Kelcie's+Coming+of+Age

This was the first essay we wrote in Women in Literature. The main idea of this paper was to elaborate on my personal experience in becoming a woman. Writing about my personal experience made me think about how much I've actually grown up. My father has been a huge impact on the way I was brought up. Although he was very strict and I never understood why, I now realize that he raised me under strict rules because he loved me and wanted me to flourish as a person and as a woman. I learned that every female transitions into womanhood in different ways. Now that I am eighteen and about to be on my own in college, I feel that I have matured into an independent and responsible young lady. **Coming of Age, Becoming a Woman** 

COMING OF AGE ESSAY ASSIGNMENT

Many females believe that there is significant change when one becomes a woman. A single moment when something happens for them to believe they have become a woman. However, I believe that it’s all the small things throughout my upbringing that will complete my transition into womanhood. It all began when I began the sixth grade. My father became the ruler of those small things that shaped the woman I will become.  Unlike elementary school, middle school had seven different classes, seven different teachers, and classmates from other elementary schools in the city. I had my own locker and heavy textbooks that made me feel grown up. But the galore of middle school also came with the responsibilities my father gave me. He strictly told me that my cell phone, which was given to me before I started school, was to contact immediate family only. Since I also started walking home after school, he emphasized that I call him right after school to tell him that I was on my way and call him again as soon as I reached home. //He’s crazy,// I thought. But even crazier was that I had fifteen minutes to walk home. Besides his rules on my cell phone, he was also strict about my grades. He didn’t always ask about what grades I was receiving throughout each quarter, but as long as every grade on my report card was an “A” he would not argue. I remember being extremely frightened when I received a “B” in my English class. //Uh oh, my dad’s going to kill me!// My father’s disappointment had become my biggest fear. I had known that my father was crazy, but little did I know that his strictness would continue for the next six years of my life.  As I got older, the expectations became stricter, but they were the same expectations. I thought that going to high school would release some of those strict rules I had to obey—but I was wrong. I still had to call my father as soon as I arrived home after school even though I rode the school bus home everyday, and my grades were still expected to be flawless. Dating became another concern for my father. It was critical that he meet any boy that I wanted to date or wanted to date me. //Oh my God, it’s not like I’m going to marry the guy;// I was afraid he would scare them away. But, surprisingly, he played it cool until we were alone and he would rant about the things he didn’t like about the boy. //Why ME? Why doesn’t anyone else get treated like me?// I always thought that no other father treated his daughter the way he treated me. My mother assured me that he was protecting me because he cares about me. She would tell me, “The last thing he wants is for the boy to get you pregnant. A baby will change your life in an instant.” I understood, but I thought it was unfair. I did not have the freedom I desired and I hated that.  On January eighteenth, I turned eighteen years old. Some people say that I am a legal adult and have officially become a woman. But during the past weeks since then, I’ve reflected a lot on my life and where I stand now. I don’t think I am yet a woman, but I feel that the way my father raised me through my childhood is helping me transform into a strong, independent, and responsible woman. I realized that even though I hated the way my father treated me, he only acted that way out of love. Lately, there have been a lot of changes but I never forget what my father has influenced on me. Calling him after school everyday has taught me promptness and responsibility; high expectations for grades showed me what I am capable of and how important my grades are for my future; and his pickyness about boys has taught me that having standards is not a bad thing and to never settle for less. From every experience, I have learned valuable lessons that will shape me into the woman I will become.  Being eighteen years old has opened many more responsibilities and opportunities. Having my driver’s permit, my own credit card, and a part time job are just a few of the stepping stones from childhood to womanhood. There is still much more that I need to learn in order for me to mature mentally and emotionally as a woman. If not for my father, I don’t know how I would have turned out now. He father has raised me well and I know that I will mature into womanhood. And at that transition, I will embrace everything life has in store for me as a woman.