Biography of Myself
I took my first breath at 12:30 am in a beautiful country in the Dominican Republic called La Vega. I was given the name Blanca Iris , after one of my dad’s father singers. I was of light complexion and had the cutest button nose and extremely chinky eyes. Many say I was and still am exactly like my mother. Which to this day I take as a compliment. We lived in a beautiful and small green house with everything a little kid could possibly want, with the exception of a pony. Which till this age I still want and haven’t seen the smallest inclination of ever getting. I did have a beautiful small dog that I was told, I would always chase around the house or in my case, crawl after. Although, things did change after my mother gave birth to my sister Sobeida. My parents no longer lived together but my father still came around. We lived there for about 2 more years until my mother realizes that she wanted more and she could only get that in New York City. Needless to say, my father stayed behind.
I was 4 and my sister was 2 when we first came here. Unfortunately I don’t remember much of how things were at first. I do have memories of going to school in P.S.19Q for the first time. My mom said I was so scared and terrified, but it was mostly of riding a bus to school than actually being in school. I find that story to be so adorable. My aunt Kathy who also lived with us would teach me how to read and write in English. I guess being so young I picked it up pretty fast because by the time I was in kindergarten, I could already write my name, say the ABCs and count to 100. I loved playing with my sister and my little cousin Andy after school. We had a very large backyard and all the kids would come there to play and have fun especially in the summer time. Since we couldn’t go to the beach all the time we always got to play with the hose outside and jump around. My Grandmother Gloria, May she Rest in Peace, would always find a way to make it a chore for us and would trick us into cleaning the backyard while playing with the hose. She was a smart one and we loved her for that.
Everything was pretty much the same until I was 8 and my mother decided that my sister and I were going to go to the Dominican Republic for the summer. I was very nervous because since the time that I came here when I was 4, I hadn’t been back like my sister. She would go every summer because she wasn’t in school yet. So off we went, back to the Dominican Republic, to see my family and my dad once again. In the four years that I had spent here in NY, not once had I heard from him, I barely remembered what he looked like. I don’t remember much but I know I cried when I had to leave, I’d never been away from my mom and this was a challenge. I stayed in DR for a year because my mother was being kicked out of the house by my other aunts and wanted to make sure we were ok while she looked for another place for us to live. I thought this was extremely unfair but after my mother moved, the apartment where we used to live was burned and everyone had to leave. What I’m about to say may sound rude but that’s karma. Well, while in DR, I went to school and got to know my dad better and found how that I have more brothers and sisters from his side. Were 11 in total, going from a 26 year old brother and a now 1 year old baby brother. The only thing that made living out there bearable was that I meet my first love, Junior, it was great until I had to return to NY.
It’s been 10 years since I came back from the Dominican Republic and I miss it dearly. I’ve graduated Junior High School and recently graduated Newtown High School last summer. Junior High wasn’t fun at all, it was more of a boring version of High School. At least I can say I may a lot of friends who I adore till this day. As for High School, it had a lot of ups and downs but luckily I survived. Now I’m just looking forward to the college life. I can’t wait. University of Phoenix here I come.
