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From UMassWiki

I was born December 16, 1987, in Charleston, South Carolina, to Kevin and Anne Fitzgerald. My father was in the Seabees, a branch of the Navy. He and my mother had been stationed there for about three years before I was born. I unfortunately didn’t live there that long, my parents moved back to Norwood, Massachusetts, where they both grew up. Besides the three months I lived in Charleston, I have lived in Norwood all my life; I am what you call a townie.

Family is my main priority in life; I grew up with very strong family values. Of my immediate family I am an only child. On my father’s side I am the second oldest girl and second youngest over all out of six grand children. On my mother’s I am the oldest girl and fourth oldest grand child out of ten grand children.

Even though I am an only child I consider myself to have a brother, my oldest cousin Kevin. I have the closest relationship with Kevin out of all my cousins. Kevin is soon to be twenty six, and you would think with a huge age difference it would be hard to have as close of a relationship as we do. But as I grew up Kevin has always played a brotherly role and has been there to help me out in numerous situations. It’s the typical big brother is the protector role. Not only is my role the vice versa of his, me being the younger female sibling, but I also help him in a number of ways too. The two of us know that we can talk to each other about anything and rely on each other in any situation, whether it be something as small as giving me a ride or as big as Kevin’s personal problems he has faced with drugs. Now most would thing that is an odd statement but I have learned a lot through helping him and talking him through his struggles. Other than that, I believe our bong is strengthened through our grandparents. The two of us have a not so common relationship with our grandparents. My grandparents are not only family to me, but I have special bonds with the two, as does Kevin.(it is clear that youre past experiences brought you closer to kevin, and your relationship with your grandparents seems to prove that youre very family oriented.

Like myself, my grandparents live in Norwood too, and as a matter of fact they only live several streets away from me. But as I grew up I have always had a special bond with both of my grandparents, two separate ones, one with each. My grandfather I have always been intrigued by how he is different, he is a diabetic. Up until I was able to fully understand what diabetes is, I always wanted to know everything about my grandfather and why he did everything he did, such as shots or why he wasn’t able to stay outside and split wood for the wood stove without having some sort of sugared drink next to him. But it wasn’t just a relationship about the curiosity of his disease, by spending so much time with him I held many conversations with him, and by doing so I realized that my grandfather is one of the most honorable, family orientated, unselfish, and independent people around. I admired that about him.(this paragraph hints that you learned a lot of your own morals from your family)

As a grandmother to ten and a mother of four, she has dealt with a lot, especially with my family, they had rebellious childhoods. Through all that she managed to have four children that grew up to start and continue families themselves. She does more than her share too. She manages to keep the family at bay when a crisis hit or there’s trouble with a family member, she is there for everyone at all times, she puts others before herself, and she is the sole provider for my grandfather. I say sole provider for my grandfather meaning she is the reason he is still with us today. Over the past few years my grandfather has had multiple health complications, most one person could not take more than one of. But because of the time and dedication my grandmother has given him he is still with us today. She is there for every surgery, doctors’ appointment and when he gets out of the hospital each time she is the one that does his at home nursing. So I commend her for doing so.

I also have a very special relationship with my grandmother. Growing up almost every little girl has a special ritual and relationship with their grandmother, not only did I have that but I also had a friendship with my grandmother, one that I still have today. I don’t only see her on certain holidays or designated family times; I enjoy spending time with her. In fact for the past six years, once a year, I skipped a day of school to go Christmas shopping with her. During that day we go to the malls, I help her pick out gifts for my cousins, and then we go to lunch together. That’s something I will always remember. I would be honored to be half the woman my grandmother is when I am older with a family.(the relationship you have with your grandmother shows how effected youve been by them growing up. it clearly had a large impact on who you have become )

Also, by living in Norwood all my life I have known the same people all my life as well. The girls I have been friends with are the girls I have played on the same sports team with every year since I was four years old. Friends are a priority of mine too, in fact I consider them a part of my family. I would do anything and everything for each and every one of them. Unfortunately over the last few months we have all grown apart, due to school and such.

But one person who I consider more than a friend is my friend Jamie. Jamie is someone I met through work. When I first met her she was two years ahead of me and we didn’t much more than a “Hi how are you?” type of relationship. She soon went of to school when she graduated but unfortunately her school was destroyed by a hurricane down in Florida. The hurricane forced her to come back to Massachusetts. But I am actually grateful for that hurricane. If it wasn’t for that hurricane I wouldn’t have become as close as I have with the person I consider my best friend.

For the past year or so I have hung out with Jamie basically every day. In fact she came on our family vacation to Aruba this year with us. Also, we’ve attended each others family parties and holidays together. For example, every Christmas morning she has “Carr Family Breakfast” each year and she invited me along with one of her other friends, who has become one of my close friends as well, to her house to have breakfast and exchange gifts with the rest of her family. My mother considers Jamie her “second” daughter due to the fact Jamie lived with me for five and half months.

I am sad to say though that in July, Jamie moved across country, to San Diego, California, with two of our friends. It’s been very hard talking to her, with her being so far away and all. Of all my friends I miss her the most, more so than the girls I have been friends with for fourteen years. I think it’s because I have a deeper bond with her, she’s like a sister to me too. It’s also hard because I have a hard time trusting other people. Jamie is the only person I know for a fact that whether it was in the middle of the night for something stupid or if it was a dramatic problem I was dealing with, I know I can count on her. I also am grateful for meeting her because she has made me a better person. Before I met her I was a very shy and not so out going person. But she helped me out of my “shell” and introduced me to a whole new group of people. Jamie helping bring me out of my “shell” was I think one of the best things to happen to me because I now feel more comfortable around people I have just met and I feel less awkward. I also feel as though it was perfect timing because it was just in time for college. (how you were affected by jamie shows how instrumental other people were in your life)

Of all my family, both my immediate and my extended family, I am the only one to go to college, and most likely it will stay that way too, my other cousins have no desire or ambition to go. So for me to be in college right now I feel as though I’ve already achieved more than most of my family. Now these days you need a college education to go anywhere in life. For most entering college they aren’t really sure what they want to do for the rest of their lives, I however want to be a financial consultant/advisor. So my next goal, my first being getting into a good college, is to get into the Isenberg School of management here at UMASS. Unfortunately when I applied to UMASS they did not directly except me to the school of management. So I have to work harder than those that are already in it this semester just to be considered for admission.(this shows that youre extremely determined, and that you understand what you need to do to achieve your goals.) So far I have been taking the suggested classes but it still looks virtually impossible right now because the standards they have are some what high and the people that are already in the school of management exceed that standard.

So I had to come to the conclusion that if I do not get excepted to the school of management for the fall 2007 semester I am going to have to transfer to a different school. Which a week ago was the perfect solution to my problem, my problem being that I was miserable here at UMASS and I wanted to go home. I was so unhappy because I lived in a corner room in John Quincy Adams tower with a girl who I had absolutely nothing in common, there were no other freshman around me to meet and go out with, and it seemed as everyone around me had made their group of friends and was having the best time.

Another thing that made it really hard was that fact I was starting to feel homesick. It was odd, I have never had to try to make friends and if I was put into a new situation I always at least was able to talk to someone. But it seemed as though no one around me liked the same things I did, which I know is not true because I like the same things every eighteen year old likes, and that I didn’t fit into any of the little groups I have seen. Also, what made it hard was talking to all my friends from back home who were having the times of their life at their schools and they loved their roommates. Plus talking to Kerri, Colleen, and especially Jamie has been hard because they aren’t like my other friends, I just cant hop in a car and go see them on a weekend at their school, they’re across the country, that’s three thousand miles away.(its clear that living with those same girls, and in the same town for your whole life made it difficult to move away for college)

But things are slowly starting to get better. Three weeks, ago I put in for a transfer to a new dorm, an all freshman dorm, and I got it. So two weekends ago my mom came up to help me move and now I have a roommate who I actually talk to, unlike before with my old roommate who I sat in the room in complete silence with. I’ve also met a lot of the people on my floor. I think its easier to live in an all freshman dorm, or for some maybe an all freshman floor, because the people surrounding you are all in the same position as you, so your not the only one. Also I went through formal sorority recruitment with a girl I met because she didn’t want to do it by herself, which to my surprise I enjoyed. Now I say that because if you know me then you know I’m not your stereotypical sorority girl. But at the end of recruitment I got a bid from one of the houses I actually liked, Sigma Kappa, because all the girls are so diverse.

So right now I don’t know what is in store for me over the next few months, my freshman year at college. I’m not sure if ill end up staying at UMASS, I am thinking about sticking out the year and in the fall transferring to a school in San Diego, CA, because not only would I be with my best friend, it would be an experience living in what seems to be a completely different culture.(youre ability to just not give up shows that youre truly a motivated person. even though you dont like UMASS that much, youre not letting it effect your goals.) But I do believe that everything happens for a reason. Another thing I do know though is that I will still continue to do my best and try to achieve each of my goals that I set at what ever time it maybe, both now and in the future. Also, I do know that as a person I will always stay true to the values I’ve always had, being loyal and respectful of my family/friends.--Kfitz1042 15:42, 26 September 2006 (EDT)

Summary

Throughout your essay, it is clear that the people around you had a great impact on your life. Since you have lived in the same town for practically your entire life, that area, and those people, have proved to be your stability and family. thus, the relationships you have been able to build from this stability has caused you to be greatly impacted by your constant support from your family.

Also, it is clear that that relationships you had with your grandparents also greatly affected you who became. Since you spent a lot of time with them, you grew to admire them. consequently you learned a lot from them about how a person should act, which has proved to be very influential in your life. This also proves that youre a very observant person, that learns from everyone who surronds you. Furthermore, your intense bond to your family is also portrayed through your cousin. You feel as though he is more like a brother, which suggests a much stronger bond than that between two cousins. Also, your support of him during his struggles proves how dedicated and caring you are. traits you seemed to have acquired from your admiration of your grandparents.

just as you were a support system for your cousin, your friend jamie seems to provide that same support for you. Once again, your relationship with her shows your dependibility on your strong sense of family. However, the reactions youve had thus far at UMASS are consequently unsuprsing. Considering that you lived in one town youre entire life, with the same people, it is expected that you would have a hard time adjusting to college life. Still though, you seemed determined to not give up, which proves a lot about your personality. Although you are no longer surronded by your family, the strength you have learned from them is clearly helping you to get through your challenges.

In essence, this essay depicts that the largest influence during your life was your family. it seems as though forming a strong bond with those you were close with was very important to you, regardless of if they were your immediate family or not. Also, your loyality to your friends is clearly a trait of the loyalty and stability your family provided. thus, no matter what challenges you face, you will always have the saftey net of your family to fall back on for support and encouragement.--Jemma-Joy Coster 10:22, 3 October 2006 (EDT)