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.

Although, I enjoyed steady employment my desire to finish school lingered with me. I needed a guided path of straight forward thinking with no distraction also with no life worries of daily living and survival.

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.

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.

Mike and his wife Barb were happy to see me again. When I pulled into their driveway they were waiting outside his shop. Mike and I had made arrangements for me to purchase another ATV from him. This time I arrived to look at a 1984 Honda ATC250ex that he had restored. Mike is a shade tree mechanic who repairs old vehicles and ATVs and then flips them for a small profit. Entering his shop presents one with at least a dozen quads and dirt bikes all in a different stage of restoration. The youngest model in restoration is at least 25 years old. While most of the ATVs were in non-running condition, they weren’t treated like discarded trash. Each of Mike’s ATVs was positioned with disassembled parts sorted nearby as if every project had its own

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

“In every day, there are 1,440 minutes. That means we have 1,440 daily opportunities to make a positive impact.”

"How did I get here?" I thought, as the cold, hard steel of the policeman's handcuffs latched on the sensitive skin of both my wrists. Despite the staggering amount of drugs that were raging through what remained of my emaciated body, my mind somehow began to salvage some form of what could be considered clarity. As I slowly began to comprehend what was happening, the policeman started to guide me down the stairs of my home with caution. And that was when I cast my unsteady gaze over my shoulder, only to behold the absolute indignation, repulsion, and total disappointment that dominated my mother's face. Yes, I knew how I had inevitably arrived at this moment in my life. I was being arrested because I was a thieving heroin addict, I was

As I become aware of the different issues that are happening in Puerto Rico and the rest of the world, I realize the duty we all have to be part of the solution; as a result, this summer I dedicated some of my time to community service. Even though, I had participated in some causes with my school, it was not until this summer that I discovered how rewarding it is to help others. I volunteered in the Food Bank of Puerto Rico (Feeding America), the American Red Cross and Puerto Rico Therapy Dogs. Each of the causes is special in their own way and I really enjoyed working with them.

The hospital became a very familiar place for me at the age of 19; as my mother went through all the necessary steps leading up to her operation, she was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor, although it was benign it was pressing on a major vessel blocking the proper flow of blood to her brain. As the doctors explained to us what needed to be done and that all the hard work would begin once the operation was over, I knew right then and there that my mother needed me now more than ever.

Some time during my elementary education my mom told me that when accompanied by pain, experiences or ideas are committed stronger to memory, which is why in college she would memorize presentations whilst dunking her feet in tubs of ice water. While the pain she was speaking of was physical, through experience I’ve come to realize it’s just as true for the mental counterpart of emotional trauma. As such, the events of my childhood that stand out to me the most are the ones that brought me pain, and ultimately, they were the same ones that propelled me to grow the most.