Draft 1 by Faiza

Outline

My Message

What I want the reader to know about me
1-3 of my fundamental qualities, passions, or values:

• Imaginative
• Appreciative of my culture
• Homeschooled

My Medium

Aspect of selfhood I’m focusing on
This is the experience(s), identity(ies), or relationship(s) that are the main topic of your narrative. (At least one, but no more than three recommended or else you probably won’t be able to meaningfully integrate everything in one short essay.)

• Growing up in a multicultural household
• Being homeschooled
• Being muslim

Major moments in my narrative
These will be the “plot points” of your story. Think of your story as one hiking path through the woods of your life. You, the writer, are the guide who is leading the reader on the hike, showing them the way and getting them from point A to point B. What are the major signposts along that path? (Add or delete bullet points here -- there’s no “right” number!)

• What it’s like growing up in a creative/academic driven household.
• My struggles with making friends around my age.
• Finding out how to identify myself when I have been exposed to so many different cultures, personalities, and opinions.
• What it’s like growing up as a Muslim girl and wearing the hijab

From the day I was born, my parents had my whole academic plan put together. The plan was to homeschool me, get me into college early, and set me on a successful path to life. So far the plan has been a little wobbly but for the most part on track. I’m not exactly sure what I want to do with my life but having a somewhat solid foundation and set plan has been of some help.

Honestly, making friends as a homeschooler has been one of the toughest struggles of my pre-adolescent life. From being home for studies every day to having my parents find me friends around my age who shared a chunk of my qualities, it’s safe to say that didn’t work out too well. After years of trying to make do with the premade “friends” Only two of them actually stuck. It took years of trial and error sculpting a rocky friendship, which eventually turned to solid.

 I’ve always looked and acted mature for my age which made people around me expect me to act older than I actually was. I would be seen as “childish” if I did act my age and for that reason, it was hard to be an actual kid like the other children around me. All I ever wanted to do was fit in but I stuck out like a sore thumb in any situation I was in.

I was born muslim, but as a little child, my family wasn’t as religious and we would celebrate things such as Halloween, Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas with the rest of the family. But as I got a little older, it felt like overnight we were suddenly strictly religious and it greatly confused me. No more listening to music, no more actual celebrating any holidays other than the two Eids, and everything felt suddenly so strict. I soon learned to love the religion though. Learning to pray, learning the Quran, and, once I hit puberty, starting to wear the Hijab full time. Getting older and navigating the complexity of religion can be hard at times but for the most part, I’m happy to be strong in my faith and grateful to my parents for instilling that in me from a young age.

I got to experience the world from what I believe to be a pretty unique perspective.  I was surrounded by eccentric and opinionated friends and family and each has influenced the way I grew up in some way. But, I’ve found it difficult to distinguish who I am exactly. Given that I was surrounded by differentiating opinions, I had a hard time distinguishing which were my own thoughts and feelings and what was just someone else's. Social media being introduced just made it worse. I then had access to a neverending cauldron of opinions and it made my head spin on a quickening merry go round. Only recently have I started to find myself a little more and fight for what I believe in but it took a lot of reaching from within and I’ve only just begun to meet the real me.

Reshaping Draft 1 by Faiza

Step 1A: My First Impressions

Things I Like about My Essay (Step 1A)

• “It took years of trial and error sculpting a rocky friendship, which eventually turned to solid.”
• “All I ever wanted to do was fit in but I stuck out like a sore thumb in any situation I was in.“
• “I then had access to a neverending cauldron of opinions and it made my head spin on a quickening merry go round.”
• I like the words “pre-adolescent life”, it just works there.
• I like that I show some of the struggles I had growing up.
• I like that it sort of feels like I’m talking to someone while also being descriptive at times.

Things I’m Not Sure About (Step 1A)

• Me: how short the first three paragraphs are, compared to the last two.
• Me: The third paragraph in general needs to be fixed.
• Me: The transition from talking about my friends then vs now.

Draft 2 by Faiza

From the day I was born, my parents had my whole academic plan put together. The plan was to homeschool me, get me into college early, and set me on a successful path to life. So far the plan has been a little wobbly but for the most part on track. I’m not exactly sure what I want to do with my life but having a somewhat solid foundation and set plan has been of some help. I struggled with reading and mathematics when I was younger but once I got a little older they both clicked in my head. Reading became a passion of mine and I started to polish off multiple books a week, immersing myself in the different fantasy worlds, escaping reality. As for mathematics, I started to really enjoy it once I could understand it. It’s like solving a big number puzzle in my mind.

 Honestly, making friends as a homeschooler has been one of the toughest struggles of my pre-adolescent life. From being home for studies every day to having my parents find me friends around my age who shared a chunk of my qualities, it’s safe to say that didn’t work out too well. After years of trying to make do with my premade “friends”, only two of them actually stuck. It took years of trial and error sculpting a rocky friendship that eventually turned solid. I’ve always been physically and mentally mature for my age which made people around me expect me to act older than I actually was. I would be seen as “childish” if I did act my age and for that reason, it was hard to be an actual kid with the other children around me. All I ever wanted to do was fit in but I stuck out like a sore thumb in any situation I was in.

Along with the struggles of friendship, there was also religion. I was born muslim, but for the first four years of my life, my family wasn’t as religious and we would celebrate things such as Halloween, Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas with the rest of the family. But as I got a little older, it felt like overnight we were suddenly strictly religious and it greatly confused me. No more listening to music, no more actual celebrating any holidays other than the two Eids, and everything felt suddenly so strict. I soon learned to love the religion though. Learning to pray, learning the Quran, and, once I hit puberty, starting to wear the Hijab full time. Getting older and navigating the complexity of religion can be hard at times but for the most part, I’m happy to be strong in my faith and grateful to my parents for instilling that in me from a young age.

I got to experience the world from what I believe to be a pretty unique perspective.  I was surrounded by eccentric and opinionated friends and family and each has influenced the way I grew up in some way. But, I’ve found it difficult to understand myself as a whole. Given that I was surrounded by differentiating opinions, I had a hard time distinguishing which were my own thoughts and feelings and what was influenced by others. Social media being introduced just made it worse. I then had access to a neverending cauldron of opinions and it made my head spin on a quickening merry go round. Only recently have I started to find myself a little more and fight for what I believe in but it took a lot of reaching from within and I’ve only just begun to meet the real me.

Draft 3 by Faiza

From my very first breath, my parents had my whole academic plan put together. The idea was to homeschool me, get me into college early, and set me on a successful path to life. So far, the plan has been a little wobbly but for the most part on track. I’m not exactly sure what I want to do with my life but having a somewhat solid foundation and plan has helped immensely. I struggled with reading and mathematics when I was younger but eventually they both clicked in my head. Reading became a passion of mine, immersing myself in the different fantasy worlds, escaping reality. As for mathematics, I started to really enjoy it once I could actually comprehend it. It’s like solving a big number puzzle in my head and I find it to be quite enjoyable.

 One of the toughest struggles of my pre-adolescent life has been making friends as a homeschooler. From being home for studies every day to having my parents find me friends around my age who shared even a few of my interests, it’s safe to say that didn’t work out too well. After years of trying to make do with my premade “friends”, only two of them actually stuck. But even then it wasn’t easy. It took years of trial and error, sculpting a rocky friendship that eventually turned solid. Being physically and mentally mature for my age didn’t help either, the adults around me expected me to act older than I actually was no matter the occasion. I would be seen as “childish” if I did act my age and for that reason, it was hard to be an actual kid with the rest of the children around me. All I ever wanted to do was fit in but I stuck out like a sore thumb in any situation I was in.

Along with the struggles of friendship, religion played a big part in my upbringing. I was born muslim, but for the first four years of my life, my family wasn’t as religious and we would celebrate holidays such as Halloween, Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas with our non-muslim relatives. To me, it felt like all of a sudden we were strictly religious and it threw me for a loop. No more listening to music, no more actual celebrating of holidays other than the two Eids, and everything started to feel confining all at once. Despite this, I soon learned to love the religion. Learning to pray, learning the Quran, and, once I hit puberty, learning to wear the Hijab full time. Getting older and navigating the complexity of religion can be hard at times but for the most part, I’m happy to be strong in my faith and I am  grateful to my parents for instilling that in me from a young age.

As being a homeschooled Hijabi, I’d say I got to experience the world from a pretty unique perspective. Although being surrounded by eccentric and opinionated characters in my life has positively influenced the way I grew up, I’ve also found it quite difficult to understand myself as a whole. Given that I was constantly exposed to so many differentiating opinions, I had a hard time distinguishing which were my own thoughts and feelings and what was affected by others. Social media being introduced to my life only made it worse. It gave me access to a neverending cauldron of opinions which made my head spin on a quickening carousel of confusion. Only recently have I started to find myself a little more and fight for what I believe in but it took a lot of reaching from within and I’ve only just begun to meet the real me.

Final Draft by Faiza

From my very first breath, my parents had my whole academic plan put together. The idea was to homeschool me, get me into college early, and set me on a successful path to life. So far, the plan has been a little wobbly but for the most part on track. I’m not exactly sure what I want to do with my life but having a somewhat solid foundation and plan has helped immensely. I struggled with reading a lot when I was younger but eventually it clicked in my head and reading became a passion of mine. I started to polish off multiple books in a week, immersing myself in the different fantasy worlds, letting my imagination take over and I could escape reality.

As a kid who spent a lot of time with my nose in a book, one of the toughest struggles of my pre-adolescent life was making friends. From being home for studies every day to having my parents find me friends around my age who shared even a few of my interests, it’s safe to say that didn’t work out too well. I was often put with older kids who didn’t want to be around me seeing as I was just a child and all I ever wanted to do was fit in but I stuck out like a sore thumb in any situation I was faced with. After years of trying to make do with my premade “friends”, only a couple of them actually stuck but even then it wasn’t easy. It took years of trial and error, sculpting rocky friendships that eventually turned solid.

Being homeschooled gave me a lot of free time to focus on and develop my hobbies in a creatively nurturing environment. Teaching myself to draw has been one of my favorites as I can just look at a picture and bring what I see to life on my own paper, by focusing on the depths of the shadows I get to make my art realistic. Along with drawing, another one of my favorites would be photography. Capturing the beauty of the world through different lighting and angles brings me a sense of joy that I’ve yet to find elsewhere. Speedcubing was its own separate hobby completely. Solving the rubik’s cube at high speeds calmed the anxiety of my mind with the consistency of the repetitive puzzle.

Another struggle I had to overcome was religion. I was born muslim, but for the early years of my life, my family wasn’t as religious and we would celebrate holidays such as Halloween, Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas with our non-muslim relatives. To me, it felt like all of a sudden we were strictly religious and it threw me for a loop. Everything started to feel a little confining all at once. Despite this, I soon learned to love the religion. Learning to pray, learning the Quran, and, once I hit puberty, learning to wear the Hijab full time. Getting older and navigating the complexity of religion can be hard at times but for the most part, I’m happy to be strong in my faith and I am grateful to my parents for instilling that in me from a young age.

While being a hijabi homeschooler has made for some rather interesting and unique experiences in my life, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. With the opportunity to learn whatever I want at my fingertips and the security in knowing that my creative spark won’t be dulled by my surroundings, I’m thankful that I get to choose my own path in life and hope that I get to use what I’ve learned from my experiences to make other people’s lives better in the process.