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Personal Narrative: Growing Up In The Ghetto

991 Words4 Pages

What exactly is the hood? The hood is a slang term for the ghetto. Many people may associate the hood with the birthplace of criminals, people with no lives, and even what some people would call “gangsters”. From the outside looking in, one would assume the hood is a horrible place to be, and those were my exact thoughts in the beginning. Is the hood as dangerous as it is described? I never realized as a kid that I was different than everyone else who lived in my neighborhood, — different, but not better. Despite how scary it was at first, growing up in the hood caused me to appreciate life even more, and it introduced me to a new world. Its effects still stay with me today.
When I was around the age or 5, my mom and I moved back to Columbia, South Carolina from Virginia Beach due to her job. Unfortunately, she did not appropriately prepare herself for this huge move. There were not many housing options available that really fit her criteria such as spacious rooms, a garage, and a fenced in backyard. Therefore, we were left to settle in an apartment complex called The Oaks. The buildings were scattered with what appeared to be bullet holes, the grounds looked as if maintenance had hung a huge sign that read “place your trash here”, and the crime rate in this community was out of this world. My mother did not do her research at all but that was …show more content…

I had to frequently remind myself that this situation was only temporary. In the mornings while awaiting the arrival of the bus, there were many kids I wanted to talk to. However, many of the kids would be busy comparing their outfits, having races in the middle of the road, or play fighting to even look interested in making a new friend. Although my judgment of this location was somewhat tainted, I still wanted to mix and mingle with the other kids. I knew it would take time for them to warm up to me. Therefore, I was

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The way I felt about my city and my surroundings had a strong correlation with the way I felt about myself. Prior to this realization, my dreams and aspirations for the future were minimal. I performed well throughout elementary school, and I was moved up a grade because my reading and math skills were advanced. However, when I began attending middle school, the new atmosphere combined with all of the new awareness I gained as I started transitioning from a child to an adolescent ended up in me lowering the expectations I had for myself. Once I regained my optimism and saw that Oakland is not what people say it is, I began seeing life in an optimistic way as

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