How My Childhood Affected Who I Am Today

Essay by stinabeanaHigh School, 12th grade June 2005

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Childhood is my most cherished and missed memory. Along with innocence, naivety, and stress-free enjoyment came safety, and the care of others around me. I believe the person I am today was shaped from living in the neighborhood I grew up in and the people I was surrounded by.

        During my youth I was lucky enough to live in the town of Webster, New York. From age four to seventeen I lived in a very safe neighborhood. My environment was my life. My adult neighbors were like second parents, babysitting my brother and I, taking all the kids to the beach, making meals and hosting sleepovers. The children were my best friends, and partners in crime. I spent my days taking long walks and bike rides with my next door friends and my younger brother, selling lemonade at the end of my driveway, swinging and singing on the infamous swingsets, playing classic games such as hopscotch, four square, and capture the flag.

Eat, sleep, and play was our daily routine. We would circle the neighborhood streets day after day, stopping by other nieghbors houses, starting kickball games at the local elementary school, collecting cans to make money. When we were old enough our parents us allowed to walk 10 minutes down the road by ourselves, a great reward at the time, to the neighborhood grocery to buy a candy bar and a drink. Even though my mother taught me about safety and cautioned me about strangers, I believe that my childhood has made me a very friendly, trusting person.

        There was never a worry of crime in my neighborhood. We were able to grow as independent children without our parents having to keep a very close eye on us every second of the day. This freedom molded me into a...