Personal Narrative Essay: Colin's Story

Outside the studio apartment in Hollywood, Eddie notices an entry call access system. Buzzing to her studio 103, the entryway unlocks and invites her in. With her overnight bag in

Cameron Academy, the place where it all started for me. The first ever school that I had gone to. It was the place where I learned to fear anyone older and bigger than you because the teenagers there were not above fighting kindergarteners. Where I learned that the safest place to be after school was the office because the fights between the police and the students that took place outside on the front steps of the school were too brutal for me to witness; at least that's what my mom told me. That school was the place where I learned to be ashamed of any art that I may produce, to always keep it to myself, lest I be laughed at by the teachers. Cameron Academy is where I learned that “bad” kindergarteners who were in Ms. Valorie’s class got beat up.

Four shots. That's the amount of bullets that i triggered , for. Time of death 12:49 and by then I could feel their death chills immediately after their heart stopped. Their body was so cold as if their warm souls rushed out and left behind the cold, corrupted and bitter body.

I groaned and slowly sat up, it was still dark..I looked around and saw the boys still sleeping. I heard whimpering form the baby monitor. I walked towards Justin's nursery and opened it. Justin was awake, He was sucking his pacifier and had his blanket in his hand. Tears literally covered his face, and snot was running down like rivers

Summer of 1994. New York City smelled no different than hot rat piss and looked accordingly. Fresh off my 15th birthday and wandering the Brooklyn streets with Hakeem, we followed the music wherever it played. Our community cherished music through constant airplay. Anyone with loud speakers, either in their car, apartment, or boombox, blared any of the anthems from the future greats. Whether it's Nas, Wu-Tang, Biggie, or Tribe, the list is blissfully endless. Hakeem’s brother, a well-connected music promoter, gave Hakeem two tickets to this secret show he was putting on for Ice Cube, who, despite being the first notable west coast rapper, carries a rage within him that the east coast entirely recognizes.

Mark has a sister named Ann who is six years old. Antonio is a faster runner, strong student and won Best Athlete award. Marci bought a new car her old car cost to much to repair, but her new car is smaller than her old car. The dog chased a cow. You can have cake or pie. Do pushups until I tell you to stop. There are a lot of people. That is an orange. I am better than you. I was in the office as if II were in trouble.

It was a fine Sunday Morning. I was about to experience a fun day of baseball. It was a beautiful afternoon for a trip to the ballpark. I could hardly wait to get there to experience all of the fun things. I was with my brother and his girlfriend and my two nephews and me.I got there by car with my brother's girlfriend and me and my nephew. When we got there we went to the park there and played on the playground. Then we headed up to our seats which were all the way at the top ,one of the best seats in the house. I went down to the concession stand and my brother gave me $20 to buy three pops and a small pop for my nephews and me. The guys who comes to you and give you the ice cream and stuff. we got slushies

There was one day in the summer of my 7th grade year, it was a little different than others because I was about to head to Orlando, Florida to play baseball. This was a very exciting time for me and my entire team because we had worked so hard to get to this very moment at this very tournament. After a short flight we arrived in Orlando. This was a great sight because you could see ESPN World WIde of Sports complex from a mile away. This was a start to an absolutely great time and tournament in Florida.

“I’m trying,” the Kidd snarled. “But this miserable bird wants to put his tail feathers in my face.”

When I joined the military, I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into. It is one of the main reasons why I decided to join the Reserves and not Active duty. The other main reason was because I knew the Reserves would still pay for college while I was only active one weekend a month. Growing up in Killeen, Texas – I was right beside one of the largest Army post which is Fort Hood. I had a lot of friends whose parents were in the military, and two distant cousins who were also in the service. All I knew, (or thought I knew) was they had good money.

Last year, in October during the cheerleader’s concert, that my mom and dad were singing at, I asked, “Do you want to dance?” My mom said, “yes”. Walking out to dance, she fell and accidently tripped me and landed on my ankle. It felt as if someone was breaking my leg in half. It got really numb where I couldn’t feel it, but I still knew I was in some pain. Picking me up off the ground, my mom sat me on the bleachers. Everyone came over there and it was really embarrassing. My dad carried me to the car and we drove to the dollar store to buy me an icepack to put on it.

Just wanted to keep you in the loop – Vanessa sat down with me yesterday and let me know that she was not “officially giving her resignation” but that she felt that her position is too overwhelming. The multi-tasking, number of committees, ambassador and Leadership Coachella Valley coordination is too much for her. I totally get her stress – as I have stated before the Not-for-profit sector of business is TOTALLY different than the corporate world. 95% of the time we are being pulled, prodded and poked in every direction and it is very overwhelming at times and not for everyone.

“My mamma ate bad. My grandma ate bad. Now, the food was good, so good, but you know it’s like soul food, so it’s not that good for you. My mamma had diabetes too. I’m sure grandma did too, but she didn’t go to the doctor ever. She couldn’t afford it. I can though. That’s how I found out I had diabetes. I got it from them, of that I am sure.”

There are two types of people in this world: those who take risks and those who think about it but do not. The people who take risks are the ones who make a difference in the world. The people who remain sedentary want to but they do not act. They tell themselves that they will do it tomorrow and they think they have time “for a hundred indecisions” (Prufrock). But humans are not immortal and it is time that fact is realized. People should live life to the fullest by taking risks because that is how life is measured.

People say that siblings do not have an impact on each other, that they just fight all of the time. Well that is a lie. A sibling is a friend, family, and the one that is there when no one else might be. They are the ones that are there from the first breath, the first words, and the first steps. My brother, Donovan, is my rock. He is the one that I know that I can trust with anything. He is four years older than I am. He stands five feet and eleven inches tall. He is muscularly built with a military haircut. Usually he is wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Every now and then he will be in a golf shirt and khakis. He either will smell like his dog Rex or like his deodorant. His smile is one in a billion. When he talks, I hear a somewhat low voice with a hint of a country accent. He can be a bit of a smart-aleck. It seems like he constantly has to be moving. My brother is a guy that anyone would be lucky enough to know and have as their friend.