My Upbringing
On September 8th, 1998, my parents were blessed to have their last child named Muhammad Salloum.
I was born at the University of Michigan hospital located in Ann Arbor. I was born 3 pounds and six ounces,
with brown fuzz for hair and brown eyes. I arrived six weeks early and had a premature birth, so I was born with no eyebrows, fingernails, toenails.
Due to my extremely tiny body proportions and lightweight, I got the nickname “Chippy” as my family often compared me to a chipmunk.
Furthermore, because of my premature birth, I had to stay in the hospital for 10 days before I could be discharged the and taken to my home.
At the time, I lived 10 minutes away from the hospital in a house on a street named Upland Drive.
My mother had a very emotional time whenever she cradled me due to my extremely miniscule dimensions,
considering my 2 older brothers were born normal stature. As the weeks passed,
I started to gain weight and my physical features started to develop and become more defined.
My older 2 brothers had been wishing for a pet, so they almost put a leash on me and wanted to walk me outside,
but thankfully my mother stopped them from ever doing so.
As I was growing up, every time I was fed by mom baby formula and baby food would result in me throwing up profusely,
which was extremely abnormal and unhealthy for an already premature newborn. This made my family severely worried, and they were not sure of the cause or what to do.
After trying several different kinds and variations of formulas, the thought of me having allergic reactions to different foods became a possibility.
However, this was not confirmed for until 2 years, and I kept throwing up after eating.
In the summer of 1999, my family moved to Maryland due to my father’s work relocating, and my throwing up issues continued. It was not until I was taken to a hospital and where I was given a prick test that my family realizing I had allergies became a reality.
At this time, I was now around 2 years old, and due to my allergies all I ate for breakfast, lunch, and dinner was rice and Indian curries,
which developed an aptitude towards spicy food at an extremely younger age. In Maryland, my family and I lived in a city called Laurel,
which was approximately 30 minutes away from Baltimore. My house was in a neighborhood called Snowden on a street called Blackwood Court. While I was living in Maryland from
1999- 2004, I devloped a extremely bad eczema skin condition, to the point I was extremely scarred in certain areas of my body. My mother had to pin men's tube socks on my hands
while I slept to make sure I didnt itch and aggravate my already damaged skin. It got to the point I had to wear long sleeve shirts even in summer to make sure
that I didn't expose my deepy scarred arms to the mass public. However, as the years passed in Maryland, my skin condtion would start to improve, and my allergies
would start to decrease. My years of living in Maryland really was like a blur to me, as I was only a young child, and dont really remember much
However towards the end of 2004, my family and I would move back to Michigan, and this is where I have the most vivid memories and details.
Michigan for me will forever hold a special heart in my place. It is where I spent the last 16 years of my life, and I would never trade all my
experiences that I had for anything. Michigan since I moved back gave me a sense of belonging, a commounity since young age, and a place I can call home.
It gave me countless freindships over the years that I will forver cherish for the rest of my life. It was through Michigan that I was able to find people
with similar stories to me, with their own conditions and even their own type of allergies. As I went through the years in Michigan, I started to become more
self content with who I am, with many challanges in the way to help provide context. In my earlier days, I was often and judged for a lot of conditions out
of my control. However, it only made me stronger, and it gave me a strong of purpose of life even in young age. I vividly remember being made fun of for not being
able to eat Chococlate, eggs, fish, and peanut butter, as well not as being able to drink Milk for several years in my younger age Furthermore, I remember being
made of for my height, and that I was was of extremely small stature for someone my age. However, just as I had people who judged me, it gave me thousands freinds who would
forever see who I was as a person on the inside instead of what others saw externally on the outside.Over the years, Michigan gave me the chance to grow, explore,
and be content with who I was a person. Michigan gave me the tools I needed to chosse my career, what I want to accomplish in life, and countless memories that I will
always carry with me.
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