I was born on July 26, 1971 in Ipoh as the youngest child of Mr. and Mrs Palanimuthu.

I lost my
father three months before I came to this world. My mother and I stayed with my grandmother in
Buntong, a place once famous for gangsterism. My grandma took care of me while my mother went
to work. She worked as a laborer.
When I was five years old, I met Grace and Annie. They were new to my area then. They were my
first friends. We were very close. Both of them were a year older than me. We used to spend the
whole day together. Our neighbours used to call us "The Three Stooges because we were seen
together all the time. We were very naughty. We used to go fishing without our mothers' permission.
Once we were caught and my mother spanked me for doing so. Besides this, we used to climb up
our neighbours' mango and rambutan trees without their knowledge. One day, while climbing my
friend, Grace fell and broke her arm. We stopped climbing trees on that day onwards.
I was sent to Victoria Kindergarten when I was six years old. My kindergarten teacher was Miss
Rani. She was the first one to teach me to read, write, count, draw, colour and sing. During my
kindergarten days, my favourite rhyme was "Baa Baa Black Sheep. I used to recite the rhyme to my
mother before I go to bed everyday. In fact, I won a prize reciting the rhyme in a competition in my
kindergarten. I did not have many friends there. My only friend was Pauline, my classmate. We used
to walk to kindergarten together.
I started my primary education in 1978. I was registered at Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan Guru
Nanak. I was very excited on the first day of school. I was an average student. In primary school, I
had a lot of friends. I really enjoyed my primary school
life. My favourite teacher was Ms Khadijah. She taught me Mathematics.
I continued my secondary education in Sekolah Menengah Seri Puteri, Ipoh. When I was in Form
Three,...
The longest Journey that we as human beings will have to go through is the Journey of life. From the
moment we are born we are faced with the most horrifying roller coaster ride. Life has its ups and

downs and at the most unexpected times can go into a spiralling down fall, which has rough and
bumpy corners. We are faced with the question: Do we have any control on what our future holds or
which turn we will take?
I can honestly say that at this point in my life I have been going on a mental roller coaster. I have
only been through about three quarters of my life yet it feels it has been centuries. I have made
people happy, I have made people upset and I also, even if I don't like to admit it, but I have
disappointed people as well. I have gone through death of loved ones and the birth of new ones. I
have loved and been hurt, many times. Does it ever get easier from here?
It is true life cant be perfect all the time, but inside I would like to think that we all have a feeling that
makes us want to go and erase the past and start over again. I have many regrets as a person and
one of those was making someone's life so horribly that they left my school. It was a cruel thing for
me to do and I don't understand why I did it? I was once one of those people left out of the group
and teased. Yet at this point in my life I was doing it to someone else. I guess it made me feel better
about my self, even though I wasn't the only one in the wrong and this girl had done things that had
upset me, but was it right for me to turn against her?
Life can be hard to understand, and I don't think even the person most in touch with themselves
knows why they were put on this earth. I believe that we were all put on this earth for a reason big or
small. Do we have a plan of our life all set out for us already, that we have to follow no matter how
much we try to change it?
...

The guardians of a new life, my parents, begin to sketch out an imaginary

map of the path they believe I should take in order to have a successful life. A
"successful life" is defined by how victoriously the map holder completes the
journey that is set before him or her. As soon as a child can comprehend the
meaning of words, a map of the long and difficult journey, described with hope
and admiration, is set before them. The maps other than physical are passed
on by mouth through family, friends, and acquaintances describing their
experiences and opinions about the routes that they had taken on their own

personal journey. A journey is made up of one overall map and various smaller
maps, telling of the alternate routes that are available.
On the map of my journey, I was told not to fall into the City of Trouble
Making, to stay on Honor Roll Road on the way to the City of College Degree,
and continue on Career Road in order to end up at the town of Happiness and
Security. My parents told me that I was expected to complete my journey of
becoming a Nurse and becoming both financially and emotionally stable. My
parents placed their dreams of success in my hands. No one in my family has
graduated from college; therefore I am next in line to give it a shot. My mom
and dad dreamed of graduating from college, but were unable to, because
they had to make a living taking care of my two older brothers. By my
succeeding I will have lived their dream for them. I was slowly and gradually
told the map I was to carry with me, since I was an infant.
I was born on January 30, 1985 in Odessa, Texas; which is just the
starting point for my journey through life. I grew up with both parents and my
two brothers. My eldest brother, the rebel, burned the map my parents gave to
him. Instead he chose his own route down the path to Nowhere. He traveled
with the wrong crowd and is now working minimum wage trying to get out of
The Valley of De...