Michael Jones and I was born on the 19th of March, 1998, in Hawthorne, California. I am currently eighteen years old and in my fourth year of college. My parents are Stephen Jones and Callie Jones. Our family comprises of my father, mother, brother and a sister. My brother's name is James Arnold Jones and my sister's name is Joanne Jones. I am grateful to have my siblings and both of my parents in my life alive and healthy. I do not have a great deal of memory about my early childhood, but my mom incessantly mentions that I was a very lively, inquisitive, and talkative child. I was curious about everything and kept asking questions all the time, even without having to wait for the correct answers in response. It is for this reason that I assume my parents bought me numerous books as well as novels from an early age.Youthful Phase

All in all, what I can remember from my earliest years are memories filled with love and happiness. Being the second born child in the family, I enjoyed spending time with my elder sister. One of my fondest memories is how jealous I was when my small sister was born. I could not bear the fact that I would cease being treated as the "baby" of the house. However, as she slowly grew up we became very close to each other. Up until the present day, I am very close with my siblings and we face everything that comes our way together.

I can honestly say that the best education I attained all began from home. This takes into account the incessant teaching from mom and dad with respect to the principles in life and values that I continue to hold dear even today. My early childhood was a characteristic one of a child growing up in the start of the 21st century. My father worked for an insurance company as a financial advisor and my mum worked as a front desk person in the nearby hospital. I had a considerably happy childhood enjoying the days with my young siblings and at the time would consider ourselves to be somewhat spoilt with trips, presents and toys. However, one of the difficult periods in my life came early on when I was 7 years old when my parents split up and had a divorce. This was such a difficult time; because of the constant battle for custody and visitation for us siblings, between the two of them. This took a great toll on me because I was still young and I could not quite understand why this was taking place. In fact, at some point, I thought that we were the reason of the split between my parents.

Crucible Experience

At a time when I was still quite young, coming from a broken family that experienced several arguments and fights affected me in an adverse way. I was constantly depressed and upset. The following year was tough as there were times when we were split having to stay with my mother while I stayed with my father and vice versa. The lack of having both parents in my life and having a family like other children made me feel like an outsider. I was constantly envious of the other kids my age that had both parents drop them off at school or go for lunch together.

Granted, they provided us with food, a home, and all the necessary items that we required, the love was not the same. We felt unimportant to them as they constantly focused how to split their assets and property. The love and attention that my siblings and I required from my parents at the time was not enough. It was for this reason that I constantly got into fights in school with other children and failed to concentrate on my studies. I even did petty activities such as skipping school or refusing to undertake homework all in the attempt of attaining more attention from both of my parents.

Elementary School Experience

One of the pivotal moments in my life came when I was in the 6th grade at Ramona Elementary School. At the time, I found it quite difficult to learn and study and I was flopping in most of the subjects. However, Mathematics was the worst of all as I found every aspect of the subject to be difficult. I used to be taunted a lot by other kids in the classroom because I barely grasped anything...

This caused me to become frustrated with education and therefore it adversely affected my performance in other subjects.
When I entered the 6th grade, my new mathematics teacher, Miss Mahoney completely changed my outlook, an aspect that had a huge positive impact on my life. She told me that mathematics is as simple as one, two, and three, something that I accepted easily. She told me encouragingly that she saw a great deal of potential in me and that I ought to tell myself I can do it, even when I fail. Therefore, she took it upon herself, giving me extra lessons and assignments away from the classroom, to help me improve.

Six months later, I found mathematics to be quite simple to understand. My morale and self-confidence had significantly improved and so did my performance in other subjects and my overall grade. Little did I know that this phase would push me to aspire to be more and grow more, even when I faced challenges and difficulties. I finally graduated elementary school and although I constantly got into trouble, my parents were really happy and proud of me. It had been a considerably tough period in my life.

Entry to High School

My high school phase was a crucial experience in my life. I attended Hawthorne High School, which was close to my neighborhood, for four years and it was a period of considerable relief for me taking into account that I had experienced a great ordeal during elementary school. This was a phase that brought a lot of calm in my life. At this point, my parents had started to get along better and there was better understanding in their relation.

This made it much easier for me and my siblings as our parents made significant efforts to be there for us at every moment in our life and also cordial to each other in that we never got to notice any animosity. My father, by this time had already married and our step-mother was quite warm and loving towards us. On the other hand, my mother was seeing someone else at the time and they both seemed happy. At this time, I changed my behavior and started concentrating more and more in school. More so, I finally felt happy and content. Every year of high school came with fresh experiences, new sets of friends, new teachers, new classes and also a whole different perspective of life altogether.

High School Experiences

Without a doubt, I was a completely different individual while graduating high school, compared to the time I was freshman. I was quite innocent and scared wondering whether I will find new friends or whether I will be able to fit into the new school and setting. I was largely focused on my classes and extra-curricular activities. Come sophomore year and this was the time when a great deal of my life changed. This was the first time I got my first kiss, something that was such a great deal at the time. In addition, I joined the soccer team and because of this, I began getting invitations to parties and hangouts after practice and after school. I was not starting to come out of my shell. After scoring the winning goals in a soccer tournament, things got even better. In a short span, individuals in school who I did not even know started coming up to me asking me how I was doing and whether I wanted to hang out. All of a sudden, I had plenty of friends.

By the time I graduated high school, I was finally in a position where I was mentally mature and ripe. What is more, I had plenty of time to take into consideration about my goals, ambitions, and dreams, together with different matters. However, I had not yet taken proper time to implement these dreams, thoughts, and aspirations into proper action. I was engrossed in going to parties, meeting up with new friends, going for swimming and trips. However, the time I entered college was when all these important aspects came into focus. Not only did I have to properly start to think of what to undertake as my future career but also become responsible of my actions.

I can absolutely proclaim that my phase…