Irma Aponte Professor Monaghan English 108 17 March 2013

A Childs Memory

The way we live as a child does not always seem like a bad thing. When growing up in unpleasant conditions, it can seem normal to a child. Graffiti walls may not be so bad, or the car in the corner playing music to three oclock in the morning. The affect of the conditions we live in, do they have an effect on us in a negative or positive way? A childs memory can be a very delicate thing when growing up. When a child is raised in the ghetto as most people may call it, it can have a negative effect more than a positive one. Many people have the idea that because a person is raised in those conditions that they should be doing things that would be mostly on the negative side. People that grow up in these conditions often become bank robbers, drug dealers, or even murderers. In a lot of ways some people end up going on the wrong path because they lived in areas that were worst than others. Most people have the mentality that because they grew up in neighborhoods of bad conditions that they do not deserve what a person living a better neighborhood has. ANN ARBOR, Mich. Growing up in a poor neighborhood significantly reduces the chances that a child will graduate from high school, according to a study published in the current (October) issue of the American Sociological Review. And the longer a child lives in that kind of neighborhood, the more harmful the impact.

Growing up in bad neighborhoods has a devastating impact: U-M study By Diane Swanbrow http://www.sampler.isr.umich.edu/2011/research/growing-up-in-badneighborhoods-has-a-devastating-impact-u-m-study/.

I have a lot in common with Dandicats story when it comes to the living conditions in the story. I lived in an apartment building just like she describes, with the graffiti on the walls and the lack of hot water and heat, and also with hills of trash that made the neighborhood smell like an actual garbage dump. And just like her I never dreamed of leaving that place where I grew up and everything seemed normal. I was used to living in a city full of crime and violence that nothing was never a surprise to me, whether it was someone robbing a grocery store or gun shots in the middle of the night. When I was twelve my parents decided to move to New Jersey, and I thought it was the end of the world for me. The living conditions that I was raised in did not have a negative effect on me while growing up. Though I lived in those conditions my parents made sure that I went to school every day, had good grades and went to church. Living in those surroundings did not have a negative effect on me or my siblings. We grew up and knew what the consequences were for living a life that was not proper. Though I am not perfect regardless of the living conditions that I was raised in, I think I grew up to be a person that believes there are big things out there for me. There are a lot of celebrities that grew up in bad neighborhoods and today are very successful and people look up to them for the work that they have accomplished.

For example, take Shawn Corey Carter, better known as Jay-Z to be one of those people. Shawn Carter is originally from Marcy Houses, a housing project in the Bedford- Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City. He is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip-hop artists and entrepreneurs in America. He is a good example of how, even though you grow up in one of the worst neighborhoods, you can always be successful and do positive things with your life. Living in a neighborhood like described in Danticats story has its pros and cons. It can have a positive outcome on one person and a negative outcome on another. I believe it is the manner a person pursues their way of living that proves what outcome they get out of life. Graffiti walls and hills of garbage should not determine where you life goes, you have the option of making it better for you and your future.