My Lipster-Personal Narrative

I HAVE BEEN IN THE SEA CADETS PROGRAM SINCE EARLY 2011. I HAVE ATTENDED FOUR FIVE STEM TRAININGS WITH THE SEA CADETS AND WILL BE A JUBGE AT A NATIONAL SEA PERCH QUALIFIER WHILE SCUBA DIVING. I AM CURRENTLY IN THE PROCESS OF COMPLETING MY PRIVATE PILOT'S LICENSE. I COMPLETED THE GROUND SCHOOL PORTION WITH THE SEA CADETS AND RECEIVED A B GRAGE. I ALSO HAVE MY BASIC AND ADVANCED SCUBA LICENSES THROUGH PADI. I AM ALSO IN THE PROGRESS OF COMPLETING MY PAPERWORK TO JOIN THE U.S. COAST GUARD AUXILIARY LATER THIS YEAR, SO THAT I CAN GET MORE EXPERIENCE IN THE COAST GUARD. I HAVE A STRONG NAVY AND MARINE CORPS BACKGROUND FROM THE SEA

*disclaimer: bare with me... the next 5 chapters are crap because i wrote them over a year ago...chapter 19 will be the start of some great shit*

When I was 20 months old my partner in crime was born. Kensey Kaitlyn McKee was born March 7, 2002, and little did I know my life would be changed forever. I was not an only child anymore I now had a little sister who needed all the attention. Once Kensey was old enough to walk and talk that’s when we really started to have fun. We once got in trouble for wiping diaper rash cream all over our walls and mirrors, it was a disaster but I’m sure we were having the time of our lives. Another time we put our new kitten in a cooler in 100 degree weather for hours, and then finally one of us remembered where we had put her luckily the cat was just fine. We always had so much fun. I feel so bad for my parents at one point they had two toddler

I was not always so outspoken and driven to get good grades. Freshman year I was timid, struggled with my grades, and had no idea what the future looked like. Now, I have found exactly what I want to do for the rest of my life and became much more confident then I was freshman year. Along the way I have even made a decision to switch schools. I have transformed a lot along the way from freshman and sophomore year at Portsmouth High School and finishing off at Rogers High School.

I was in the car with my family heading towards the lake to go fishing. The car ride was long and boring. Half through the car ride we stopped at a gas station so we could get some gas. After we got gas we went back on the road and I fell asleep through the other half of the car ride.

The saying goes, “there are moments in life that can either make or break us.” There was a critical time in my life where that quote really came into play. While other regular fourteen-year-olds were worrying about school, clothes, etc.; I was facing a much more pressing matter. Fighting between the line of life and death with cancer.

At the start of the semester I had become more aware and grounded in my voice. In my everyday life, I would notice if I was holding my breath. The reason for this was because over the summer I had to stand-up to one of my shut-up judges, my dad. The incident was extremely emotional, and I coped with it through the use of my actor training; instead of checking out and holding tension, I chose to breathe deeply and stay grounded. This allowed me to speak up even when I was told to shut-up. This awareness of breath was developed through necessity rather than choice. I had to be strong. My strength didn’t only come from being grounded in my breath, but it also came using breathe to stay present in the room. The use of breath also allowed me to go into my body and release the build-up of emotions. As a result of these experiences, my voice was able to drop more consistently to my lower resonator rather than my typical chest voice.

    “Wake up Mommy,” said Taylor through her tears as she hugged my mom’s twitching body.

When she came in nick was telling her what happened, and she got a wash cloth wet and cleaned the blood off my face, and told me to hold it to my eye. She was panicking because she didn’t know what to do. Finally, she decided to call mom and dad I sat in the living room until they came home. They couldn’t get home right away so I had to wait until around 4:30 when they got off work. I was calm until they walked in, I don’t know why but I just was. I remember sitting there in the chair, my mom and dad looking at my eye. My mom said that I needed to go to the hospital and get stiches but my dad said that I didn’t need them. I didn’t go to the hospital, but my mom still thinks that I needed to

It was the middle of the summer, and soccer practice had just ended. I was relaxing at home when my doorbell my rang.

Lead:My memoir is really about...the struggles in your life. Some you can overcome, and some you can’t

I come across a rear projection TV on the side of the road one day, load it up, and take it home. I eagerly spend a good four hours stripping it down and saving as much as I can. I end up with a 48” fresnel lens, two hefty speakers, a couple large capacitors, three glass lenses, and a glass mirror. Left over is a box of electronic waste and the particle board skeleton of a TV. I take the electronics to my local electronics recycling center, and set the wooden frame on the curb. I took 70 lbs. of trash and turned it into 10 lbs. of treasure ripe for projects, 30 lbs. of recyclables that would have gone to a landfill, and 30 lbs. of refuse that I had fun

The clouds were black, immeasurable, and grotesque. I still believe it was because my best friend was leaving for war. My friend Nicholas was the only person that I could have reliance and certainty with. He was the person that when the stresses of the world got to heavy on my shoulders he would pick the world up of my shoulders and carry the burden of the stresses of reality for me. In the end there are no words to describe the signification he has in my life and there is no comfort that can fix the loss that I feel in my heart because of his absence. So for the time being my heart will be in two places, half with me here in Denver, Colorado and the other half in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

I looked down at my leg. The spot where I thought my kitten had bitten me was trickling blood. My mom noticed it clearly too. “Ohh! That’s a nasty cut! How did you get that?”

Think of your favorite thing in the world to do. Something that defines you. Something that you can only experience from your eyes. For me it is soccer, and through that came a rite of passage that will be with me forever.