The person I am today is greatly influenced by my surroundings and my upbringing. I was born and raised in Chicago. I am 17 years old, and I am finishing high school and attending a local college as well. Since I was a young child, my parents have taught me to be honest, respectful, and to work hard in life. On multiple occasions, I have made mistakes and gone against their teachings, which never ended well. Of course, I learned certain things the hard way, but I feel that this has molded me to be the person I am.

At home, I try to be nice, respectful, and obedient to my parents and siblings. But I feel like I take them for granted. But as time went by and I grew older, I began to realize how important family is, the values of family and staying tight-knit. I have made many mistakes in life, but my family always forgave me and guided me to do the right thing. I went to school until third grade and then stopped for a few years to do a religious course. Afterward, I started homeschooling and have been since. That is what really changed me to be the person I am now.

Up until a few years ago, I did not have a goal in life. I did not care much about school or getting ahead in life. But slowly all that came back to bite me again when I started to study to graduate, I was behind in all the subjects. I began to regret wasting my time in the past few years. So with the encouragement and support of my family, I buckled up and set course to catch up and excel in life. That greatly paid off and now I am not behind, instead, I am ahead by a few grades, and I started college before I even finished high school.

Along with my family, I lived in the same community for my entire life, and that has also contributed to my upbringing in some ways. I go to the mosque, which is our place of worship, regularly, and attend classes, talks, and, seminars regarding the teachings of our religion. Islam, which is our religion, teaches us to be modest, kind, peaceful, generous and thankful. Hearing this all my life I try to keep it my nature.

Altogether I feel these things are the factors that made me who I am. If I feel I am slacking off I look back at my previous mistakes and the lessons I have learned through them. I try to distinguish how I am at home vs how I am outside. I don’t want to act as I do with my friends. I try to be a better person every day.