Making the Calls in My Family

My family consists of my mom, dad, and younger sister and we immigrated here in the summer of 2015. I can confidently say that by moving here it began a new chapter for all our lives together as a family. From not being able to recite my ABCs to now, I have adapted to my new life here in the States and it gave me a new life and a different role compared to what I would have been doing back in China. Because I was in the prime age of growing up, I had an easier time familiarizing ourselves with English and adapting to the culture here compared to my parents. Because of this, I have always been tasked with making appointments, answering calls, and reading over any sort of documents that weren’t completely understood. If we never came to the U.S. I would be so busy doing school work and my parents wouldn't ever need me to take care of anything. Although I was reluctant to appreciate the opportunities that they gave me by making me help them, now I am happy to play my role in the family.

From a young age, my family always said I was a responsible kid and this allowed me to gain lots of trust from them. I first started to make calls for reservations and appointments because it was just more convenient than if my parents did it, as they would have a higher risk of misunderstanding. After time, they began to rely on me more for other roles (going to appointments, registrations, travel plans). Back then, I hated that I had to be the one in charge of these “adult” tasks when I was only 10 years old but now that I have gotten older, I’m starting to appreciate their trust in me. 

My dad has always told me that by giving me these responsibilities it is ultimately helping me the most. I do agree with this as I have gained lots of experience with customer service calls and it will prepare me for when I grow up and need to do this on my own. A clear comparison between my sister and I can be seen when it comes to handling common problems that come up on the spot. Because I had grown up dealing with the “adult” issues, I’m more familiar with how to approach them and her methods to me seems irrational. 

The thing that still drives me a bit insane is when they criticize me for not handling the issue how they would’ve handled it. Sometimes they can be extremely nitpicky about the smallest details. When this happens, the blame always comes back to me and without any fairness of argument, I am the reason why things go wrong. Even when I try to explain what happened, they always resort back to the bigger picture that I do not consider things more carefully since I am only a child. There have been many times where we have gotten into arguments regarding this issue of blame and it never ends with a good result.

Throughout the years, I have had mixed-feelings about the role I play in the family but at the end, I am grateful for it. Looking at it from a bigger perspective, by teaching me how to help with their problems, I have gained various life skills in hindsight. And plus, most of the time I get to decide what we are doing during vacations or what restaurant we will eat at. I would say no matter if it was their smart parenting all along or coincidentally by helping them, it was helping me as well, I could not be more happy with the experiences that it brought me.


Questions for readers:
I'm unsure about the flow of my essay. Does it stay on topic or are there areas where it is starting to seem off-topic?


Comments

  1. Robert TuJanuary 27, 2025 at 7:56 PM

    I like how your essay has a conflict within it. For example you go from agreeing your responsibilities are beneficial to saying "Even when I try to explain what happened, they always resort back to the bigger picture that I do not consider things more carefully since I am only a child,". I like how this sentence captures the hopelessness of arguing with your parents. I think you could maybe elaborate on the mixed-feelings about your role in your family you mention in your last paragraph to make your ending stronger. I feel like the flow of your essay is fine, but you may want to talk more about your sister because that part seemed off topic to me.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Doing Nothing is Better Than You Think it is

The older I get the more I realize that I enjoy doing nothing. I didn’t really understand why people wouldn’t take advantage of that time to go hangout with friends or catch up on work. A very specific memory of this topic is when I watched Kendall Jenner’s Architecture Digest interview where she shared her ideal day off, and she didn’t mention anything extravagant rather she would stay at home and lounge around. Back then, I couldn’t understand why she would do that instead of the other million things she could be doing, but now as my life becomes busier with more stress, I can relate to that same ideal. The beginning of junior year was a cornerstone for a new lifestyle. My life became more high paced and it also came with a lot of responsibility as well as stress. In my observation, I think doing nothing became my way of coping with stress. My definition of doing nothing is when I spend time on a really small task that is not prioritized. Sometimes this would be fixing my hair in my ...
Read more

Happiness in a Box

The most memorable thing I have received by mail would be my Christmas present from my friend who lives far away. In a perfectly packed Timberland shoe box, there were many parts to this gift. The first thing that caught my eye was the bright blue turquoise box containing limited edition stuffed animals that I collect. My friend had just spent a semester studying abroad in Madrid and during that time, he explored to several cities in Europe with his friends. When he went to Paris and England, he had made time to visit the pop-up stores and bought 4 Jellycats for me. I was beyond happy to hear that I was able to receive so many new additions to my collection but even more happy to know that he cared and valued my interests.  Upon opening the shoe box, I found the 3 Jellycats that I expected to get but there were also so many other little things that I had no idea about. This was a surprise hidden in a surprise. The thought of adding other little things that he thought I would enjoy ...
Read more

How to Find Peace Everyday

I find peace in the little things in life. I always feel at peace when I fixate on a moment that doesn’t require constant attention. I can find peace when I stare at the moon in my bedroom window while I fall asleep but I can also find it as easily as staring at the movement of the trees in this English room. In my opinion, peace doesn’t have to be very specific or very long, just a couple of seconds can be the peace I need that day. Peace can be meditation every morning. It can seem so stupid to sit and meditate to look for some peace but sometimes that makes everything better. Whether or not it seems dumb to sit in silence and breathe, your brain will appreciate the nice steady flow of oxygen once in a while. Meditation is a habit that I’ve always wanted to build into my daily routine, but I have never been diligent enough to follow through. Apart from all the benefits it may include, it makes me really happy just being able to have 10 minutes of every morning to myself without any d...
Read more