The past few years, I've been unhappy and felt complacent because I have yet to accomplish any of my goals. I envisioned that I would have successfully graduated college by age 22. In the fall of 2015, I planned to continue my education. Unfortunately, my mother's drug and alcohol use took its toll on our family which led to my parent's separation. My father returned to his home state to care for my disabled brother, and I no longer had a place to call 'home'. It was the most difficult period of my adult life. It is not my intention to use family issues as an excuse for my mistakes, most college students face obstacles and overcome hurdles to earn their degrees. However, at the time, I avoided processing my emotions and dealing with stress
Throughout the past year I went through a great deal of undertakings that caused me to become more experienced with my skills and how to overcome various challenges. These really built up my character and the way I am today. In all aspects, this past year consisted of going to Killington, Vermont, my brother going into the Air Force, meeting him in Texas for his graduation of basic training, completing a double backflip on a trampoline, landing a front flip on flat ground, accomplishment of a 2 ½ front flip on a diving board, getting 2nd at leagues, and competing in districts. All of these activities have advanced me in a skill or challenged me to an extent.
For many, their formative years have a large influence on who they become as adults. This can happen in many different ways including new experiences, discovering a new sport or hobby, and uncovering what they are passionate about. For me, this was falling in love with a new language from a very young age and becoming very interested in the culture that was associated with it.
Failure is truly negative if we choose to not learn from it. When we face setbacks and difficulties, we are given golden opportunities to grow as people. Learning from our shortcomings makes us wiser, stronger, and unveils a chance to turn an undesirable outcome into a building block of character. My hockey career has been a sinusoidal trail of highs and lows, but I always learned from the downturns.
From the very beginning of the school year, all the teachers have been acknowledging all the things that will prepare us for high school, and I have been thinking nothing about it. I kept telling myself that high school is still so far away. All of a sudden, it has hit me that i’m graduating and moving on to high school. In my short time in District 57, I have learned a vast amount of things from complex equations in math, to managing homework.
In my dream I was playing at the state soccer championship, and we were versing Spencer. It felt good being able to play this game because no one ever believed we would make it this far. Back to the dream the game just started, and we were trailing behind 1-0. We were all nervous because we thought that it was going to be a 10-0 game like always. All of a sudden I could hear someone out in the fans saying “JUDITH”, and cheering me on. So this made me get pretty excited, and I begun to play so much better, as this happens I pass the ball to Julie, and she just happened to be a the top of the 18 all alone. She shot… AND SHE SCOOORED. The game was now tied. Now there was only 3 minutes of them game left and Julie has the ball at half. (I decided to let Amber go up as a midfielder, and I would stay back to take her spot as a defender so she could make her first and last goal of her HS career.) Now there was a minute left Julie passed it to Amber, and Amber was at a good spot where she could shoot with her left. She took the chance, and scored just that moment we were up by one, and we ended up winning.
Everyone will experience a death in their life at least once whether it’s a family member or friend, they will react to it differently and has to grieve in their own way. Death isn't something that someone looks forward too, so watching someone go from healthy, to where they can barely walk or talk on their own isn’t easy. But getting a lesson out of someones death takes away some of the pain, and helps you move on.
The last day of nine grade went over it with many memories in any place that I have been in my old school. In the front of the office building had a small phoenix tree but that time, it was full-grown into a big man tree. A phoenix usually would be bloom in August and disabled when the school was over as in June or summer time.
As a 16 year old young man, when I think about responding to a writing prompt asking me to describe an event that I consider a launch pad towards gaining maturation, the first things that should come to my mind are getting my first job, graduating from high school, or being accepted into the college of my choice. This was not the case for me. The event that I feel has marked my transition from childhood to manhood would be the conversation that my mother had with me after the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.
I have always loved school, from my first day of kindergarden to my first day of high school and almost everyday in between. I always excelled in school, even though I moved around a lot. I had already been to four different elementary schools by the time I was in the fourth grade, and one more for half a year in sixth grade. I had a rough childhood aside from all of the moving. Growing up my life was never really normal. I had two moms, which nowadays isn’t that big of a deal, but 15 years ago it was. My life was fairly good until I was about five or six when my moms got a divorce. At the time I didn't know it but it was at that point that my life started to change forever. After the divorce my parents went to court for custody and one of
On a cloudy summer day in July, my mom, brother, his girlfriend, and I were hiking near the Appalachian trail in South Carolina, and at the first resting point on the mountain my mom and my brother’s girlfriend wanted to stop, their legs were noodles and were not convinced that they could to make it to the top, but my brother and I wanted to witness the view from the top of the mountain, to gazing upon the hills and windy roads we had traveled to get to the bottom of the mountain.
It was a day that I had been waiting for all season, why? Because it meant that the pain was going to be over and it was my final race to prove how good I really was to everyone and hopefully fulfill the goal my coach, school and fans set for me. That morning of October 28th I woke up really sick to my stomach. Nerves were taking over my body and I couldn't sit still. The ride to the course I remember putting my headphones in and zoning everything out and never truly coming out of it till after the race was over. I remember my mom hugging me and telling me how proud of me she was and that no matter how bad my shins hurt to keep running. My coach grabbed me before I went to the starting line and surprisingly said how proud he was of me too, but that it wasn't over so that could change. It was so cold outside and I remember being able to see my breath and worrying that it was going to really effect my performance. I could also see the
One day i was fishing in my uncle mikes pond and mom said that i needed to drive the golf cart the the end of the road .then she said that dalan was coming to the pond ,so i drove to the driveway and when i seen him coming around the corner he was going about 70 mph and he slammed on the brakes and turned in the driveway and he followed me to the pond .he gave us all a hug when he stoped to get out.
When I was 13 my mother, who was 7 months pregnant, had a stroke.My dad and I rushed her to the emergency room. The doctors told us she was having a stroke so they're were going to have to deliver the baby and operate on her. My baby brother Leo was premature so he had to stay in the neonatal intensive care unit for two months until he was healthy. My mom on the other hand was in a coma for about a couple of weeks. When she woke up her whole right side unable to move. She remained in the hospital for 7 months to recover and was then transferred to a rehab center in Omaha. This took a toll on our family because it was far away from home, and my mother wasn't with us on weekdays. From that point on I had to carry an immense amount of responsibility.
Throughout one’s lifetime, it is almost guaranteed that he or she has heard the saying “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” This saying is pretty self-explanatory, and it is extremely helpful in multiple scenarios, especially in times of struggle. From a young age, I have always been a cheerleader. Recently, circumstances have changed causing me to question my abilities. I have numerous personal experiences throughout my life that illustrate this saying; however, this one is the most recent.
Days after I graduated eighth grade, I woke up in the middle of the night with the worst pain of my life: a stabbing in my stomach. I reluctantly woke up my parents, and they decided we should drive to the emergency room. The stabbing feeling persisted as I curled up in the back seat trying to block out the pain. We finally arrived at the hospital, and I somehow staggered to the entrance. Right outside, I threw up and then began to panic realizing that whatever was happening was more serious than a simple stomach ache. After this point most of what occurred was a blur; the only thing I remember is being transferred to Stanford Children’s Hospital.