Autobiographical Transformation as a Child to an Adult - Essay Example

Autobiographical Transformation as a Child to an Adult My transformation as a child to an adult was in a Toronto suburb as an only son in a family of eight. What made me grow up differently from my siblings was that I always had a carefree and, sometimes, quite reckless mindset towards life. While my seven sisters were either doing their homework or doing house chores, there I was, running up and down my neighborhood searching for stray dogs to terrorize and play football with the neighborhood children. My father, who had waited patiently for a son until I was born, always referred to me as a waste of life, although my mother always defended me. My father was adamant that I was the family’s hope but, at nine, you rarely see yourself as anyone’s hope, so our relationship was a mess. In the summer of 1996, I arrived home from school to a rude shock. My father, finally fed up, had made a decision of leaving my mother and marrying his black mistress who already had his son. When my mother refused to grant him custody of any of us, he seemed quite relieved. I could tell this because, by then, I had begun looking at people and observing their facial expressions. My father could not bear to look at us, but I always knew my mother’s housewife routine had gotten to him. This is an autobiographical paper that discussing the people, places, events and experiences that have influenced my culture, social class, gender, religion and sexual orientation. Race Growing up as a child, my neighborhood, was predominantly white. However, some of my friends were not white; for example, my best friend’s family had emigrated from Papua New Guinea. My feelings towards racial minorities were non-existent during my childhood, as I even went to my friend’s house for dinner and “homework”. As I became older, however, I began to have a different outlook towards other races, especially African Canadians. While my attitude was not racist, I had a hard time convincing myself that not all black people were like the woman who took my father away from my mother. I met her once during a school trip to the zoo, as she clung onto my father’s arm and I was afraid of talking my black friends after that. However, when I joined high school, my attitude took another turn when I met a black girl who had emigrated from Tanzania. I was amazed at how different she was from what I had envisioned black women to be growing up, and watching my mother struggle as a single mum. When I met my father’s new partner at the zoo, she had sneered at me, which had given me the impression that this was a “black thing”. However, with Aisha, she had the most loving face I had ever seen. Going to college saw me meet more black people and my attitude by then had changed to one of inclusiveness. This was brought on by my comprehension that we were all after the same things in life. Social Class When I was growing up in a middle class suburb, my interaction with lower class citizens was limited to the mall and school. I remember I always had a “keep away” attitude towards them. This was informed by an incident where my sister was robbed and almost raped coming from her boyfriend’s house across the rail tracks. I remember my mother being livid that her boyfriend had not even had the courtesy to come and explain the situation. From that day, she forbids us from mixing with those “uncivilized folk”. When I was ten, my friends and I came up against a gang of youth from the ghetto as we scurried after a stray dog. While they did not beat us as they took our clothes and the little money we had, I still remember their “rich kids” taunts. I did not consider myself a rich kid at that point since my parents had to take care of eight siblings, so I began to wonder what these rich kids could have done to deserve this kind of treatment. When I joined High School, I came to the realization that the rich kids were not very different from us. While some showed off their cars and clothes, some of my best friends in high school, Peter and Bosco, were extremely friendly. However, even though some of my friends in college are from poor backgrounds, I still have negative memories of my family’s incidents with them. Gender Growing up in a house with seven girls was a trial in itself. My mother, obviously, had a soft spot for me, and this led to resentment from some of my sisters, especially Kate, the youngest. This caused me to consider girls as selfish and jealous, especially as Kate was a ruthless bully when she wanted. Once, she put sugar on my pizza and insisted on my mother that I was being wasteful and that I should eat it all up. Additionally, when my father left, I began to wonder why another woman would do this to a fellow woman. This only reinforced my view of women as I grew up. Nevertheless, as I got older, I began to realize that my sisters loved me dearly, and they took opportunities to please me. Maybe it was the case that I was their only brother, but this changed my view towards girls. I also became increasingly protective over women when my sister was robbed in the projects, showing me just how vulnerable women could be. By the time, I got to college, my upbringing in what my friend Timothy jokingly refers to as a “liberal convent” had shaped my overly protective and caring nature towards women. Religion For me, religion is a personal thing that someone either follows or does not. Growing up, my friends and I accompanied our mothers to church every Sunday, although we had no fun doing it. As Catholics, the mood was too somber for young kids, and the only reason we had some satisfaction out of it was because our friend, Francis, was an altar boy. He is now in the seminary and he has made us proud. My father was a bona fide atheist who once threw my mother’s rosary during his fits of temper. Since he was my role model before he left, I was very suspicious of religion and actually shared his views for a time, even after he was gone. However, with Francis seeming so happy when I see him nowadays, I have relaxed my views a little. Now, I believe that religion is a personal belief and that individuals are free from any obligation of being in a particular religion. When Francis joined the seminary, some of my neighbors were dismissive, claiming that the life of an intelligent boy had been ruined. Seeing Francis so happy and always smiling has, however, shaped my belief that religion is a personal undertaking that makes some people happy and content. Sexual Orientation Homosexuality is not something that I am comfortable with; although, I do not show my point of view. My mother, being a devout Catholic, has always been homophobic. My father was a vocal homophobic, actually commenting once that he hoped that growing up with so many girls around did not turn me into a woman hating “fag”. One of my sisters, Betty, has a lesbian lover although she is married. I found out when I walked in on them as a child, and since she is still friends with her, I am not sure of how the relationship is progressing as per now. I feel that this is unfair to her husband and this has made me suspicious of gay people. Additionally, as a College freshman, I was groped in the hallway by a gay man, which led me to punch him on the nose. My action was punished, and since I do not feel I did anything wrong, I am not sympathetic to gay people. Maybe I have met the wrong type of gay people, but that is my personal stance. Works Cited Junkies, Scholarship. How to Write an Autobiographical Essay. 16 July 2012. Web 22 October 2012 www.scholarshipjunkies.com/how-to-write-an-autobiographical-essay. Read More