Personal Narrative-Ecstasy Exam

At twenty-two years old my younger-self had previously pictured me in an entirely different place. I never imagined living in Texas, I’m originally from Chicago, and that’s where I thought I would reside. I thought I’d be graduated from college already, but fate had a different plan. And never in a million years did I think I would become a drug addict; but I am, and you know what? It’s been the best thing that has ever happened to me, it’s something I’m truly thankful for now. See, all the things listed above may seem like negative things if you look at them from an outside perspective; however to me, they’ve changed me in ways I never thought possible just six months ago. Multiple circumstances have led me to this point, but a few stick

It was my senior year in high school when my mom told me that my cousin, Mayra, had given birth to a baby girl. However, child protective services decided that Mayra wasn’t adequate to take care of the child; due to her drug abuse. Child protective services from Mexico were trying to place the baby with close relatives. Sadly, there was only three choices, her grandma, my aunt Gloria, and myself. The choices were few and the family small.

“Final call girl’s four by eight-hundred-meter relay” called the official. The Ontario Track girl’s four by eight-meter team trooped up to lane one, in unison. I would not have wanted to be racing with anyone else but my relay family. We had trained all season for this one race. Every workout, asthma attack, tear, and shin splint has lead up to this one race to break a twenty year old school record. As we jogged with the official from the bullpen to the starting line, the crowd had uproars of excitement for the athletes. An immense smile grew across my face, not only from the ecstatic crowd, but from the anticipation to race. I approached the starting line, in the first lane, while my teammates arrayed along the fence with the other second,

She said, "Either you love volleyball or you don't the coach doesn't matter," she replied. At that moment I knew that I love volleyball and I love to play and I'm not gonna let anything get in the way of that. When I play volleyball all the abominable things in the world just seem to go

     Ecstasy, or 3, 4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine, was first synthesized and patented in 1914, by the German drug company Merck. The original purpose of the drug was to be an appetite suppressant, however in 1970 it was given to clinical depressed patients to open them up and talk about their feelings. Then in 1986, Ecstasy was determined to cause brain damage (http://faculity.washington.edu/chudler/mdma.html).

“Yeah, but you need to make sure that you’re ready no matter what,” Kara replied.

Coach Shapiro raises his monogrammed aluminum whistle and it is the most unholy sight I have ever laid my eyes on. I allow myself to exhale. I attempt taking in the air of the room when I inhale. Instead, I am greeted with the sweet ripe smell of ‘determination’. Determination is Coach’s word for sweat, as in Ya ain’t had enough ‘til ya got determination all over your body or Practice ain’t over ‘til ya are able to fill a glass with your determination. My pores are boundless and eager. My anxiety starts to show itself through the determination that leaks off of me like a faucet.

The final seconds of a cross country meet when you are sprinting down the straight away, looking at the finish line, trying to beat just one more person, is one of the most mentally and physically exhausting moments I’ve ever encountered. In the Fall of 2014 things just clicked with our girls cross country team. Winning Bi-county, Conference, Sectional, and advancing to Regional and Semi-state, was unexpected to everyone around us. Losing five of our seven varsity runners the year before got us moved from our small school rank of 3rd to 13th. Getting moved ten spots on that list motivated us even more to prove to everyone what we could do without those graduated seniors.

My condition brought me into a situation, were i had no other option than getting marihuana for medical purposes, “- some people actually need to ask for the doctor to cure the symptom…when unfortunately the cancer doesn't go away-”. I was spending money on a variety of medicines, until my kidney failed. The moment when you realized medicines you take to save your life are also killing you at the same time, you are screwed…Cancer does not only kill you physically it kills you mentally too. After a chemo, you suffer a phycological downturn that doesn't allow you to spend time with your family. Cancer did not kill me yet, but it made me stop enjoying life.

I turned in my form for Running Club by the end of the week and was ready to start running. When training began, we ran a few laps around the school and I noticed as the runs came to be longer, I would become tired sooner. Miss. Ames noticed and ran alongside me. During the runs, we would discuss other topics which would distract me from thinking about my performance in the run. Later on, the coaches would time the runners to see our performance. Being timed increased my irritation with my performance; however, Miss. Ames reminded me that I was making progress regardless of what my

“No I gotta keep running if not how will I ever run a 5K in under twenty minutes, and if the coach thought we would be sore for the meet he probably wouldn’t have made us run this far.”

I find my seat in aisle B, on the plane heading away from you. The cabin is hot and sweaty and crowded, and I suddenly feel claustrophobic, as if the white walls have closed around me like a coffin. I sink down into my narrow chair and gaze out the oblong plane window. Goodbye New York, city of dreams; it’s back to Leith, city of cruel realities, for me. Alone, but what did I expect? That you’d come with me, back to that shitehole? Nae, but when I’m here in this city with you I’m driven to the sick delusion of a junky: that I could stay in this high with you forever. I’m itching for a fag, or something stronger, to ease my parting sorrows, but we havenae even reached altitude, and there’s these sign’s on the cabin walls which loudly and accusatorily remind me of my promises. “No smoking” they seem to plead in your voice. It’ll be a long flight if I keep hearing your voice in my head. These are the effects of withdrawal after a long, sweet hit of you. Worse than the purest smack, you are for me, and I had only replaced drug addiction with my addiction to you.

The day had arrived; it was June 6th, 2015. My four by one hundred relay team, which consisted of Anna Neeser, Lexy Kubasch, Maddie Smith, and myself, had just finished warming up and checking in for our race. Our stomachs were filled with nerves as this was the MSHSL State Track Meet that every runner dreams of participating in. Our dreams had finally come true, and to have such a wonderful coach guide us along the way was a true gift.

The living quarters above the saloon allowed Victor Rodriguez to watch over his establishment and maintain his privacy. Seated alone at the slant-front desk, he counted the week’s receipts and sipped his whiskey. Satisfied with the total, he placed enough money in an envelope for an ordinary bank deposit and slid the rest to the side, bumping a stack of newspapers that fanned out to the edge of the desk.

Before I have to start warming up the Womens have to run the 100 meter. As the Women's are finishing the 100 meter I started feeling butterflies in my stomach from being nervous about the 40 yard dash. Just as Annabelle Gonzalez won the Women’s 100 meter the fans were cheering her on and on for 3 minutes. Then the announcer Vin Scully announced out loud “That the Men who are about to run the 40 yard dash take your place at the starting