“Through the Tunnel” Foster Youth Initiation

     Even though they don’t have to swim through a tunnel like Jerry in “Through the Tunnel” by Doris Lessing, foster youth are initiated in and out of the foster care system. When a kid enters the system, they face many dilemmas such as being seperated from their families and being put into a whole new place with people they don't know. A large percentage of foster youth do not end up receiving their high school diploma due to enrolling in several different schools. I've only been a foster kid for about two years and it has been very difficult adjusting to strangers and trying to keep up with school at the same time. As a result of this initiation, we transition into adulthood at a fast rate because most of us don't have parents to help us get through our adolescent years. Instead, we learn how to be independent and prepare ourselves for the real world.

“Through the Tunnel” Analysis Paragraph

            If the story, “Through the Tunnel” by Doris Lessing, were told in first person by the mother it would be very different because her own son took a life threatening risk. In the beginning, her son Jerry caught a glimpse of older boys jumping off a cliff and appearing on the other side of the rock. Feeling rejected because he couldn’t make it across this secluded tunnel, he started training for it. When he finally does it, he almost loses his life from being underwater for so long trying to find his way out. In the end, he realizes it didn’t make him feel any different and all he wanted to do was go home to his mom. Coming from a mother’s point of view, seeing him go through all this would be mind altering because it symbolizes his growth from being a child to an adult.

“Through the Tunnel” Prove Yourself Paragraph

       Being put into the system was very difficult for me because I felt as if nobody cared about me anymore and I wanted to just give up on everything. I was in such a negative state of mind and that lead me to always running away and doing things I shouldn’t have been doing. My family was very merciless and even doubted that I would even make it past the current grade I was in. I wanted to prove them wrong so I tried my hardest to stay put and catch up on everything I missed out on even though it was very complex. It was worth all the stress because I studied and worked so hard, I ended up achieving a GPA of 3.7 and made up all my missing credits. I was very proud of myself, I never thought I could do it. Now that I think of it, I’m glad I made the decision to go to back to school because I now intend on going to college and even discovered my dream job, which is being a journalist. I love to write and just by staying put at my placement, I have met so much positive people in my life that supported me through it all.

House Symbols

      Eagle symbolizes our house which is Girls 3. To most people, this item is just a bird that flies in the sky and is most school's common mascot. To us, it represents that we are strong because we know how to work through our daily struggles and obstacles we go through on a regular basis. The house somehow finds a way to connect no matter what, and everything gets solved. Even though we get on each other's nerves most of the time, at the end of the day it feels just like a real home. Our house is comforting because we have good house parents and my house mate and I are always supporting each other.

Winter Break Narrative

      The most memorable part of my break was Christmas Day. It was the first Christmas away from my family so it was a very odd experience but at the same time it was pleasant. Even though it was hard for me to enjoy the holiday I still tried to find a way to get into the spirit. Since I can’t go on passes yet, hearing my sister talk about what my family was doing hurt me but I wasn’t going to let that bring me down and ruin my day. I’m also glad I did that otherwise I would’ve had a bad memory of this Christmas.
      When I woke up Christmas morning there was a pile of gifts already under the tree. I was surprised because I didn’t think I would get that much and my house parents acted like they didn’t buy us any. I can’t believe I actually fell for that! I opened up boxes of shoes, jewelry, make-up and a lot more. I’m very grateful for what I received and it even put me in a better mood that day. One of my favorite presents was an amethyst on a gold chain necklace that I got from my houseparents. It was very pretty and it meant a lot that they chose that as a gift because it shows they put a lot of effort towards us. I’m also thankful that we got gift cards too.
     Later, my house parents cooked a lavish dinner which was mostly Thanksgiving food. We had other houseparents over to eat, too. One of my favorite dishes was a cranberry dessert which had Jell-O, almonds, cranberries, and mandarin oranges. It looked like throw up but it was so good! I don’t know why but honestly it didn’t really feel like Christmas. It was probably because I’m used spending the holidays with my whole family and there I was spending it with people I’ve only known for less than 2 months. But I learned from all of this by preparing myself to be away from them like in situations when I’m older and in college. And I’m glad I got to spend it with my house because it all reminds me of home.

Situational Irony in My Life

      Last year, I met a boy through some friends. I really didn't like him at first because he was rude and cocky so we never really got along. But we were always around each other since we hung out with the same group of friends. I remember one night I got into an argument with him because he was being abrupt just because he was with his little girlfriend. From that point on I tried my best to avoid him so I wouldn't get hurt again. A few weeks later, I texted him saying "Happy Birthday" and from there we started texting and before I knew it we were hanging out. We were together all the time, and he was one of the few I actually looked forward to seeing. He was a good friend and taught me to be open minded to everybody I meet because they could be really amazing and you wouldn't even know it.