My Experience In My Life

As I was looking at the red glowing eyes I kept thinking that they were watching me because when I ducked,ran, and jumped they followed me. I tried to run to my grappas house but I got lost, now I'm in the middle of a field. I can hear twigs and branches breaking in the forest, I feel as if someone or something is following me. Then I saw a shadow move past me then I saw a coyote, it was covered in the deer he had mauled,then a mountain lion came from the hills and swiftly approached the coyote. As I watched the coyote get pounced on I ran out of the field and climbed a tree and relaxed there as the mountain lion looked for me but the the lion found me. I nearly jumped out of the tree but then I fell out of the tree onto the mountain lion!

When I heard the engines starting, my eyelids collapsed and took slow breaths to not hyperventilate . I was nine. I inhaled sharply, and my hands gripped my mom’s arm tight as fear of death washes over me. I don't want to die. God don't let me die. Next thing I knew, we were high up in the sky. I looked out the window, wispy clouds dancing in the air. July 2, 2009 was when I boarded the flight to the U.S. As the plane skidded to a halt on the runway, I knew my life would be different.

The airport right now is packed. The steady sounds of feet against flooring echoes in my ears. A child's scream brings me back from a daydream. For a second I forgot where I was or what I was about to do.  I honestly still can't believe this is happening. Especially to me. From the dull normalized life I live, I am about to throw in a mixture of crazy the likes I couldn't even fathom.

My past few years of education were, I think, the best couple of years of my school experience of my life. Teachers and friends affected how I acted, learned and studied in school.

During the Summer of ***** I made my way to training camp. The sweltering Summer air was unforgiving. It felt like a cloud of heat was just entrapping me wherever I went. I had to travel for what seemed like days to reach the training camp. The buses were infrequent and covered in filth. The insides of those buses were almost twenty degrees warmer than the outside. I literally fought people to be next to the windows because I was sure that if the bullets weren’t going to kill me, the heat exhaustion would. After what seems like years in that awful bus (Mule) I reached the training camp.

I am ordinary. I have lived in amongst poverty and on the edges of war, but I am ordinary. But let me sit you down and share some extraordinary things that I feel have happened in my life.

In 2014 my life changed drastically, and I have not been the same person that I was that short time ago. It all began with my big secret coming out and continued to roll into a giant snowball, up until I finally found the sun to melt it away. I went through a long depressive phase and then along my journey I found peace again.

The wind serrated past my body. I hesitated, reminiscing all the memories we treasured years ago. Sitting down on a nearby bench, looking at the emptied bus stop. I ran my fingers through the leathery pages of my small book that my father had given me. How long it has been? Five… six years? The clouds suddenly swirled and closed the sky, the thunder roared. Girls of all ages and appearances rushed through the streets as they had just finished school. I smiled mirthlessly.

As I lay in my twin sized white bunk bed, covered in light mauve sheets with a puffy blanket and stuffed animals, I hear the deafening sound of sirens fill the streets. I plug my ears hoping that the ear piercing sounds will be silenced, but I was wrong. To add to the ruckus, the doorbell began to chime through the gray halls of our 5 bedroom home, soon enough I hear my mom begin to fidget with the locks on the wooden door. When she opens it I hear the sound of a man’s voice, I can’t make out his words, just muffles. My mom begins to speak and I can hear her heartbreaking in her voice, why is she sad? I hear the door close and my mom beginning to sob, as I lay in bed waiting to hear more, I see my older sister walk down the halls. If she was up wouldn’t it be okay if I was? I slid my feet out of the warm layers and put them on the cream colored carpet and began to walk out of my room. As I reached the living room I saw a giant man who towered over my petite mother, he had a long sleeve black shirt on and black pants to match. He had badges covering his shirt, I was only 5 at the time so I had no clue

Hope Rebecca Davis, a little formal don’t you think? You’d think that my parents thought I was going to be the hope of the world or something of that sort, but that is the farthest from the truth. I was named Hope just because my mom thought that Hope was a “pretty” name. As you know that was probably a bit disappointing for me, but my name represents a great deal to me. Hope means to have a feeling of expectation or desire for a certain thing to happen… then I considered the following, I can be the person in the world that makes these things happen. I can be the change in this unfluctuating society. I can be the person I want to be when I grow older, I just don’t know what I desire to do yet. But experiences in my life such as these are going to guide me to where I need to be.

One hour later and my life became changed forever. My loving and caring family I bonded with, would no longer be the same. The long walks with my mom in the evening would soon become a distant memory. Decorating for the holidays was just around the corner and I would have to hang up the stocking on the chimney without her. The sweet, rich, chocolate brownies she made every Friday night would leave my taste buds empty. Her hugs that made me feel loved when I was sad would now be a thought in my head, and our long talks about growing up and finding my way would be cut short.

In life, many times we face the most difficult obstacles. Never did I imagine that I would face a time in my life as challenging as the Summer of 2009. When I was in 4th grade, I found out my family and I would be moving to Broken Arrow. At first, I was so excited to go to our “brand new” house. It was then that I realized moving to a new city meant making all new friends, and basically starting over. I didn’t know what would happen at that point, but here I am 8 years later and I couldn’t be happier with my life. Moving to Broken Arrow was frightening at first, but in the long run gave me many new and exciting opportunities such as making new friends, becoming involved in my church, and making incredible memories in my school’s marching band.

Growing up I had a good life. I lived with my brother, sister, and both of my parents together as a good family. My parents really taught me how to be respectful and responsible. I was lucky to have them as good influences in my life. I am not one to disrespect anyone unless they have done me wrong. I grew up caring about school and always wanting to perform well and anything that I do. There were many challenges and events that helped me become the person I am today. One of which is when my family and I had the opportunity to visit our home country, Zimbabwe.

As I boarded the charter bus to my second year of Unidiversity (an annual summer youth trip in Tennessee), I could not begin to imagine the person I would become as a result of this trip. As a teenager going into my last year of middle school, I was determined to have the time of my life. I wanted to have fun, make a better connection with friends, play games, laugh, and really enjoy the time with my leaders and friends. At this point in my life, I was hiding a dark secret that only two other people in my life knew about; I was bisexual. As an almost eighth grader, I was comfortable with my sexuality, but I didn’t know how to explain it to others, and although I knew my friends would accept me for who I was, something was holding me back. I would walk around hiding behind I mask that I thought was permanent, a mask that told everyone that I was one thing, when I was really another. Little did I know that I was about to rip off the mask, and show my true self for the first time in my life.

Everything comes with time, from age to understanding. I have come to realize many things over the years, but some have been much more significant than others. We have read quite a few pieces as of late, and I feel learning from others is essential in our everyday lives.