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.

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.

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

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.

I have learned throughout the years that I am a person who gets nervous easily. Whether it is a speech, difficult test, or sports game I can count on the fact that I will be nervous, no matter the context. For me there are two things that I constantly worry about in these situations; the many possible bad outcomes, and the hype that comes before any of these situations. For example, when I was younger and had to go get a shot I would always stress about it leading all the way up to the shot. My mom would always say that the build-up is worse than the actual event. But, by over exaggerating the pain I thought I would feel, I validated my claim that shots are stressful. She was right, the shot and the accompanying pain were gone in ten minutes.

“I’m the one that’s got to die when I have to die so let me live life the way that I want to.” (Jimi Hendrix). This quote inspired me to do everything that I do to the fullest because life is short. This quote is a great quote because it sums my entire life up in under 25 words. I am writing this letter so that I will be able to help you get to know me as a student and as a friend better. I can’t wait to start this school year off so that I can learn how to do so many different things and help me in areas that I need help on.

The time in my life that i had a challenged a belief or idea was in my sophomore year of high school i had a challenge to make 3 classes up and had to fix a lot of things because in my freshman year i played around and didn't do anything and failed most of my classes so my sophomore year i had to put in a lot of work to make up them class and to make everything better such as my GPA but in high school there was another challenge that i face was when it was summer and i had to find a vehicle to buy before school started and i had to buy one with my own money and that's what i did i worked all summer and didn't have anytime to hangout with friends i worked almost everyday of the summer to get this truck at first i got discouraged after i look

The summer before my sophomore year, my cross country coach challenged our team to run 400 miles over the summer in preparation for the oncoming season. Numerous athletes on our team participated, including myself. Equating to running over four miles a day, it was not going to be effortless, however the challenge sparked a drive for success in me, and I was determined to satisfy that drive. In the final weeks, I grew excited as the finish drew near, and I eclipsed the 400 mile mark with a day to spare. Success soon followed, as for the first time our coach could remember, our team won our home meet. Overall, we were much more competitive as a team that year, and it was a fantastic experience. Partaking in those experiences again was something

My grandparents moved to the Big Island from Philly and my grandfather wanted to open a restaurant to introduce his culture to others. In June of 1991, my grandfather took over the Canaan Deli and started to serve cheesesteaks and Philly style pizza. At first everyone was skeptical about this sandwich from a restaurant that just came up out of the blue. My grandfather would tell the new customers that if they didn't like the sandwich, then he would give them their money back. The surprising thing was no one complained about it, and eventually started to ask for a cheesesteak on rice.

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.

We got in the car excited of what would come next. I knew this year would be better than last year. Me and my brothers set our goal for how many tickets we would earn. When the desired moment finally arrived we got out of the car, and walked through the parking lot. The cold breeze up against our shoulders like diving into a pool with a frigid temperature, I mean, after all, it was Christmas day. When we opened the double doors to the building we saw it, the big shiny metal door, and we all got overjoyed.