Teachings Of Wisdom

I have lived in many different neighborhoods that have been considered to be poor or "ghetto". In many places I have lived, there has been poverty, violence, and a lack of resources. To verbally show you, I once lived in the mission district; the mission was and to some still has resemblance of the concrete jungle it once was. I have learned some of my most valuable lessons from these low income communities, I have also seen some of life’s cruelties take place in these poor neighborhoods. I grew up in 16^th and mission for a part of my life. The neighborhood itself was an interesting place. In the mission you do not really feel safe. There were gang members on every corner, deals going down in back allies, and an eeriely quite at times when the sirens would stop. I knew at anytime something could happen to me, at the same time I felt safe because I always had friends looking out for me. When I say friends I do not just mean people my age, I also mean adults or what the younger gang members called “the Old G’s” due to my family members, and friends of the family.

I am who I am because of the places I have grown up and the lessons I have learned, I have always been instructed in my life by the people that were marked bad, evil, or malicious. They taught me the codes of honor that covers more then just street editcate, they taught me how to socially interact and respect others. I have come to understand that I would not be the same man that I am today if I had not grown up in places like this. I have become greater because I took their wisdom, their advice. To honor them I will not fall into the same pits falls that are out there waiting.