to impress anyone. My friends have made me less self conscious of myself and more easy going and confident of who I am and where I come from and where my family comes from. Even a short conversation with someone I didn’t even know had influence me. We had spoken about the world around us and what it would be like to die. It had made me appreciate life a whole lot more than I ever had before. People often think it is insane that little things can change your like drastically but the often can and have a quick way of doing so. Deep and meaningful friendships can also change a person’s life. They often shape a person to become more mature and more comfortable with themselves and who they are. When those relationships end, people learn how to grow from them and receive closure. Whether it is a life threatening situation or a simple little chat with a stranger either one can change a life dramatically. Also it is easy to learn from others when they make their own mistakes. As people grow they often see others making foolish choices, and by seeing how foolish a person’s choice is they know to choose wiser.

As I progress in my life, I can truly say that I am glad my trials have taught me so many lessons I can take and teach in the future. Being younger I never understood why I acted the way I do with certain people, situations and so one. I became more understanding as to why my parents wanted me to be the way they wanted me to be. Through their pressuring me to mold into who they wanted they made me see what I did not want to be like and how I did want to be. As I grew, I comprehended that it was because of the people I met. They have shaped me to become who I am by the conversations and other interactions I have with them. I have learned to be more open to my heritage by speaking the native tongue. The importance of my native tongue happens to be severely imperative to my connection with my family and my own ethnic background. Everyday people you meet or talk to can also influence you very much. I know that everyone I have met and spoken to has one way or another influenced my life whether it was through a simple conversation or a deep and meaningful friendship.