Things Fall Apart Essay Two

Luis Acevedo

Mrs. Bosch
Honors English 10
06 August 2008
Background Influences

It is said that no two people are the same and that all are special in their own ways. Everyone seems to have an opinion on a certain subject and all have their likes and dislikes, be it in art, school, sports, or politics. These are all formed because of influences that impacted them enough to have those opinions. Their seems to be a whole field of science dedicated to figuring out what shapes people to be who they are. Since I am no scientist, those theories are unavailable to me, however there are some theories of which I know that seem to ring true. There seems to be undeniable evidence that my geography, family history, and family memories have shaped me and still continue to shape me this day.
Geography plays a major role in shaping a person in various ways. The first of which would be their dialect. Growing up in California, one is bombarded by slang and sayings; of course I learned to adapt myself to this language and use it very frequently and am very knowledgeable of what terms mean what, however, those terms and sayings may not make sense to everyone else in the world. Now, because of where I live, I say certain things that would be considered inappropriate use of the modern day English language. Another way that my geography has shaped me is the amount of liberty I have. I was lucky enough to be born in The United States, for this country is a peaceful one and thus it has manipulated my nature for aggressiveness is not needed as much as other countries and thus I have become a more peaceful person whom hardly resorts to violence. I also don’t have to be sold off as a slave to some strange family like in some other countries because of their poverty, or be forced to go to war, unless one considers being drafted equal to this. Because I was born in such a great place, so many opportunities were available to me. Because of these opportunities, the way I live my life is a little different than those with less freedom. I am able to go to a good school, learn a few things, go to college, and get involved in a career that I am truly passionate about—that is of course if I work hard. Nevertheless, the opportunities are there for me because of my geography, so my life and the goals that I expect out of myself are shaped. On less of a broader scale than the state or country that I live in, my place of birth has shaped me as well. I was born in San Leandro, but I was raised in Oakland. In this city there were so many cultures and races coming together that I was able to live with them and never thought of them other than equals, unlike the way some of the populace think about others. This also made me see so many different cultures and thus I became more open to new thoughts and was quite liberal minded, whoever my relationship with people cannot be described in the same manner as being open minded, for because of my childhood I was never too accepting of new people. Currently, where I reside now I still see some of the different cultures and continue to see them the same way. Also because of this, I am able to understand more things about the world as I speak to them and learn their history and ways. Because of my geography, my way of thinking of others, my way of living, and my dialect, was shaped.
Although my geography greatly shaped me, my family history has also had a major impact on me. My mother and father were both immigrants that had come to this country looking for better opportunities. My mother took the legal way, while my father did not. At the age of fourteen my father illegally crossed the border. Now, although illegal, he had no mal intentions. Having said this, I was the first generation that was born here, so I try to take advantage of this opportunity more than others that have many generations that reside here. This may be because I really want to, or because I somewhat feel obligated to succeed for my parents went through all the trouble in getting here for more opportunities, and who am I to destroy all their hopes and hardships? Anyway, because of my Mexican heritage, I am expected to be a hard worker and to give it my all in whatever it is I do for my people are people that have hard work rooted into their blood. Although different work than they do, because of my family history, I give it my all in school in order to take advantage of the opportunities that they have given me through all of their hardships. My family history has also shaped my language, for instead of just speaking English, Spanish is also available to me. With the knowledge of two languages, it seems to be easier to understand other languages for they have common ancestry. Also, because of my family history, my thoughts on several things were influenced, such as religion. Growing up in a family that had Catholics in the tree for the longest time, it was obvious that I would eventually become a Catholic myself, for religion is not something that is changed suddenly from one generation to the next, and again who am I to change such an ongoing line? Because of this religion that was passed down from generation to generation, my thoughts on many things were influenced. All of my thought of what is ethical and what is not is all influenced because of the religion that was in my family history. Thus because of my family history, my thoughts on ethics were formed. Although old enough to decide for myself, I am still a Catholic for it was the way I was raised and I believe that it is a good religion. However, I am not implying that I believe that all have to be Catholic and that other religions are wrong, I have just grown accustomed to the ways and I truly believe in them, but does not mean that I would like all others to believe in the same thing for I cannot change one’s mind on such a delicate subject. Growing up being the second child, I was not given as much attention as my older brother and sister. It seems as though that no matter how hard I tried, I would never receive praise for my hard work that I would do like they would. Because of this, and my Mexican heritage, I worked even harder in school because of the slightest chance to receive some amount of congratulation, and this still rings true today. For all parents want their children to flourish in, for it is said to be the passport to success. All in all, because of my family history, my thoughts on ethics, my religion, my language, and my drive to succeed and work hard, are influenced and shaped.
For as long as I can remember, my family has always been pretty close and they’ve made strong bonds. Strangely enough however, growing up I hardly remember my mother and father being there with me to play or do some sort of activity. My mother would always be busy cleaning the house, or taking care of some other kid for a friend and my father would always be working, and still always works, so I would never find myself having some sort of commemorative activity with them. Instead I would try to find refuge with my brother and sister. They would always be there for me thus throughout the years, have made strong bonds. Because of these strong bonds, it impacted the relationship that I would have with people. Because I could trust my brother and sister with everything, although still keeping things secret from them, I thought that the same could be done with others. However, because it took so long for the strong bonds to form, I do not trust people whom I have not known for a long time, but, when I do trust someone I completely trust them with everything as I do with my brother and sister. Although growing up I could be able to play with them, we really didn’t have much to play with, we were not very wealthy and thus our toys were very limited, and thus the struggle of who will play with what and what was whose begun. Thus I became very protective of my things, and still am. Although we didn’t have much, we would always have a kickball to play with. A family memory that continues to shape me today was a time when we were still kids. My brother, a couple of his friends, and I were playing kickball and It was my turn to kick it, and I did, I kicked it with all my might, however the trajectory of my kick was off and it ended up hitting a car. The alarm went off, however when the owner of the vehicle came out screaming, my brother took the blame for it. This really meant a lot to me because I was always a shy little kid, and was scared of adults. This memory continues to shape me today for I see because of this selfless act, it made me realize that I should give people more of a chance and that maybe they could be trusted. Thus I began to be more open to people and less shy, but I never had an interest in sports after that. Because of those family memories and the collaboration of my family, my views on people and the relationship that I will have with others, is influenced, and they continue to influence me today.
There are many things that shape people. Their unique personalities are created by their personal lives. If one has abusive parents, he will probably be emotionally scarred and not be trusting of people for his entire life. If they are of a certain country that sends kids forcefully to go and fight for their country, they will become strong and really uncaring for the individual. People’s beliefs, thoughts, and opinions of everything are shaped through certain factors of their lives. The way people will look at the world are all because certain things come together to shape who they are.