Personal Narrative Analysis

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.

I do this for the ones who sing in the shower instead of a stage. with the heart of a poet filled with

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.

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.

Welcome to my outlandish, yet in my opinion, amusing brain! The name presented to me upon birth is Taylor Lee Thompson. Currently, I am suffering through the struggles of junior year at Marion Senior High School. Difficult classes, early mornings, and extracurricular activities have made me an expert in the sport of juggling. The class that has appealed to me the most over the years is Criminal Justice. I found the behind the scenes instruction absolutely riveting! My instructor, Mrs. Hamm, kept me on my toes and I was always learning about crime, criminals, and cases. On the other hand, the class I utterly dread is history. Any and every type of history has always slowly bored me to sleep. I am convinced we are taught the same curriculum

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.

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 has been a while since we had last talked. How have you been? I have been fantastic, although school is substantially more stressful, when compared to seventh grade. I am still participating in and enjoying soccer. The last couple of holidays in which the family came together have been amazing.

A time that a strongly held belief of mine was challenged, was when I stumbled upon an article that spoke of a fusion of religion and science. Growing up in a heavy Christian household and going to a very large church in Michigan, my life was filled with everything Christian, including the idea that evolution was not real. While in kindergarten and middle school I had been told to listen to teachers explain scientific ideas such as evolution, and natural selection, but to not believe them to be true, because God made everything and as such there would be no need for evolution or natural selection to fix things. For many years I followed this belief learning, but not truly understanding material, as I was raised to just take in the knowledge

"Please fastened your seatbelt" I felt my heart raced against my chest as I inspect my uncle lips translating loudly to my parents. As I gazed out the window, it frightens me that I am across the world where I was originally from. The spring breeze from mid April at night gave me the chill down my spine, it was extremely cold for us. As we were in line to get our papers done I held my parents hands, deep inside I shed a tear because my soul is whimpering as it try to overcome my body from the fear of the inexperienced lifestyle.

A reoccurring circumstance in my life that I have been apart of for the last couple of years is competing on a cross-country team. For me, running is both exercise and a metaphor. Running day after day, piling up the races, bit-by-bit I raise the bar, and by clearing each level I elevate myself. At least that’s why I’ve put in the effort day after day: to raise my own level. Racing for me hasn’t always been this crystal clear. When I first started running there were the wind sprints, suicides, mile runs, max-out days, and the months of conditioning that made me wonder why as athletes we keep giving a 110 percent day in and day out.

For the first six years of my life, I was a content child who enjoyed the companionship of a younger brother and had little to no worries. Then one day in August, my family decided that it was time to move again. This time our destination was Keene Texas, a rather small city whose only notable feature was a modest Seventh Day Adventist University.

I’ve been called a perfectionist, a procrastinator, a control freak, scatterbrained, a worrywart, and a stress case, not without good reason. I’ve had anxiety issues since I was little, but the growing pressure from middle school to high school really brought out the stress big-time. Throughout elementary school, I received good grades but I acted shy and distracted. I spent lots of time with my nose buried in a book- at home, while shopping, in the car, at other people’s houses, even while crossing the street (which I do not recommend). Fiction, specifically fantasy, was my favorite escape. I’d spend hours attending Hogwarts, discovering Narnia, fighting in the Hunger Games, exploring Fablehaven, and taking on Greek mythological monsters. It was just so much easier and more fun to deal with fictional problems than face reality.

As we grow into young adults, we begin to develop and change as individuals. These changes that occur in one’s lifetime can either reveal the better good in a person or the worse. Like anyone else, I too experienced changes as I went from an immature freshman to a developed junior. Most of these changes were beneficial, while others were not. Nonetheless, I feel as though I have transformed into an independent person with the changes I have made in my life.