You Don"t Know What I've Been Through!

To what extent does a person’s neighborhood shape who she or he is?

I am who I am despite of the neighborhood I lived in. Growing up in East Oakland, there is a lot of violence and things that can contribute to not having a proper lifestyle.  When people look from the outside they see things that are portrayed on television of just on the way it looks. I know when people ask where you are from and I say Oakland they have this face like seriously I never would have thought that. I feel that people judge me throughout my whole life just because of the neighborhood I grew up in. Oakland has its good days and it’s bad you just can’t base everything off the bad things that goes on in Oakland.  I know Oakland has its rough moments but my hometown is not at all what it seems. Oakland has great history and when people realize that then things will change about its reputation. When driving around Oakland, you see all types of people from African American, Hispanics, Asians, and Caucasian people. They just think because you’re from a certain neighborhood things will automatically end up bad. It doesn’t matter where you come from as long as you make the best of my situation. I always say don’t judge a book by its cover because people will judge you before they know the inside story of what you went through. I would say to a certain extent that my neighborhood has an effect on me but only because I allow it. I never let it define who I will be or what I am. I am a product of a dangerous neighborhood but if I can make it out anybody can.  If you base something off if where they come from, how you would know the real person behind the story. If you only knew my background, you would know the full story of my life.