Personal Narrative: A Place That Changed My Life

We packed everything we had into U-Haul in the safety the night provided. In about four hours of continuous packing our roots were lifted. We headed due south to a place called High Island, Texas. I had only been there one time before when I was little. The justifications of why we chose High Island, which was six hours from our home, was one of my aunt’s lived there and the distance from home was great.

This past year, I have been apart of Naperville Central’s brand new Special Spaces club. When my friend approached me and asked me to join, I agreed even though I had no clue what I was involving myself in. In retrospective, I can honestly say that becoming a part of Special Spaces has been one of the most meaningful, fun, and fulfilling experiences I have had in high school.

Where I come from it's taking pride in your yard, knowing every single one of your neighbors, and leaving doors unlocked because there isn’t a thing to worry about. I find comfort in that small town feel, and I am more than proud to be from good ol’ Warrenton, Indiana. Here, we are just a wee bit shy of being big enough to be on a map, but we have a name and we have town lines. Within those lines nearly two hundred people have found a home, and thanks to Mr.Dave Gruible our community is steadily flourishing. There are now three subdivisions on the rise in addition to the church, salon, family restaurant, and campgrounds that nestled into the area years ago.

I also made really good freinds at the new school i was going to that would be my friends for a long time and i was happy about that. Also i had a bunch of new things that i could do in jackson like skiing and new stores and biking that i could do now that i lived here.

When I look back to as far as I can remember I don’t remember my class schedules, the friends I played tag with, or the best lunches at school, but what I do remember is playing basketball and the joy it brought me to play and win. Basketball is the thing that keeps me moving day to day. Without basketball I probably wouldn’t have opportunities to travel off island to experience college visits as well as challenging better teams around the country. Basketball is more than a sport, it teaches you life lessons and how to overcome things that

When I was 13 years old, my parents started to think about moving to United States because my dad was already working here for a company. We started all the immigration related process which took a while to end. When I was 14, one day I came back from school and my parents told me we were moving to US in 2-3 months. When I heard it first, I was happy, but later I started thinking about how I will be leaving everything behind. My family, friends and neighbors whom I have been with since I was little, I will be leaving all of them in a few months. As the date approached closer, we started to pack more and more things. There was

I have been in the Marine Corps for roughly three and a half years and throughout that time I have done many things. Most of the things that I have done were with Combat Logistics Battalion 26. For three years, I worked with that unit through work ups and a deployment and I have seen and done many unique things. However, nothing I did with CLB 26 felt fulfilling, but that all changed when I changed units to CLB 8.

It was my junior year and football season was over. We had won the state championship. It was time to relax and enjoy basketball season. Basketball season was always a fun time. I was a grade younger than most of my friends who were on the team. I was always the kid that was brought up to sit on the bench or be the sixth man. I never really got too much playing time, however, sometimes if there was a big man on the other team, or some sort of foul trouble for one of the seniors, I would get in. I had been playing with these same kids since the 6th grade. My role on the team had been the same all the way up to this point. That was ok with me. What I really enjoyed though were all the trips and tournaments and just hanging

Walking away from everything you once knew and starting over is never a picnic. Leaving Iraq, and moving to America has impacted my life more than anything. I was only 4 years old at that time, and the only English I spoke was “excuse me, water please.” My family and I did not know it then, but our lives were going to change; we would become “Americanized”. Learning English was one of the massive changes that occurred, the way I dressed (culture), and even the way I had power to go to school and educate myself.

Ever since I was a little kid basketball was my life and I absolutely loved it. From going to 1st grade camps, and looking up to the high school coaches to becoming one of the coaches. I always loved everyone on my team and made many long lasting friendships from basketball that I still have today. My freshman year or sophomore year had to be the best years of all. I got voted captain both years and was both competitive and driven. I wanted to play college basketball so badly and was going to do it. My ACL and MCL injury impacted my mental and physical health in both positive and negative ways.

I couldn’t play basketball the entire year and that was pretty disappointing. Sophomore year had it’s ups and downs. The year was pretty boring, but I was always patient.

The place that has changed my life entirely, for the absolute best, is Oklahoma State University. I was very involved in high school and was very well known, but it took me several years to become comfortable and outgoing because I was so shy. My senior year of high school, I visited Oklahoma State University because a family friend suggested the school. I took tour and fell head over heels in love. So in love that I decided I would be attending Oklahoma State as a freshman that next fall. I am from a small town in Kansas, so it was a fairly big jump for me. I was the only one of my high school graduating class to attend OSU, so I knew absolutely no one. My whole class was in shock. While it did take some adjusting, I made friends very fast.

Even though I was born in Neptune, New Jersey I feel very valiant to say that I cannot pinpoint a place where I grew up. My whole life consists of me, on average, moving every three years and all I can say is that I would not have it any other way. I was only three months old my first move from New Jersey to Rhode Island. In my life, I have lived in 7 states, 11 towns and 15 houses. Although, if I were to pick a place to say ‘where I grew up’ it would either be Arizona or Pennsylvania considering I have lived in both of those states for around seven years. Growing up in both of those states are obviously complete polar opposites. For example, growing up in Arizona as a kid I always remember I lived in this small little neighborhood from when

My most significant experience in my life is unforgettable. I was there with my sisters, my mom, and my dad. It was the most horrifying event that I have ever witnessed. The daunting image in my head is still clear as day, as though it happened yesterday. This event did not affect only me, but also my family. The story that I am about to tell you may change the way you see things and it may not. All I can say is, it

I’ve lived in three different states and attended six schools over the past eight years. Relocating from Texas to Michigan, and later Michigan to Georgia were big adjustments for me. I missed my friends and close relatives. However, I knew I had to make the best of my circumstances. Through these experiences, I began to learn to be more flexible, become more open-minded to different traditions, and be adventurous in different parts of the country-I played volleyball, joined a dance team, and even went skiing! At school, I also focused on excelling in my classes and challenge myself like I did when adjusting to a new town.