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.

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.

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.

While I feel there are adversities presented to all people throughout life, I find mine stem from having to hard work for things I want to accomplish and not being blessed with the best abilities, it is my competitive nature that allows me to be who I am today. The drive that I feel in school or on the mound, the drive being to be the best I can be and to be a competitor. I always want to feel as if I am the best. The work I put in, on and off the baseball field, in and outside of school, all of it, has always been for one purpose; to get better and to be the best possible. Often when asked about my mental drive (most often by parents) I try to explain the feeling, the feeling or rather need to be better than anyone around you. Some get discouraged

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.

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.

Northwestern has already played a massive role in my development as a learner. Starting in fifth grade I took an Astronomy summer class with the Center for Talent Development program. I was hooked! I continued to take CTD courses throughout middle school. Having a group of likeminded classmates fostered a passion for science that catapulted me into AP courses in High School. Northwestern attracts a student community that I want to be a part of.

I was just an ordinary teenager, now finally finishing out my freshman year of high school when I got this terrible “invisible injury”. My friend and I were running around on the last day of gym for the school year when out of the corner of my eye I saw a dark shadow quickly approaching my head. My whole body jolted as I tried to comprehend what had just happened, my head spun. Little did I know that my life would be transformed those quick seconds due to the chaos that was gym basketball. The summer going into sophomore year was anything but ordinary, majority of it consisting of me sitting in dark rooms playing with children's toys such as legos and play-doh, or wearing sunglasses everywhere, even inside stores at the mall. It was as

I was in seventh grade and it was finally summer. This summer I was going to travel around Europe with my family. I was super exited as this was going to be the best trip ever. Then before we left for Europe I was in the pool and I got out. My mom noticed that one of my hips was higher than the other. The next day she brought be to a doctor and they said I had scoliosis. I had no idea what that was. Once they told me that it means that my spine is curved I didn’t really care.

One of the biggest decisions I had to make while transcribing was how much detail to include. A more detailed transcription would relay how I pronounce the words and sounds, but that may differ due to my accent. I decided to use Standard English pronunciation to avoid any problems with this. When it came to transcribing the numbers (1992 and 6am) I decided to transcribe them as they’re said; as opposed to leaving them in their numerical form. This meant slightly more time and effort was involved but I thought it better to be safe rather than sorry. The trickiest part was having to get each letter from the phonetic alphabet onto this word document. Having a keyboard that lacks the many symbols and marks used meant that it took a lot longer to

I always used to think I never had anything special, that I was just a normal human being. I would attempt playing sports, playing an instrument, but nothing would really click. It wasn’t until at around the age of twelve I finally found something I could do and actually prosper in. I was placed in an art class where I not only surprised myself but others around me as well. Thanks to this new found talent I was able to find something special inside me that would help me stand out from the crowd. My new love for this activity didn't fully grow until I was spontaneously given the amazing opportunity to help paint a mural on the front of a Thai restaurant downtown. With the help of a bunch of my friends, we would brainstorm ideas of what we should

have a passion for business, that makes me an outstanding and fierce competitor for LIVE. My previous experiences from when I joined LIVE Future Leadership Challenge in Grade 11 and 12 gives me an advantage over other contenders. In fact, my team was placed 3rd in Grade 12 as a result of our determination and diligence.

From 1999 to early 2004, my life in Guamuchil, Sinaloa, was a routine one. I was born to two hard working parents, constantly surrounded by family as most of us lived within short walking distance of each other. This routine life, however, was turned upside down when my dad was laid off from his job. After years of financially struggling and contemplating our family’s future, my dad’s job loss was the push that finally motivated my parents to relocate us in hopes of a better life. Being a five-year old, I didn’t completely understand what our move meant until I found myself in a strange country with an equally strange language. Once I began school, my constant frustration was not being able to communicate with the other children. Making friends

I lived in Mckinney my whole life and thought everything was falling into place the way I wanted it. I had the best of friends, the perfect house, which held all my childhood memories, and enjoyed the school I went to everyday. Just as I thought my life in Mckinney would last longer, my parents shared the news that we would be moving to Prosper. At this point I thought that everything I had planned and expected my life to be was ruined. Even though Prosper is right down the street from Mckinney, I would no longer live in the house I grew up in and not share my high school experience with my best friends I’ve known since kindergarten.