Self Awareness

Hello. My name is Sam. I am a 21 year old who grew up in Jackson Township all of my life. With growing up in a ritzy neighborhood as I did, it raises stereotypes that one may not agree with. Some of the stereotypes that I faced growing up are that I'm rich, I have everything handed to me, and that I'm spoiled. That is far from true. Although I did grow up in Jackson, I live in the "slums" of the area. I lived in an apartment for 5 years and live was getting hectic. Trying to fit 5 people into a small 2-bedroom apartment is rough. That's why my family had moved to the house I'm in now.

Growing up in Jackson was really difficult. If you didn't have the best clothes, best car, or your parents didn't make enough money to send you skiing on the weekend then you didn't fit in. You weren't the "it" girl. And that's exactly what I wanted to become. But it didn't kick in that that stamina was impossible until the last day of high school. Up until then I tried so hard to become everyone's friend and try to fit in.

When people find out that I live in Jackson or that I'm a Jackson girl, they start cracking jokes about "Jackson" folk. It used to bother me to the point where I would run away crying, only because I didn't have a choice but to live there. But now, I play along. Cracking jokes with them and making fun of the stereotypes I once was a part of. And to tell you the truth, it still bothers me. How could you stereotype someone just by the city or town that they live in? To me, it's very unfair.

I come from a very Christian-Oriented family. So part of our motto is "love thy neighbor". So growing up with that in mind, I always gave everyone a chance, loved everyone, and would do anything for anyone. That was when we lived in the apartment. Since we moved into our house, things have chance. It's amazing how your neighbors can influence your views on certain things. My dad had started to not like African Americans or anyone else who was a white American (he doesn't think like that anymore). I remember I was dating a black

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