Personal Narrative: Growing Up, I Have Concluded That I Am Weird

I was raised believing I was unique. Going to university showed me everyone else thought similarly. Everyone

What makes me unique is my diverse background, attention to detail, and enthusiasm to learn. My mother and father had me when they were sixteen years old. Both parents ended up dropping out of high school, and my father was a well-known gang member from Norwalk, California. My grandparents decided to raise me, so I would have a decent childhood. I grew up in the City of Pomona, California. While growing up, I was exposed to various artistic expressions, different music genres, and various cultures. After high school, I ended up enlisting in the United States Marine Corps. I served on active duty for seven years and four months and received an Honorable Discharge. While on active duty, I traveled to exotic countries such as Okinawa, Mainland Japan, South Korea, Australia, Kuwait, and Iraq. After my military service, I traveled to the Philippines. I can honestly say that I enjoy experiencing, and learning, from different cultures. This experience has allowed me to better understand and engage various people within my community, my work, and at school. Another characteristic that makes me unique is my attention to detail.

I grew up in a messed-up environment as a child. On my mother's side of the family, no one took care of their children. Most of them even gave up custody of their children. They all were alcoholics and cared more about the men they were sleeping with more than their kids. They all were welfare and s.s.i. recipients and dated people who were on their same level. On my dad's side of the family, they are all rich and stuck up. My great grandfather opened a computer graphics company when computer graphics first came out and the business was successful. He allowed his grandchildren who lived in the Virginia area to work there as well as made sure they got an education in computers and graphic design. Through his business he also paid for his

I believe what sets me aside from others is my background and my open-mindedness accompanied with my positive attitude.

While everyone in the world is undeniably similar, we all have different personalities, interests, and ideals. My identity is unique because of my musical abilities, my faith, and my academics.

I differed from the majority. I was never into pop music, never into fashion, never into celebrities or idols. However, I was not aware of this until I reached an age where my peers in school no longer accepted my differentiating thoughts.

Some people who know me might call me weird or they say that I'm a freak, but I don't disagree just because I can impersonate every animal under the sun does not mean I'm wired or a freak. I think it is quite impressive and useful. Because you can scare people away and get what ever you won't because I can make a said puppy noise it is

I have a different personality, different tastes, different interests, and I like that. I like being different than others. I also have other shows or books that shaped my persona. For example, the show Another made me realize how dangerous everything is, and it gave me an over-exaggerative attitude towards everyday objects. The show My Hero Academia made me feel empowered, because being different can make the strongest person. The book series Attack on Titan makes me appreciate freedom and life, because in that show, both are hard to experience. I could go on, but I’ll stop there. My point is, is that in such a short period of time, I’ve become an entirely different person, and I think that’s a good thing, because one truly feels

The word ‘weird’ to me is how people talk about one another or certain objects as strange or not fitting the mold that they think or believe to normal. I chose this word because I believe being known as being weird is a somewhat mean way to say that someone is different from someone else. There are times where I think the word ‘weird’ is a completely accurate description of me, but then there are times it's not even close to describing me. The people who call me ‘weird’ use it as an insult and try to put me down. These people forget that being ‘normal’ is not exactly a good thing either.

Where I come from I was considered different. Different from everybody else and that is not always a nice feeling when it is attached to being strange or almost alien like. But that is what I felt like for a great part of my life. When teachers in school told the class to write a little bit about themselves or to apply for a job and the job application asks the same question a big part of my answer in my head was you won't like me because I am different.

Being different is the only thing that all of us are able to do. To be yourself is something that requires no prerequisites of any kind or any type of planning. Science has proved that we share the same DNA but yet we are all different. We are all special and I believe we should have a chance to show that.

Being unique or in laymen terms, “weird “is not a terrible thing. I am one of those people society calls wired of those people because, I never had a group to fit in with, I do not hide who I am and also, I do my own thing and don’t try to fit in to society

When I was young, I had to grow up fast. My dad was out of my life since I was very young. I grew up around my mom’s friends. I always tried to act older and be mature so I didn’t annoy them with the fact that I was still a child. I wanted to try and be like them since I knew that they were good people. I feel like I never got to really be a child, even though I did. I was super spoiled and was the only child. Life couldn’t get any better for me since I was mature and had everything I wanted. It just would’ve been better if I could’ve acted more childish and not so uptight.

I know something is wrong with me, but mentally insane? Are you joking me? When the doctor told me the news, everything I knew became a lie. I already don’t fit in at school, what will happen when everyone figures out I’m crazy?

In the first telling of my personal narrative, I did not consider including what had led me to a point where I began to embrace my identities and become proud of my heritage as Korean. There were many factors that led me to be who I am today. The reason for leaving out the information was because there were so many people and occurrences that led me to the point where I am now. For example, moving to different elementary school where there were more diverse body of students, annually performing at the Mosaic in the Korean pavilion, my parents being a positive role model, and becoming a volunteer teacher at the Korean Language School are some of the reasons which have led me to be who I am today. As I was surrounded by people who were interested