Personal Essay : Personal Narrative : My Childhood

I was ten, the most terrifying event I had been through was riding the little dragon roller coaster at the fair, but that night changed it all. The fear that started in my head spread like wildfire to the rest of my body from the tips of my fingers to the bottoms of my toes. My heart was racing so fast that it could have beat Usain Bolt in a 100m dash. Stop, drop and roll, three steps that should have come naturally, but instead I froze, looked down at my yellow and black checkered flannel in complete terror, fearing for my life.

“Beep beep beep” My alarm sounds startling me. I reach for my phone to turn off this horrid noise. It takes all my willpower to not press snooze and just roll over. Then I remember that I am going to Florida today. I excitedly jump out of bed and start to get ready. I step onto the cold tile flooring of my bathroom. I reach the toothpaste and the minty flavor soon fills my mouth, leaving me fresh breath. Next I head into my room to change out of my pajamas.

I had always assumed that my legs were strong and that I had decent muscle control, however, this thought was proven wrong at the beginning of my junior year in high school due to a detrimental injury. It was the first game of fall league for basketball, and within the first five minutes I had succumbed to an injury. Tearing my ACL and Meniscus has taught me to continue improving on my strength, not let this one injury keep me down, and to keep a positive mindset.

Have you ever felt so nervous in your life that your mind ached with anxiety. It was the final race in my seventh grade track season, but little did I know my anxiety became the least of my worries.

November 26th, 2004, and there is a sea of burnt orange everywhere at Darrell K

Good morning, like Megan said I am Desirae Hertling. I am currently in my last month of high school at New Ulm Public and I plan to attend South Dakota State University next fall.

The alarm woke me up around 7:00. It was a Friday morning and we had a quick 45 minute drive from D.C to Rock Creek, Maryland. I got ready, tossed a couple things in my backpack and was in the car ready to go. This was just a normal weekend for us and it was pretty routine for my family and I to go down to Rock Creek to go hiking. When we arrived, we started our way down to Lake Needwood. The sights, sounds, and smells we experienced in

Kayla informed the QP if her brother was bothering her she would get in his face and scream leave me alone then push him as she was backing up.

Being healthy and staying active is not something my family has been worried about. I have to be honest,I thought the same thing before I started wrestling. I ate anything I wanted too, I was not too active. I like to sleep in and play video games. I was out of shape and couldn’t run very far without losing my breath. This all changed when I started to wrestle.

When I was eight, I moved to Bakersfield CA because of my mom’s job. I went to Old River Elementary school for 3rd grade. Then for the 4th, 5th and 6th grade, I moved to a different house in Bakersfield.I made some new friends near my house. I also would go to my dad’s house to visit my dad and grandparents.

I am particularly proud of the fact that I did well in my event during track season. I was asked by the track coach to run in an event that I have never done before--300 meter hurdles. At the beginning of the season my times were slow and my technique was poor. I watched the other hurdlers and emulated their effort. I took direction from the coach. As the season progressed, my times steadily improved. At the end of the season I competed for a spot in the regional finals. I am happy that I competed even though I didn’t make the finals. This experience demonstrates my self motivation, my ability to overcome stress and a degree of competence I didn’t know I had in a sport in which success is largely determined by individual effort. At

Growing up as a kid, I had a hard time focusing and staying still. I was fidgety and procrastinated everything till the last minute. Chores, homework, you name it, if it could wait until later, I’d being doing it later. I learned this terrible habit from watching my dad put off cleaning out our garage for the last 19 years of my life. So when I think of reading an entire book or having to write a paper, I immediately get a little anxiety knowing I won’t attack it piece by piece like I should. Pair this with a restless kid with an attention span of a rock and you can understand why I chose to play sports and video games instead of reading. That was until I found my first good book.

The storm hit like a speeding bullet. It spun the world upside down, heavy rain blurring the edges of reality. Swollen clouds darkened the sky, drenching the earth with freezing water.

As I grew up in Northern Virginia in the middle class suburbs of Washington, DC, I suppose I had a typical childhood. I played on a girls’ volleyball team and joined the varsity cheerleading squad. I did other “girly” things like hair, nails, makeup, mall shopping and parties. Not so typical was the fact that I lived with my mother, my stepfather and six siblings. We have always been a close knit family who did several things together. Our regular quality time included movies and home entertainment with casual soul food dinners for friends and family. Museums, beaches, resorts, theme parks and other tourist attractions within a five hour driving radius were about the extent of our special group outings. At school,

I never really thought about where my life was going. I always believed life took me where I wanted to go, I never thought that I was the one who took myself were I wanted to go. Once I entered high school I changed the way I thought. This is why I chose to go to college. I believe that college will give me the keys to unlock the doors of life. This way I can choose for myself where I go instead of someone choosing for me.