Mohamed Awo 2/7/14 Examined Life: 4 Quarters

Pre-game: A babys being born same time a man is murdered, the beginning and end-Nas
Hi, my name is Mohamed Awo and I was born in Brave, Somalia on April 20, 1994. You maybe view the above as superfluous details, but on my evolution through literacy this is where it all begins. This is because around the time I was born, there was a Civil War going on in Somalia. As, this impacted my family in how they had to change what they where used to. So, my family had to get out of this situation, which was aided by us being able to get to Kenya and eventually to America. I was obviously a toddler who probably didnt understand the situation; yet knowing now how the sacrifice my family made to leave their native country makes me more appreciative of the small things in life. In teaching me that you have to be able to adapt to situations and be able to make the best out of it such as my constant moving around schools at a younger age in which I had to make constant adjustments to my new surroundings.

First Quarter: I just wanna live a good life, so Im coming, coming to America- Knaan

However, the struggle not only to a completely new area that was Atlanta, Georgia but was hindered even more when I needed open-heart surgery when I was

4. My heart surgery hurt me later on when I liked sports because I wanted to tryout for teams but was physically unable. So, I focused on the behind the scenes aspects of sports like stats of the game and trivia. Open heart-surgery also made me repeat kindergarten thus delaying my educational development. Having open-heart surgery delayed my educational development in how I had to repeat things others had already done, but also helping in how I got to take my time the second time around. Then, moving on from my heart-surgery was my earliest memories and that was spending summers in Los Angeles, California because we had some family in the Northern California area. Living in Atlanta gave me my love for the Falcons, yet experiencing the passion fans in Los Angeles had for the Lakers not only made me love the team, but the sport of basketball more than football. As, sports later on taught me about how to be passionate and loyal about things. Sports created an outlet for me in how it helped when came to improving my memorization skills because I was always looking at stats or allowing me into a new discourse community because I learned a new style of jargon that others around me could relate to and understand.

Second Quarter: Now I am here, throwing up squares-XV

Speaking of loyalty, I finally found a true location where in which I could call home and that was when my family moved to Greensboro, North Carolina. Greensboro is probably the main setting in which I adapted as literate person on which I speak upon further. It began when I first met someone I could call a best

friend teaching me the early stages of friendship and building relationships with others. As, my friends taught me new things that I wouldnt normally want to do and help developing my social skills because they all offered something different from the group. Also, in Greensboro was where I met Mrs. Nelson, my 5th grade teacher and how having her as a teacher impacted my life was how I started to become more expressive in everything I did. This was especially true when we connected math to March Madness (NCAAB Tournament) and how I was finally able to correlate school to something I loved. Usually, you feel the school process has become repetitive, yet be able to have a teacher like Mrs. Nelson who opened my eyes in showing me how school can be connected with our lives such as our interests to help in our educational development.

Third Quarter: You better get yours fore I reach mine, cause then Im throwing peace signs-J. Cole

They say it gets harder after elementary school in terms of transition. It was a difficult transition in middle school not only because I went to three different schools in which I didnt find a stable one until the Academy at Lincoln in the 7th grade. I would like to mainly focus on an event that occurred in the 7th grade and how a small incident like a rock being thrown at my head in the locker room changed me for the better. It was drawn from this that I went from the energetic, gullible kid into a more aware individual with the same bubbly personality due to how I learned that there are harsh people in the world. This made my transition to Grimsley High School flawless because I wasnt as gullible, yet more socially

conscious. The transition through high school is made even easier with a little music and I found it in 2009 listening to Simba a song off The Come Up by J. Cole. As, a fan of music I always love storytelling and lyrical content but when I first heard J. Cole, he was the first musical artist to resonate with my life and the situations Ive been through although not in the same manner or to become more of a thinker and dreamer. It felt good to find music specially tailored for me. This was another outlet like sports in which I found an interest in something that had me feeling comfortable such as breaking down songs and how it helped in developing my analysis skills.

Fourth Quarter: I feel ashamed cause the good Lord done brought all this success to me and all I seem to focus on is all this stress on me-J. Cole
You may wonder was music the only thing that made me more of a thinker, and the answer to that is no. It was also going through the rigorous work required to complete the IB program. Yet, the one class in the IB program that really resonated with me was IB philosophy, which I had taken my junior and senior year. Philosophy taught me how to look at life from a different lens like how I wouldnt normally think an eastern philosophy like Confucianism could relate to my life or how I can take Aristotelian concepts and fundamentally apply them to my life like eudemonia, which is search for ultimate happiness. Also, how it made me more culturally aware especially when I went to Dubai. Then, life moves on as I graduated Grimsley Senior High School (go Whirlies) and was accepted into UNCC. Thus, far my college experience has so far allowed me to create relationships that I never would

normally have and experience some new things through being more culturally aware that probably freshman year of high school I would shy away from.

Post- Game: When my storys told, how will they tell it? Will they say I was a giver or remember I was selfish? Will they say I was a sinner or pretend I was a saint? Will I go down as a winner, what's the picture they gon' paint?- J. Cole
As, I continue on through my time at UNCC I know that there will be even more experiences that will affect and impact my literacy. My future is obviously unknown, however I know the dreams I want to accomplish like I want to be involved in some facet of the sports world because of the earlier experiences I mentioned that attracted me to sports. I also know my transition to the future is aided by me being a well-rounded individual where I use my life experience to help shape me for the real world.