My Life Experience

For the majority of my life, I had been shy, even though it didn’t seem like it most of the time, I was scared to death when I met new people. I know that it sounds extremely trivial, but I feel that when you first meet someone, you’re ultimately giving them their first impression of yourself and that is a lot of pressure. It seemed almost certain that I would lead a life of being a social wallflower until March 2017, more specifically, March 28th, 2017. This day was and still is important to me because I learned how to be confident, and through my experience, it taught me something that I will hold onto forever. Prior to this day, I was an extremely introverted person and rarely went out of my way to make friends. As a volunteer at day

On the night of April 7, 1997, my seven-year-old body flew from the backseat of a Nissan Sentra and crashed through the front passenger window onto the roadway of Old Town, Staten Island. I woke up on a hospital stretcher in pain and perplexed. My eyes were filled with shattered glass. I had no mobility in either of my arms; my right arm was wrapped in gauze and plaster; and my left arm had an IV in it. Two days later I was informed of the full extent of my injuries. I shouted at my nurse, “But how will I eat, write, shower, and how will I use the bathroom? What about my hair? How will I put on my clothes?

Early morning glaze slips through the drapes, reflecting off the crystal collection that's rooted on my windowsill. The specular reflection of light urges me to open my eyes, drawn to the washed out rainbows projecting onto the pristine white walls. I sit up. With feet lightly resting on the carpeted floor I begin to feel energy rolling through my veins, waking up my toes, my calves, into my stomach, up through my chest, reaching the span of my arms and deep into my mind. Taking in the first breath of day through a long winded stretch, I begin making my way towards the other side of the room. I stare blankly into what seems like the ocean, deep and belonging to more than one place. The mirror is telling me that my eyes are like bark, dark, earthy and brown. My hair curls like the spiraling spine of the native koru and my winter woolies melt into the lovable curves that are my body. Aging gracefully, some would say, but that isn’t what I would say. I would say I am a misplaced key, one that is desperately desirable yet so easily discarded.

For many, there is nothing more important than to have the acceptance and unconditional love from your mother, sadly this was not my experience. I remember the day that changed my life forever as if it were yesterday. I was 18 years old and I did not feel well. I smoked a cigarette to calm my frantic nerves before I walked into the clinic. I sat in the old and dreary waiting room and awaited my fate. The nurse called my name and I stood up as if I just won an award. As instructed, I took a urine test and sat with disbelief as I waited for the results that would determine my future. The Dr. entered the cold and sterile room and looked at me with disappointment as he questioned my sexual activity. “Ms. Fuentes, are you sexually active? “ “Yes, I am”. “Do you only have one partner? “Yes, I do. “Have you missed your period “? Yes

It was the summer of 15. Filled with travel, laughter, and smiles. But, at that time I didn’t pay attention or even cherish those moments. Now, I truly know how much I miss the feeling of being that happy all the time.

July 3, 8 AM in the morning Woke up thinking that this camp is going to be amazing and it is going to be one of my most memorial times of my life. I got up and got ready to leave my home sweet home, I reached there and when I pulled up in the schools parking lot it was kind of awkward. When I reached their everybody was just watching me in the car but I shook it off because I thought that everybody probably had those moments, so I hopped off the car and loaded my luggage on the bus and stood there with my friends while my parents were talking and meeting with new people. At last it was the moment of Good Bye so I gave my parents a hug and got on the bus with my fellow friend Aarav, the bus ride was an hour and around 15 min. The bus ride was fun so we barely knew when time passed by and we reached our campus " Snively''. When we reached there we had to take our luggage and put it in the main hall, we were asked to take a seat on the couches and we found out our bunk mates in one room and with a coincidence I was in a room with everyone I wanted to be with. So we took our luggage and put it in our rooms, when we came back down the Councillors Jeremy and Savaugn took us on an adventure in the forest so we will be well familiar with the area. We had to walk on tight ropes with a partner on the other side then we had to take a rope than swing to the other side of the half which was super fun. The next adventure was we hall had to stand on a really huge seesaw and we had to

It was a dark and warm night as the wind was breezing on my face. My parents and I went to the entrance of the airport in Ethiopia. The date was September 15, 2017 and that day was the day that we were leaving Ethiopia. We had stayed there for one month for a vacation and to meet our other family members. We went at 7:30 pm and the flight was at 10:30. We went a bit early because it is better than being late. Also, if a problem insists, we would have time to fix it but that wouldn’t happen,...right? Honestly, I didn't think we would've gotten on the airplane that night because of that horrible incident. It was the most meaningful experience of my life because it made me surprised when I heard that our visa was expired. All this time we did not check that the visa stamp said that September 14 is the day were leaving in the month that we stayed there. We told the people who worked at the Immigration that we were leaving on September 15 but their mistake caused us to be a problem when we were about to leave Ethiopia. We had to be in a rush so we didn’t miss the airplane flight. For that reason, the life lesson that I learned is that managing your time is crucial when it comes for many reasons. We came a little early so would get the process before the flight done and if something happens, then we would have plenty of time to do something about it. If we didn't manage our time and we came later, we would probably miss our flight or we would've gotten really

It was a dark and perspiring night as the wind was breezing on my face. My parents and I went to the entrance of the airport in Ethiopia. The date was September 15, 2017 and that day was the day that we were leaving Ethiopia. We had stayed there for one month for a vacation and to meet our other family members. We went at 7:30 pm and the flight was at 10:30. We went a bit early because it is better than being late. Also, if a problem insists, we would have time to fix it but that wouldn’t happen,...right? Honestly, I didn't think we would've gotten on the airplane that night because of that horrible incident. It was the most meaningful experience of my life because it made me surprised when I heard that our visa was expired. All this time we did not check that the visa stamp said that September 14 is the day were leaving in the month that we stayed there. We told the people who worked at the Immigration that we were leaving on September 15 but their mistake caused us to be a problem when we were about to leave Ethiopia. We had to be in a rush so we didn’t miss the airplane flight. For that reason, the life lesson that I learned is that managing your time is crucial when it comes for many reasons. We came a little early so would get the process before the flight done and if something happens, then we would have plenty of time to do something about it. If we didn't manage our time and we came later, we would probably miss our flight or we would've gotten really

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.

Not many people can say their biggest life lesson was taught by a bus. On October 23, 2015 I was shown to never take my life for granted. Lakeside Rams football was ready to face Dequeen for the chance to win a conference championship. The intensity of game day was electrifying even though it was a humid, sultry, and rainy day we loaded the buses with our earphones in preparing ourselves for the night ahead.

As a nine year old girl, I didn’t think much about life and what the future held for me. I mostly thought about riding my pony, playing with my friends at school, and playing on my family’s farm. I didn't think much about how quickly my life could completely change at any minute.

I tend to believe that my life has been fortunate compared to families in other places of the world, but also similar to many of those families. I was born in Hidalgo, Texas to a poor, low-income family. I lived in Reynosa, Mexico for the first four years of my life where I learned to speak Spanish and basic knowledge thanks to my mother. Since I was the first born, my parents have always been overprotective of me. When my sister was born in 2004, we moved to Pharr, Texas, where my parents built a house. My father worked long hours day after day to be able to provide for us while my mother took care of us and the house as a housewife.

I am currently living in San Antonio,Texas, but I was born in Wichita, Kansas. The city Wichita is a much smaller than San Antonio, so life was extremely different than here. The city was calm and quiet, not much really happened so I was allowed to venture out and explore.My elementary school was only walking distance from my home,meaning I could travel to and from school without any problems. While I walked home, my mom would always have something ready to eat the moment we walked in the door. My mother has always been a affectionate woman. She has a friendly heart, but will raise her voice if she needs to. She and my father would always teach us right from wrong and showed us that when someone was mean, kill them with kindness. My father is a hard working man and tries his best to get along with everyone. He exceeds at his work to make sure that we are better off than he was as a child. No matter how exhausted he is after a day's work, he always takes the time to talk to us and make sure we are doing good. He pushes us to always try our best and is always providing support. He always tells me that I am intelligent, but for my sister, he supports her in a different way; she is not as skilled and keeping information. So my parents help her study. My sister is five years younger than me,so we don't always get along. She is loud and annoying, but can also be caring when she has to be.When she was in elementary school, she always came home saying how much she loved it. It

On one night, something terrifying has happened to me and my family, a scary experience that has taught us that life is too short and that anything can happen to anyone at any moment. These life experiences can be life changing along with reflecting. Reflection is the process we take to make meaning and learn from our experiences. This is a story that has definitely changed my viewpoint of life.

And emotional breakthrough that I have experienced is, when my 93 year old grandmother had to be rushed to the hospital because, her stomach was bloated. So when my grandmother arrived at the hospital, and they took her to the back they had told us, that it was gas backed up in her stomach. Later, that day they told us that they was going to keep her overnight to see will the bloating in her stomach would go down and run test. Eventually, the next day approached and my grandmother was released. After my grandmother was released, two days later after her stomach went down, it bloated again so we took my grandmother back to the hospital. They recently told us, that my grandmother had pneumonia and it was getting really bad. Soon, that night my 93 year old grandmother had went into cardiac arrest for the first time. The doctors resuscitated my grandmother. Then, a few hours later my grandmother went into cardiac arrest for the second time, and they couldn’t bring my grandmother back. My grandmother was a fighter May 14, 2014 was the day my grandmother would never come back. My family and I were devasted, not knowing that it will be our last goodbye.