The Life Of J
By Jay Patel
Autobiography: Chapter 1 On August 21, 2002, I was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The hospital that I was born at was Robert Wood Johnson, or abbreviated R.W.J. Today it is an university hospital and a branch of Rutgers University. I was told that my birth was quick, and I was born within an hour of arriving to the hospital. At first, I lived in Carteret NJ with my brother, parents, cousins, grandparents, uncles, and aunts until I was about one and a half to two years old. I am often told by my family that it was very hectic and chaotic since there were a lot of people living in the same house, however I am also told that it was also very pleasant being surrounded by family. I got my first tooth when I was around a year old but soon after I had received my first tooth, I knocked it when I was playing on the street, when I tripped and fell down while running. I uttered my first word at around a year old, however I do not know what this word was, and neither does my family. When I was younger, my favorite toy was a toy caterpillar that I had gotten for my birthday. I remember that I thought the toy was very unique, which is why I liked it so much. For example, the toy had oval wheels instead or regular circle ones found on other toys. When I was younger, some things that I did for fun was play games with friends such as hide-and-go-seek and tag, as wells as play with toys. Memories that I have when I was younger are mostly memories about spending time with family and friends, be it on holidays like Christmas or Divali, a popular holiday celebrated by many Indian families, or even memories of regular days which I spent with my friends and family.
My family and I have never had a pet, or are planning to get one in the future, however me and my brother have relentlessly tried to convince my parents to get a dog over the years. On one such occasion, me and my brother convinced my dad to let us get a dog, but as we parked in the parking lot of the adoption center, my dads phone rang. When he answered it, he was greeted by my mom screaming saying why we were getting a dog. After the phone call, we were forced to turn back around and drive back home, although the event did put a damper on the rest of our week. One of my favorite memories was at the age of five when I went to six-flags with my family. While we were driving to six flags, I was excited to go on my first amusement park ride, however when we got there, my heart sank. I did not want to get on the ride because i was scared and fearful, however looking back on it today, the ride was quite small. Although I did not want to go on the ride, I was pushed to do so, and I realized that I had fun on it. Throughout the day I conquered my fears and after that day, I realized that I had fun, my fears were just getting in the way of that fun.
Autobiography Chapter 2 “The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life.�- Richard Bach. Your family, no matter what your may think, is what makes you, what you are. Your family instills values in you which is necessary for life. You then take these values given to you and apply and show them throughout your life throughout your actions. Through the, your family becomes the most important factor in your life. My immediate family is made up of my mom, Sunita, my dad, Mayank, my grandmother, Kailash, my grandfather Jawahar, and my brother, Dhruv. My mother has long black hair and brown eyes. Since she comes from an Indian origin, she has tan skin. My mom enjoys jogging, spending time with family and friends, and watching Bollywood Movies. She is caring and intelligent since she always finds solutions to problems. However, she can also get angered easily. When she gets angry, it is almost impossible to calm her down. Some of my mom's accompliments were finishing college in both America and India and working her way up to a management position in her job. I am closest to my mom, along with my grandmother, in my family. A special memories I have with my mom was from elementary school when she helped me with homework. I remembered how she had a caring expression and took her time to explain concepts that I didn't understand. However, if I still didn't grasp the concept, she would get angry.
My dad had short black hair and brown eyes. He is also from India, so he also has tan skin. People say that I look like my day. My dad enjoys working out, playing and watching sports, and spending time with friends and family, similar to my mom. My dad is calm and chill, which is opposite to that of my mom's personality. My favorite thing to do with my dad is workout and play sports with him. When we do this however, it can get competitive. Some of his great accomplishments were learning english in the eighth grade when he came to America, making friends in America and still keeping in regular contact with his friends in India, as well as being the first person in his family to graduate College. I have one brother, and his name is Dhruv. He has short black hair and brown eyes. Many people also say that he looks like my mother. This also carries over to his personality since, like my mother, he is angered easily and stays angry for a long time. Some of his hobbies are working out, playing sports, drawing, and playing video games. One of my favorite things to do with him is practice taekwondo. We are both brown belts and started when I was in fifth grade and he was in sixth. Currently, my brother is in tenth grade and a year older than me. My grandmother, Kailash, looks similar to my mother. She also has long black hair and brown eyes. My grandmother is very caring and encouraging. One of her accomplishments was overcoming gender discrimination and sexism in 1950-1960s India. She went against her family’s will and decided to follow education instead of rushing to get married and have children. She attended college and earned money to pay off her tuition fees. After college, she found a job, and eventually after a couple of years, she was able to buy a house in India, which was another one of her accomplishments. She then met my grandpa, married, and had children when she thought the time was right. Because of her experiences, she always tells me that it is
possible to do whatever your want and chase your dreams. Another one of her accomplishments was losing 100 pounds in a year when she realized her weight was getting out of control. Along with my mother, my grandmother is also a person I am closest with is my family since she effectively raised me since both my parents work. My grandfather is bald and has brown eyes. He is very calm and collected. He never gets angry or frustrated. Some of his accomplishments were finishing college in India and learning english when he came to America.
Autobiography Chapter 3 While growing up, family is perhaps one of the most influential and important factors of your life. One family activity that is important are family trips. Personally, two of the most memorable family trips that I can remember is when my family went to Illinois and Florida. This summer, my family drove to Illinois, a 14 hour road trip, to visit my uncles, great aunt, and great uncle. We visited them since one of my uncles was graduating college. While we were there, we also got to see Chicago. Another memorable family trips that we took was a trip to Florida. Again, we drove there, which took about 17 hours. While we were there, we went to Disneyland and visited many other places such as beaches and monuments. “Holidays are all different depending on the people around your in your life.�-Dominic Monaghan. In my family, some important holidays that we celebrate are Christmas and Diwali. Our Chirstmas is similar to a regular Christmas, but we usually spend the entire day with our cousins, who care more about the holiday times and spirit. Another, more ethnic holiday, that my family celebrates is Diwali. This holiday is a celebration of lights. During this holiday, my
family lights candles and we try to keep them on until the holiday is over, which is typically about five days. During this holiday, we also meet up with friends and extended family members. Although my family does not have a lot of traditions, we do have some that we practice throughout the year. For example, on Diwali, a tradition that we do is light candles around the house. On Christmas, a tradition that we have is spending time with our cousins. A more regular tradition that my family has is trying to go to the temple together at least once a week. We also try to have dinner together, but most of the time this does not work. My favorite birthday was my twelfth birthday. This was my favorite birthday since a lot of my friends came over to my house, including friends that I don’t see regularly. Also a lot of my family came over. Along with this, I also got ,lots of good presents, most of which I still use to this day and like, two years later. Also, a lot of funny things happened on my birthday, by coincidence, making it very memorable. I go to my local temple regularly and volunteer their regularly as well. My temple has a very laid back atmosphere. The only rule is that your have to pray and be a good person both inside and outside of the temple. No rooms are locked, so you can go anywhere throughout the building, and you can also enter and leave the temple anytime your want, from early in the morning to late in the night. I have a lot of fun temple experiences since I have a lot of friends in the temple. Many of my temple friends have become good friends that I now know outside of temple.
Autobiography Chapter 4 “F is for friends that do stuff together.�-Spongebob. Friendship is a very important part of life, perhaps so important that it is on the same level as family. Friends are people that you can confide in and seek help from. On top of this, you can also help a friend. Friends are the people which with you can share good memories and times with, but also bad times and memories with. A quality that I like in friendship is trustworthiness. I think that this is an important quality in a friend since you want to be able to rely on your friend when needed and you want them to tell you things without lying or talking behind your back. Another quality that I think is important in friendship is forgiveness. I think that this is a important quality since you don't want one fight to ruin your whole friendship. Your friends make up a big part of your life. Your friends can motivate you to do better and can inspire you to achieve more. It is important to have friends that will better you a better person. Your friends can help you to grow as a person in many ways. Not only that, but you can share many unforgettable moments with friends.
Autobiography Chapter 5 “Find three hobbies you love: one to make you money, one to keep you in shape, and one to be creative.”-Unknown author. It is important to find hobbies that you not only enjoy to do, but love to do. You should be able to see yourself pursuing your hobby everyday. Also, if you love a hobby that you love a lot and are good at, it can help you in the professional world as well, since you can make that hobby into your carrier. There's also a saying that states “If your hobby is your career, it feels like you haven't worked a day in your life. Personally, some of my hobbies include arts, taekwondo, and relaxing. Although I am not very good at it, art is one of my hobbies. I like to draw if i'm bored and have nothing else to do. I also like to listen to music a lot. I mainly listen to hip hop. Music helps me to concentrate and get work done. It blocks out other distractions and lets me focus on my work. I mainly listen to music when I am doing homework or studying. Another one of my hobbies is taekwondo. I have been doing taekwondo now for about five years ever since the fifth grade. I am currently a brown belt. Taekwondo teaches self defense
and many other skills. On top of this, it is also exercise and helps me to get in shape. Also, taekwondo helps me to clear my mind and relieve stress. On top of physical things, taekwondo teaches values such as harmony with yourself and others, power, and non-violence.
Autobiography Chapter 6 When I started School, I was six years old. For pre-school, I went to Macafee Elementary School in Franklin, New Jersey. I stayed at Mcafee for two years until I went to Pine Grove, starting in the first grade. In the fourth grade, I moved to Montgomery and went to Montgomery Elementary School and them Montgomery Lower Middle School in fifth Grade. In sixth grade, I moved back to Franklin and went to CJCP. On my first day of school, I was both excited and nervous. However, I had a nice teacher who got us situated quickly to the school environment. She also introduced us to each other. At school, I like to spend time with my friends. I mainly like to talk with my friends and make jokes. We also help eachother out with homework, schoolwork, projects, and studying. Some of my favorite activities to do with my friends at school is to play sports with them. Also, I like to just talk with my friends at school since that can still be entertaining and humorous. Some memorable field trips include a field trip to a play in the third grade, a field trip to six flags in the eighth grade, and a field trip to medieval times in the ninth grade. In third grade,
the class went on a field trip to a play. The play was about values such as morals, forgiveness, and truthfulness. Although the play did teach good themes, we got to socialize and spend time with our friends outside the classroom. In the eighth grade, we went on a field trip to six flags, as a part of eighth grade graduation. Six flags was memorable because of the memories that were made from being able to spend time with friends. The Medieval Times field trip was also a good experience because we learned things like respect and forgiveness. On top of this, we got to socialize with friends. My favorite teacher was my fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Vendetta. She was my favorite teacher since she was a nice teacher, but she also taught us both educationally and personally/morally. She was my main elementary school teacher in the fourth grade. I remember how she was not overly strict and allowed us to talk to each other, however she also taught us well and prepared us well for tests, our future schooling, as well as as for the real life. Some school memories that I will remember for a long time are memories with friends and classmates. For example, a memory that I will remember for a long time is the trip to six flags with some of my friends and classmates. I liked this memory since I was able to spend time with my classmates and friends in an environment outside of school. Also, I got to spent the moments with some of my friends and classmates that would leave the school.
Autobiography Chapter 7 When I was younger, I had many different interest than today. For example, when I was younger, I used to watch a lot of today. Today, I don't watch much tv, and don't have any favorite show. Also, when I was younger, I played with toys. Today, I do not play with any toys. Although I had many different interests and hobbies, I still have some of the same interests. For example, I still like to keep in touch with friends and family. A talent that I developed when I was younger and am still developing is Taekwondo. I feel as though my face has stayed, on the most part, the same since when I was younger, However one thing that changed is that I have gotten slimmer. When I was younger I was fatter and chubbier. Ever since the eighth grade, I have gotten slimmer and a little bit taller. Also, When I was younger I used to have a bowl cut. In the eighth grade, I decided to change my haircut.
Throughout the years of my life, society has changed a lot. When I was born, the president was George Bush. Today the president is Donald Trump. When I was born, an event that was going on was that the Euro became the standard currency in many countries in Europe. Back then, musicians such as Eminem, Jay Z, and Nelly were popular. Today, artists such as J.Cole, Lil Yachty, 21 Savage, and Kendrick Lamar. Shows that used to be popular we're shows such as Drake and Josh, Max and Ruby, and Neds Declassified.
Autobiography Chapter 8 “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” This is a famous quote, stated by Mahatma Gandhi. In this quote, Gandhi is stating that a person shouldn’t seek revenge since it will only hurt everyone. This quote also shows Gandhi's stances of forgiveness, peace, and nonviolence. Through peaceful means, he made India independent from the British power, however he didn’t dislike them. He forgave the British and made numerous efforts to strengthen the ties between India and Britain after the independence movement. Also, without the acts of Gandhi, I personally would not be in the place I am in right now and the world would also be a much more un-peaceful place. Gandhi has many characteristics that make him still influential to this day. For example, one of his characteristics is promoting and living by the code of nonviolence. For example, he
got India its independence through non-violent methods. Another characteristic of Gandhi is his ability to forgive. He forgave the British after India got it’s independence, even after all of the cruel things they did to India and Indian people. Finally, Gandhi was a peaceful person. He never resorted to disturbing peace through violence. One of Gandhi's hobbies was literature. For example, he wrote and read many books. Some of the book that he wrote included India of my Dreams and The story of My Experiences. These influenced not only India, but the world. Through literature, he fought against things like racism, inequality and helped to bring change to the world. Gandhi was a person with good values. He believed that violence is never the answer. He preached peace where he went. He spoke out against racism and discrimination. He led the Indian Independence Movement. He spread his messages through his public speeches and literature. Gandhi is someone that we can all learn from. Autobiography Chapter 9 In the future, I would like to go to college. As of now, I would like to go to either Rutgers or NJIT. I would like to go to these schools since they have good education, are close to home, and they have good prices. To prepare for this, I will stop procrastinating and start to study. I came up with a goal to go to college since I know a lot of other people that want to go to college. Also, I got to a college prep school so i have to go to college. In life, I would like to have a job that pays a lot of money, bonuses, and a lot of salary. I would also like a job that is not to challenging and doesn't have too much stress. On top of this, I would also like the job to have a small workload and not take over my entire life. However, I
would prioritise money and put salary over everything else. I got inspired to achieve this goal since I want to be rich. In-order to achieve this goal, i would need a good paying job. I would like to have a future mate, and get married. I would also like to get married in the traditional Hindu style, but I wouldn't want to go back to India to marry and find a mate like other people in my family. I would also like to have two kids. I would like to live in a city such as New York. This is because I would like to live somewhere different that where I live now to experience a different environment. I also have a lot of short-term goals. For example, one relatively short term goal, but still a large accomplishment, is to graduate high school. Another goal is to also get good grades and turn in work on time. Some long term goals that I have is to become rich and graduate college.
Autobiography Chapter 10 What is an experience that you will never be able to forget? An experience that I will never be able to forget happened on a cloudy and rainy day in 2007. I was staying with my Aunt, Uncle, and cousins in New Hampshire since my mom and dad were in India. We were coming back from the store after getting some things that my aunt told us to get. My cousin was driving the car, which was a green 1995 Honda Accord. Eventually we got onto the highway. Everything was fine, until we noticed someone in a white car tailing us closely, however we thought nothing of it.
The white car got closer and was know about only four feet away from hitting the back of our car. Suddenly, something happened on the road, and my cousin had to hit the brakes. The car behind us ended up rear ending our car. The car swerved to the right into the other lanes. I could hear the tires squeal from the sudden turn. At this point I was scared, but I still did not know what was going on. My cousin managed to get the car into the shoulder lane and rolled the car to a stop. Me and my cousin got out of the car and went to the rear end of the car to see what had happened. When I first saw the back of the car, it seemed unrecognizable. I suddenly realized that we had been in a crash. I looked on the highway and I could see pieces of the car, such as red plastic from the tail lights. Then, the white car that hit us also rolled into the shoulder lane behind us. The white car looked beat up, but it was less damaged than our car, and could still drive, although not nearly close to decent, under it’s own power. The person got out of his car and started to blame my cousin for the crash. He said that my cousin should not have braked. My cousin said that he was following us to close and that problem was actually his fault. The person in the white car angrily retorted back that he was no-where close to us, however it was very apparent that he was lying, since if he was nowhere close to us, he would not have crashed into us no matter how hard we branked. Eventually, my cousin called the cops since it is New Hampshire law that you have to call the cops if the damage was over $1,000 dollars, which it definitely looked like, after an accident. Eventually, my the cops showed up and my uncle showed up soon after. They started to exchange insurance information. After a while, a tow truck showed up and took away my cousin's car. Another one showed up later and took away my cousin's car. The car ended up
being totaled, however I don’t know whose fault it legally ended up being. This event stuck with me since it was the first time I was experienced to blatant lying.