I was born in Guangzhou, China and I moved to the United States when I was three years old. My family had to move around to several different cities until we finally settled in San Leandro-the city that I've lived in all my life up until now. I grew up with some of the same people from kindergarten, to middle school, and high school.
I didn't grow up with any siblings or cousins my age so it was harder for me to come out of my shell, as i was a very shy child and I didn't know how to interact with other children very well. I was often described as the weird kid, and my self confidence became an issue because I simply didn't know how to fit in with the other kids. I became very conformed and quiet, too afraid to speak up so I wouldn't say something weird or be judged. I rarely spoke throughout middle school, and i feel like i missed out on many great opportunities and closed myself off to people because of my fear of facing embarrassment. When I started high school, I wanted to make a change. l decided to get more involved by joining my school's academy SLAM, along with sports such as the Tennis and Badminton team which really helped me meet many great people. I realized I wasn't disconnected from others because because people didn't like me, but because I never took the initiative to try. In Freshman year, I was still a bit shy and uncomfortable with myself. I found myself in a generally what would be described as a weird or dorky group of friends, though they were very accepting. I selfishly thought these people are uncool, and I constantly questioned why I was still around them. I soon dropped that notion, because they were the ones that taught me that being out of the norm is perfectly okay. Whenever I hung around others, I felt as though I had to pretend to be somebody.
I was always told that Asians should be booksmart, although my parents never really gave me that push on education. They wanted me to decide things out for myself, so I guess I can say I'm not your stereotypical asian. Because of this, through elementary and most of middle school I didn't take my education seriously since at that time I didn't understand the importance of it. With the childlike mind I had, I wanted to just have fun and thought of school as something holding me back. I wasn't surrounded by the best people either, and It wasn't until I was given an in class speech about college in the seventh grade where I realized that I want to go to college, and living my life of slacking off wasn't going to get me anywhere. I saw potential in myself, and i was given an idea of what I wanted to be. All this time I've been living in this fantasy world of my own, without knowing that all actions have repercussions. From that point on I started my chase on to college and I wanted to take my grades seriously, but I didn't have the best study habits. I challenged myself by taking Honors and AP classes throughout high school to redeem myself from the years of slacking. My group of friends also changed; They were all school smart and encouraged me towards school even more. I had some falls in my education, and my grades became pretty low, because at some point of high school that group of friends fell apart and I let myself slack.
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I'm not very sure how to end this or restructure it - any help would be appreciated, thanks!
I didn't grow up with any siblings or cousins my age so it was harder for me to come out of my shell, as i was a very shy child and I didn't know how to interact with other children very well. I was often described as the weird kid, and my self confidence became an issue because I simply didn't know how to fit in with the other kids. I became very conformed and quiet, too afraid to speak up so I wouldn't say something weird or be judged. I rarely spoke throughout middle school, and i feel like i missed out on many great opportunities and closed myself off to people because of my fear of facing embarrassment. When I started high school, I wanted to make a change. l decided to get more involved by joining my school's academy SLAM, along with sports such as the Tennis and Badminton team which really helped me meet many great people. I realized I wasn't disconnected from others because because people didn't like me, but because I never took the initiative to try. In Freshman year, I was still a bit shy and uncomfortable with myself. I found myself in a generally what would be described as a weird or dorky group of friends, though they were very accepting. I selfishly thought these people are uncool, and I constantly questioned why I was still around them. I soon dropped that notion, because they were the ones that taught me that being out of the norm is perfectly okay. Whenever I hung around others, I felt as though I had to pretend to be somebody.
I was always told that Asians should be booksmart, although my parents never really gave me that push on education. They wanted me to decide things out for myself, so I guess I can say I'm not your stereotypical asian. Because of this, through elementary and most of middle school I didn't take my education seriously since at that time I didn't understand the importance of it. With the childlike mind I had, I wanted to just have fun and thought of school as something holding me back. I wasn't surrounded by the best people either, and It wasn't until I was given an in class speech about college in the seventh grade where I realized that I want to go to college, and living my life of slacking off wasn't going to get me anywhere. I saw potential in myself, and i was given an idea of what I wanted to be. All this time I've been living in this fantasy world of my own, without knowing that all actions have repercussions. From that point on I started my chase on to college and I wanted to take my grades seriously, but I didn't have the best study habits. I challenged myself by taking Honors and AP classes throughout high school to redeem myself from the years of slacking. My group of friends also changed; They were all school smart and encouraged me towards school even more. I had some falls in my education, and my grades became pretty low, because at some point of high school that group of friends fell apart and I let myself slack.
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I'm not very sure how to end this or restructure it - any help would be appreciated, thanks!
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