Personal Narrative-Engaged In People

Walking away from everything you once knew and starting over is never a picnic. Leaving Iraq, and moving to America has impacted my life more than anything. I was only 4 years old at that time, and the only English I spoke was “excuse me, water please.” My family and I did not know it then, but our lives were going to change; we would become “Americanized”. Learning English was one of the massive changes that occurred, the way I dressed (culture), and even the way I had power to go to school and educate myself.

It was the day the junior high volleyball girls played Madison Grant! They were the only team that we lose to last year.We were going back and forth and back. It was a really good game. Who won the biggest rivalry in Frankton JH?

Over my years of school, one big influence on me has always been sports. Ever since a young age, I have always enjoyed playing and watching sports. In my four years in high school, I have fell in love with the sport of lacrosse.

I woke up and took one bite out of my pop tart but that one bite was all I could eat. My legs were shaking, and my heart was pounding. My dad told me, “It is a true honor to even make it this far so go out there and have some fun.” Once I heard this statement, I knew I was ready to go. I arrived at school and boarded the bus. The car ride was an hour and fifteen minutes of hearing the squeaking of the wheel on the bus. My teammates were getting their heads ready for the big game.

Around two or three years ago my family and I had to move houses. Moving was sudden and we didn't know it was going to happen. This made moving out and into the other house a lot harder. Since we were moving so fast somethings we just decided to leave behind with the person that was still living there. We got most things with us but one thing that we did leave back in the old place was our living room tv. Since we had just moved and my family isn't rich my mom said we couldn't go get a new one for some time. This sucked because I used the tv a lot for watching show, movies, and playing games just like the rest of my family did. Having a tv wasn't something we needed at all but it was always something to do when you were bored and there was no other things to do. Another big thing was my grandma had just gotten us a new playstation 3 and now we weren't able to used it at all because there was no television. Not having a tv was bummer for me and I thought it was a huge problem when it really wasn’t.

Moving, for many people, can be a difficult process. A lot of the time kids have to switch schools and deal with the challenge of making new friends and getting used to everything new. Since my parents divorced when I was five years old, I can remember living in many different homes. My mother would rent out a place, live there for a few months, then meet a new guy and move on. For years, I hoped to myself that my mom and dad would get back together, like Nick and Elizabeth Parker from “The Parent Trap.” I knew, however, deep down that such a thing just couldn’t happen. My four siblings and I were dragged along, forced to go with the flow and adapt as quickly as possible. Up till she married her second husband, Tony. As young as I was,

Growing up with a father in the military, you move around a lot more than you would like to. I was born just east of St. Louis in a city called Shiloh in Illinois. When I was two years old my dad got the assignment to move to Hawaii. We spent seven great years in Hawaii, we had one of the greatest churches I have ever been to name New Hope. New Hope was a lot like Olivet's atmosphere, the people were always friendly and there always something to keep someone busy. I used to dance at church, I did hip-hop and interpretive dance, but you could never tell that from the way I look now.

As I was scrolling down my pictures on VSCOcam, an editing app that has been my favorite for a few years not, it struck me yet again that one of my themes for this year was authenticity.

I was going to start my band concert, and I was secretly terrified. I gripped my pair of drumsticks in one hand, and with my other hand, I clasped the music. We were only playing one song for this concert, named “Bandorama.” However, for the first time, I got one of the most important parts. It was cymbals, suspended cymbals to be specific, which is a cymbal on a leather string, hooked to a stand. It seems unimportant, but I was playing the same beat for almost the whole song, and that beat was meant to keep the whole band together. So, if I mess up, the whole band does too.

The second person I interviewed was Rosa. Rose just moved into the neighborhood about three months ago. She is 25-year-old and her ethnic background is black. Rose also lives on Richardson avenue. The way she describes where she lives is there is good people, and you have bad people that do not live there. Rosa has just one child, a little girl. I ask her does she see any crime, and she said yes. She said that she is a little bit scared because she wakes up at six to get her daughter ready for school. She goes up the little hill and she see two prostitutes there. I ask her to describe what were the prostitutes wearing she said they had on a bright shirt, with a short skit, and fishnet stockings. She said that it bothers her because her little

Camp Creighton Pond felt like my home away from home during the summers. Although it was my first week, I instantly made a connection with my counselor. Today, we were playing “Capture the Flag” in the woods, an infamous game at camp. For the first time I was terrified; the woods at camp consisted of a vast maze of trails that seemed impossible to remember. Thus, I had to rely on my counselor not to end up lost. I had to place my trust in him and looked to him for guidance. My counselor and I went off to explore the other campsites in order to devise a plan to steal their flag. As we ran through the never-ending woods, he pointed out little landmarks throughout the trails in order to help me better understand where we were are and where we were going. In no time I had a basic map etched in my head. The more time we spent in the woods, the more confident I became. However, while scouting out the other groups’ campsite, my counselor got captured. Suddenly it was up to me, I had to figure a way to rescue my counselor and win the game. I was alone.

If my name were an acronym it would be K- Knowledge, E- Enthusiastic, L- Loyal, S- Sanguine, E- Engaged, and Y- Youthful, K.E.L.S.E.Y. K would represent knowledge because of my inclination for learning about new and unique facts. I’m inclined to find out new facts every day just to have an additional fact to keep in my head. The first E would begin the word enthusiastic because, I always look forward to the next event in life, and boast about what the event will bring. If I receive good news that is celebratory or eventful, I become filled with zest and my happiness becomes impenetrable because of the overwhelm avidity. L symbolizes Loyal because I will always stand by my family and friends remains true to my words, forbidding rumors and gossip to tear me away or separate me from the ones

I always loved riding scooters at the Muncie Skate Park. I was horrified of the idea of one particular ramp. It was a quarter-pipe that was vertical more than half-way down the ramp. It was also fourteen feet high when you were looking down from the top of it. People call going down a ramp “dropping in.” I wanted more than anything to be able to drop in on that ramp.

The world exists to be explored. I moved to the United States in the April of 2015, finally getting the opportunity to explore the world. I was born and raised in India, and after living in the same city for over fifteen years, I was itching to travel, experiment, and explore. While feeling completely intimidated by the sheer size of the country, moving here was liberating, in a way. I could meet more people, eat different food, and visit new places.

“The ability to act sensibly, promptly, and appropriately, especially in a difficult situation or emergency” describes a Presence of Mind. This late 1600s, idiom in effect says that one's mind is present and functioning. Some may attribute this to a person’s propensity to exercise self-control over their emotions and make lucid decisions when faced with adversity. As I ascribe to eagerly ascertain not only an evolving mind, but one of presence this has brought about a period of introspection. In the course of this reflective occasion, oral communication and attention to detail are availed as my strong suits whilst time management and adaptability were definitive deficits.