Personal Narrative

I went to a new school with new people. I felt like an outsider. But these people, they didn’t understand my situation; they just thought I was quiet and shy on the first day because that was my

I arrived at practice with my shoes laced, hair pulled back, and the mindset that I was unstoppable. I could play against every member of my team and come out the victor on any given day. It was the first day of practice that week, and challenge matches were scheduled to begin. The team went through our daily shuffle of drills, conditioning, and running to prepare for what was lying ahead. While warming up with my friends, I felt great, talking about homecoming, boys, and a variety of irrelevant events. I felt ready. The odds were in my favor and nobody could stop me.

My mother had quiet a lot of brothers and sisters, there was nine in all.. Mother said most of her brothers and sisters married out of their parents house in Sampson City, moving into one of the houses owned by a man named Mr. Hogan, In these days the houses were called quarters, which consisted of one or two bed rooms and a kitchen all sat in a row. The families living in those little houses worked for Mr. Hogan who was the BOSS MAN. All the men worked at the Turpentine steel, that was owned by Mr. Hogan. They paid no rent and received a very small salary for their labor. Sundays after church was the relaxing time. We would visit with family and friends. In that time we did not own cars in that time, we did not have to go out in shop. The

I was not an intentionally bigoted twelve-year-old. I was raised in an affluent suburban community where the vast majority of people are white. The 100% white private nursery school which I attended was chosen by my parents largely due to its proximity to our home. My public elementary school was about 70% white as it was populated with students who resided nearby. Finally, the private middle school which I attended, located almost an hour from my home, provided me with exposure to the most diverse student body of my youth as it was comprised of about 65% Caucasian children. What each of these formative academic experiences shared in common was both that their student bodies were disproportionately Caucasian, as well as that their senior administrators

I hear noises coming from my room, I walk upstairs and see that the door is closed, I peer in, “I don’t know where Donnie is my lord”, Sarah talks into a silver flip up transmitter, “find him, I need him alive” Bob says angrily. I shut the door, but it made a loud sound, Sarah looks over and thinks, oh no, my cover is blown. I walk out to the backyard and stand facing the back fence looking out onto the ocean, thinking how did I miss that she is a cleaner? A few minutes later Sarah comes out and stands next to me, “you had me going when you told me about your dream yesterday” I said, “How can I trust you now?” I continue. “Yes it’s true, I am a cleaner” she admits, “I was going to tell you, I swear Donnie”, “when? Right before you kill me” I asked. “The truth is, I don’t want to be a cleaner anymore, I hate it” she starts to tear up, “and then I met you, and thought my life could be different”, “and I’m supposed to believe that?” I asked, “yes” she answers, I look deep into her eyes and see no trace that she is lying “yes it’s true I was supposed to bring you back to Og to be killed, but I fell in love with you the moment I say you”.

Like the beginning of every good soap opera, everything was normal in the beginning. I lived with my mom and it had just been us for my entire life. My mom had began to see a man. As it turns out, this man would take our happy and simple world and flip it upside down.

Hello! I hope everyone is having a great day/afternoon/night. I’m Mayra Barragan, I’m Mexican, so yay tacos and burritos! No, I’m just playing. I do love tacos, but believe it or not, that’s not all we eat or that we tremendously adore. I am the type of person who would rather keep to themselves than socialize and attempt to make new friends because I’m not so good at it. Singing, drawing, decorating, crafting, listening to music, reading and writing are not only my hobbies but some are also my passions. English is my absolute favorite subject because the ways we can utilize it are endless and can also be very creative.

Hearing the sounds of people breaking in half a wooden slab with their feet and cries being shouted out, I hesitantly entered the Dojo, placing my sandals in a cabinet. Dreading the smell of feet and sweat I didn’t enjoy coming. Not only was the smell bad but the physicality that was required was discomforting. The hits that my back and ribs received from missed side-kicks and jabs was unbearable.

I wake up at 5:30, five days a week, and each time I try to cram in five extra minutes, I end up having a late start to my day.

It seemed as if we had only been at school for about an hour before it was time for

“Don’t be nervous, you’ll be fine!” These were the last words I heard before I got out of the car to walk through those front doors and start my first day of high school. Sure that’s what my mom thought. She’s an innocent five year old –only sees good and that anything is possible. She thinks since I made it this far, nothing could be so erroneous to complicate things and that it should be a breeze. Just four more easy years then I’ll be off to my dream; University of Texas at Austin or Baylor University. What she didn’t apprehend was that I was starting high school with only one person that I knew-Olira.

The sky melted from a clear blue to creamsicle orange and pinks to a dark, starry navy. I could see the sun’s transition really well inside the little glass diner I worked at, Cosmo’s. The ceiling and walls were constructed entirely of glass, and blue lights made up the floor, giving the small diner a cold, lonely feeling. The booths were silver with pastel blue cushions, the tables silver with shimmery blue tablecloths, pressed under glass. The bar table, that enveloped me, silver with blue lights underneath the glass top, accompanied by tall, blue faux leather bar stools.

When I was 11 I owned a dog named Bruno, who always managed to bring a smile to my face. Unfortunately one day when I returned from Mexico, I was devastated to find out he had run away. Ever since I was young I've been self-reliant so it was lovely to have someone there for any circumstance. My parents would usually be at work and when they home they'd usually be in their room resting. In addition, I'm the youngest child, my youngest older brother winning me by 8 years, so I didn't really have siblings to accompany me especially since they all started a family significantly young—this of course only led to them moving on faster meaning I was pretty much on my own. It was nice to have someone so ecstatic to see you that they literally jumped

In the middle of August, during my transition from sophomore year to junior year, I started working with my grandfather with his investment business. My grandfather lacked most computer literacy, so I was mainly there to print out reports for his three person company. Working for my grandfather would later set me up with the opportunity to take my first step towards adulthood.

Opening the link, I was hit with instant nostalgia, memories of my grandfather calling me to the living room, rambling about a man with no limbs. I remember sitting there with him, smiling as a result of my grandfather being passionate about Nick and his seminars, tuning in time to time, listening to the voice over translation in spanish. At the time, I didn't fully understand what my grandfather meant when he said he was an inspiration and how he gives hope to others, as I was a relatively cheerful (snobby for the lack of a better word) pre-teen. I went along with it, hoping to somehow get out of watching this man as it was translated in Spanish and it took quite the effort for me to piece the words and sentences together.