Roseto in Real Life

The message in Malcolm Gladwell's story, Outliers is apparent in the lives of my two grandmas. In the story, Gladwell stresses that people are greatly influenced by the world around them and their interactions with friends, family, and the community. My grandma on my mom's side is over 80 years old and lives a happy life in Arizona with her husband of over 60 years, son, and grandchildren. She has three children who grew up to be successful doctors and lawyers. They all blessed her with grandkids and kept her very close to their families through out the years. She is the type of grandma who bakes cookies when she knows my sister and I are visiting her, and never forgets anyone's birthday. She is always in a cheerful mood and has a positive attitude towards everything. She used to smoke cigarettes for over 20 years, but is now perfectly healthy and very happy. In contrast, my grandma on my dad's side passed away a few years ago. She had several husbands, gambled all of her money away, and never seemed to be happy with herself. She had three kids as well, but her 50 year old daughter lived with her for the last few years of her life and her husband was unemployed. They moved several times into small, dirty apartments, and my dad and aunt constantly had to clean up the apartment and buy her groceries. She was always miserable and didn't take care of herself.
I believe that the message conveyed in Outliers is very similar to both of these situations. My mom's mom was always happy because she was surrounded by people she loved and resided in a healthy, warm environment. While my dad's mom was never happy towards the end of her life because of the unfavorable conditions and environment that surrounded her. The town of Roseto in Outliers shows that people's lives are effected by their surrounding environment and their tightness with the community.

Who am I?

Hi! My name is Madeline but most people just call me Maddy. I am a senior this year and I can't wait for college. I really like all of my classes this year because they are all interesting and I like my teachers so far. After high school I want to go to college someplace warm because I hate snow and cold weather. My favorite state is California because they have perfect weather year round. Therefore, my first school choice is the University of San Diego. I haven't started filling out applications yet and I'm dreading it. I would describe myself as shy in class, but once you get to know me you will find that I'm actually very loud and outgoing. I like to just hang out with my friends on the weekends and I love watching movies. I have the easiest job in the world...I work for John Casablanca's Modeling Agency as a promotional model. All I do is go to different events and festivals on the weekends and get people to sign up for the agency. Last weekend I worked at the Brookfield Zoo and I basically got paid to look at the animals all day! At school I'm in Future Business Leaders of America and I play lacrosse. Last summer I started flying lessons. I have an interest in aviation because my dad has his private pilot's license. My dad also got my sister and I interested in dirt biking. I got my first dirt bike when I was 6 and two years ago I got a 125 Suzuki which I ride with my dad and sister in Wisconsin during the fall. I'm one of the youngest people in my grade because my birthday is August 30th, so right now I'm still 16! I turn 17 in a week and I can't wait to go into the city with some friends to celebrate. I live with my mom, dad, and 13 year old sister, Helaina. We usually get along except for when she wears my clothes or my mom makes me drive her and her friends places. Even though I love driving, it gets annoying having to take her everywhere. I also have 3 cats named Maui, Kona, and Czari. Over the summer I spent a lot of time at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin on my boat. My family has been boating on Lake Geneva for 5 summers, ever since we moved to Illinois from Ohio. I always bring my friends and we tube, waterski, and tan. It's so much fun! I was born in Cleveland, Ohio and lived there until I was 11. I've kept in touch with some of my friends, and almost all of my family still lives there so we visit often. My dad owns a liquor store in downtown Cleveland, so he drives there at least once every few month. He bought the store when he was in his twenties and has successfully run it for over 20 years. My mom is an attorney and we moved to Illinois because of her job. Yeaahhh so I'm not sure how to end this but I hope you enjoyed reading about my life!