From the day the doctor spanked us on the bottom and we started to cry, to the day we graduated high school, life has always been a series of changes. To getting your first scrapped knee, starting a new school and even hitting puberty. As we grew, we learned to take some things for what they were and move on. Certain experiences helped change and mold us into the people that we are today. I know all of my encounters have. I'm from Chicago and if you've been watching CNN lately you know the current situations that teens even toddlers are faced with every day. The first aroma that hits tourist noses is no longer the smell of Giordano's Pizza, Harold's Chicken or Garrett's Popcorn but gun smoke. I think that I am more fortunate than most people I know. Some of the people that I attended elementary with didn't make it to see today or yesterday for that matter. I'm just glad that I did. Seeing so many of my peers lives being taken from them made me reevaluate how I was going about things. Since I'm fortunate enough to still be on this earth, I might as well make it count Therefore, that is why I give everything I do my 110%. I feel as if I have something to prove. I want to prove to all the people who think that the present generation doesn't know what hard work or to be dedicated means. I look forward to seeing what is in store for my future. I just want to be successful and proud of myself for accomplishing what others deemed almost impossible. To be brief, everyone goes through trials in their life. I love the fact that I've been granted opportunities that many have not. My experiences have helped me realize that everything that I have gone through or may go through is just a part of life and it's a part of my identity in a way.