My Experience At My Family

Feeling exhausted, I focus on my breathing. I breath in through my nose and then out through my mouth, breath in and out. Repeat. After passing the mile mark, my coach is shrieking for me to relax, because I am on my way to qualify for cross country states. The top twenty girls qualify, and I have been dreaming of this day since freshman year. All I have to do is hold my position, and then I am golden. Suddenly, my legs begin to feel like jello. My running partner slowly fades ahead of me, and I cannot keep up. It feels like I am running backwards as the rest of my teammates pass me one by one. Fighting fatigue, I tell myself I am finishing this race, whether or not I have to crawl like a turtle to do so. I am crossing that finish line.

On race day I woke up to a magnificently beautiful yellow and purple sunrise. I had a quiet relaxing morning as I readied myself to leave home. I played a soothing playlist of rain forest sounds to keep my mind clear. I felt very calm as I left for the race with my family, when suddenly the visceral tissue in my stomach began to contract, causing my stomach to emit an angry rumble. I realized I had forgotten to eat breakfast. We stopped at a coffee shop and ate sugary cream filled donuts with bitter dark chocolate icing while inhaling the pungent aroma of brewing coffee. Then we got back on the road.

It was my first race headed to Greater Lowell Tech.The first thing that happens when i walk into Greater Lowell’s track were 50 to 100 people in different schools including greater lowell there were schools like Mystic Valley, Northeast. My heart was pounding heavily like it can’t stop. luckily i was taking deep breaths to calm myself because the quad race haven’t started yet. So then our coach was discussing about Greater Lowell’s Course but there were a lot people i was shocked to watch. then show us the course when should we take advantage to pass people. Then the starter guy will say all boys will meet in the starting line so i walk there seeing 50 to 100 people in the starting line i already feel my legs shaking and aching a lot, mouth dry too need water etc. I look at the other teams they looked determined

I ran back up the hill to our camp, trying to move quickly without wasting too much energy, took my inhaler, and rushed back down the hill. Soon, it was time for the race to start. The officials gave an overview of information about the race and how it would start. The official behind us blew a long whistle. We stood, motionless, just waiting for that starting gunshot. Pow! The race was off. I sprinted out of the pack. I tried to find a good pace and settle in. We ran up a few hills, and then we made it to the first entrance to the creek. Unintelligently, I didn’t slow down very much going into the creek. Because I didn’t slow down, I splashed into the creek with a belly flop, almost submerging my whole body underwater. I got up quickly, then began to climb up the mud wall. I clawed at that wall like it was my enemy. I avoided the rope, even though it actually wasn’t that busy at the moment. I was too focused to switch strategies. We continued to run on, passing many fans, their cheers a chaotic blur. We passed through the second part of the creek, which was not nearly as deep. It was only about mid-shin to knee level, so I made my way through just fine. We ran all over the vineyard. I wasn’t feeling too awful. I was just caught up in the thrill of the race! We made it to the cornfields, and there were lots of small hills. I ran through them staring at the ground, and I kept seeing the same pair of shoes. For some strange reason, I kept staring at those shoes. People do crazy things when they run, you could say! Anyways, I passed the person wearing those shoes. We ran away from the corn fields and under a bridge. I was coming closer and closer to the finish. I was struggling to continue, but I would not quit! I pushed through the pain, but by the end of the race, I was just done. I saw the final hill in front of me. It was one of the biggest hills on the course, if not the biggest, and it was definitely the most difficult after

Just before we arrived at the meet Coach Tuch had asserted to the team, “This is it, the day we have been training for guys. You truly need to give this one your all.” As soon as I knew it we were there. I felt like throwing up and crying all at the same time. It was cold, windy, and dry. The course was rough. As Shelby and I were warming up for our race we both knew that this was going to be one of the most challenging race of our lives. We were done and the race was about start as I heard Sydney yell, “ You got this girls let’s go!”

I ran as fast as I could, I was tired but knew that I had to keep going. The sun shone down ferociously making it very bright and torrid. I felt sweat drip from just above my brow into my right eye. My eye began to get a burning sensation just as I turned the corner. My muscles ached, but I knew I had to shift into overdrive and pick up the pace. I started to run faster and faster. I began to get the feeling like I was about to throw up, but knew that I couldn’t stop now. I continued to sprint to the finish, and just as I crossed the finish line I looked to the clock and noticed that I set a new PR. The feeling of happiness that swelled up inside me took me back to the practice on the tuesday of the previous week: That day it was hot as fire

Today is the day for State track, the day I been working the whole season. When we pulled up to the stadium there were lot’s of people. I was so nervous, because I never been to a track meet like this before. We got everything unloaded from the suburban, walked into the stadium and was suprised how many people was there. When it was time to walk over to the discus ring, I saw girls throwing far. I was nervous. It was time for me to warm up and I had three practice throws. The first one was close to the hundreds, second one past hundred, and third past hundred and five. I looked over at my grandpa and he smiled. He said, no more practice throws, I was happy but nervous at the sometime. When it was my turn I went up to the ring and threw around the hundreds. After I got done

The coach made us run extra harder, which many people did not enjoy. I ran thinking, if I run hard enough, I will run the greatest 2-mile, the distance we have to run in the league finals, I have ever ran. We would run intervals, 1 lap, 2 laps, 3 laps, 4 laps, and vice versa. We would also run up and down stairs and run track laps until we felt like puking. The week passed by fast as we practiced, and the league finals was just up ahead now. The weekend before the meet, wasn’t much, but for most of the weekend, I had butterflies in my stomach multiplying every second the meet got closer. My dad told me not to worry, which I thought was silly, because this was a huge meet. I got a lot of rest sleeping, and finally, the day had come. The day of the cross country league

Starts In the morning I step out of my car and it is pitch dark and eerie quiet, it's early morning the day after a tragic football game and everyone is tired and anticipating the meet ahead. We all sat mumming with each other and feeling comptable. When I hear the push, hum of the school bus arriving up the drive. Everyone is ready just to get on the bus to sleep. When on the bus I can't get to sleep because I'm sharing my seat with a girl and the bus driver doesn't stop talking. We show up at the meet and i'm waiting for the tent to be put up so I can lay my bag down. My shoulder was aching and the grass was scratching my leg. During the warm up I was thrilled because two male teammates decided to run with us. They both smelt magnificent.

I was sweating, my muscles were screaming in pain from all the stress, and I was thinking of giving up. I was doing a huge event called the Spartan Race a ten mile race with fifteen obstacles designed for marines. It is a very tough race and I was doing it with my good pal Luke who was three years older than me. We were training for this race over summer. You get a huge medal and a shirt saying “FINISHER” on the back. I was doing this race because I loved challenges and this was the next challenge i was gonna face. The race was located at Wintergreen Resort it was on a mountain side where my thighs would burn like steak on a grill. I was in the middle of the race on the mountain side carrying a fifty pound sand bag. My whole body was aching

It was my first height of the day. The air was a little chilly, slight breeze, and my heart wouldn’t stop beating out of my chest. This was the year I had to prove to my team, my parents, and myself that all my hard work had payed off to earn the number one spot at Track & Field state. Being the shortest girl there no one thought I could or would high jump in the height I had entered and won with. I looked around and saw so many girls that were ready to go. Many girls that had their family there and were ready to walk away with points. I doubted myself looking around and was scared to jump. I knew that I had the ability to be at state but I constantly asked myself do I deserve to be here?

We were off, some girls were faster than others. I was closer to the front and running fast. What I didn't realize was that I was going too fast. And as we got closer to the end of the first lap, I was breathing heavily and coughing, I was like a fish out of water. I was gasping for air. I walked off with a stitch in my side and slightly light headed. There had been girls in front of me, but they were doing just fine. As I walked off to get a drink of water people ran past, and I realized that I had been the only one to give up. I was wondering what would my parents think? But there was no way to undo what I had just done.

”No one is ever born into Life alone. Everyone has shared the bond of family, at least at birth, and for many people it is a bond that will follow them throughout life. For many people it is the most important bond of all.”

My entire life I have lived with or in close proximity to my grandparents. I have had countless conversations with them through my life. But the older I noticed our conversations diminishing and becoming less frequent due to my busy schedule. When this assignment was introduced to me, I jumped at the opportunity to interview and reconnect with one of my grandparents. I decided on interviewing my grandmother because she is comfortable with english and our native language, tagalog. By speaking to someone I am blood related to and grew up with, I automatically gained a sense of rapport. If I interviewed a stranger, I feel it would have been more difficult to gain their trust. Geertz explains in his article Daedalus, how him and his wife struggled to gain the acceptance of a certain group of people and of how one day they finally gained their trust. He states, “In Bali, to be teased is to be accepted. It was the turning point so far as our relationship to the community was concerned, and we are quite literally “in”” (Geertz, 2005:59).

When I was eight years old my parents separated, and they got officially divorced when I was twelve. After my parents separated, my mother took on being a single-parent. My father gave up all his rights to my sister and I. Prior to my parents separating, my family was considered upper-middle class. My dad worked as a computer engineer, and my mom was a stay at home mother. After my parents split, my sister and I went from having everything to nothing in a day. My mom had to move back in with her parents until she could find a full-time job and a place for us to live. Because I have seen my mother struggle as a single-mother, I matured a lot faster than most children my age. Even though we struggled with money growing up, my mother always made it a point to go on vacation yearly with my sister and I; I have been to over 30 states because my mom loves to road trip. Additionally, it has always been a family tradition of ours to go to the state fair every year. Because of my family experience growing up, I am very independent. I also learned to appreciate the little things in life. My mom always taught my sister and I that time spent with family is far more valuable than materialistic things. My mother and I are very close to this day, and I will forever be grateful for everything she has done for my sister and me.