Personal Narrative: Germany

Moving past the 1920’s, the stock markets crash of 1930’s, and the Second World War, we enter into a new world for many people, post war. The war ended in 1945 and the soldiers were sent home to their loved ones to marry and start families. Many of the fashions after the war remained the same as what was worn during the war. Many men continued to wear uniforms even at home as their way of adjusting to post war life. Another way soldiers adjusted to life after the war was by taking jackets like the Eisenhower jacket, named after President Dwight D. Eisenhower, worn during the war by wearing it as an everyday look (Welters 2015). My great grandfather, Frank Blair, on my mother’s side of the family was one of those soldiers who returned home to

For the past seventeen years of my life minus a few months, I have lived in the United States. I grew up skiing and bicycling in Grand Rapids, Michigan, until my family decided to move all the way out west to Flagstaff, Arizona. Many eleven-year-olds might become stubborn and defensive in response to such a massive, life-changing move, but I remember embracing it because I was with my family, and I was ready to face any obstacle that unveiled itself to me because I knew that my late comedic father, my worrisome mother, and my troublesome brother would be right by my side. As we made the two-day drive from Michigan to Arizona in our SUV together, we watched the numbers on the odometer crawl up more and more until there were 2,000 more miles on the car than there were when we started, and we

Growing up moving between New Jersey and Puerto Rico has exposed me to diverse beliefs, languages, and history. When I was young my parents separated and as a result my mother relocated us to New Jersey. Thus, I learned English and interacted with many people from various backgrounds. In New Jersey, I was a girl scout for several years, and my experience in girl scouts has taught me valuable teamwork and leadership skills. Constantly switching between two places has made me a very open minded and curious person. It’s also given me an opportunity to develop my social and communication skills.

I have had a plethora of unique life experiences, many of which have happened in the last couple years of my life. In the past three years I have traveled to Guatemala, all over Germany, and Hawaii. During the summer of my freshman year of High School, I went on a missions trip to Guatemala. My church took 10 boys, and 10 girls; we spent a total of a week in a small impoverished town called . I believe that this trip allowed me, for the first time, to see, and be enveloped in a new culture. During the trip I ate new foods, played new games, and learned about the Guatemalan culture. I was able to spend time with all of the local kids, and learn how to respect a new culture. Then, this last summer, I was able to take a part in a German Exchange program with my school. After taking 3 years of German in High School, I was one of twenty people selected to go on a three-week long exchange program in Germany. The trip consisted of a week traveling with the 20 people chosen to go. The other two weeks were spent living with my host family and German partner. During my stay there I visited Berlin, Munich, Cologne, and traveled to the Netherlands. This was another chance for me to experience a new culture, and to further my German speaking skills. However, more importantly, it allowed me to make lifelong friends in another part of the world. About a month after I got back from Germany, my family went on a 12 day vacation to Hawaii. During my time there I had the opportunity to do a

Although Emily was my age, she acted as if she was about 22. She was a complete know it all and was perfect in every way physically. All the swim coaches and all her teachers absolutely loved her. She was a stuck up, rich girl with a beautiful house and an even better home life. After practice the night the team and I met the pitcher family, I went home and spoke my mind to my mother whom also had the pleasure of meeting them that day. I told my mom all about how I liked everyone in the family except Emily. My mom told me to, “Just give her a chance because you never know what others are going through when you don’t actually know them”.

While I was growing up, I lived in many places. I was born in Budapest, Hungary and lived there until my father finished his medical degree when I was two years old. Soon after, for financial reasons, my family and I moved to the United States. First we lived in Missouri for five years, next we moved to North Carolina to be closer to our family. Periodically we returned to Hungary to visit relatives. With each visit, I learned more and more about Hungary, the language, and European culture. Luckily my mother had the wisdom to take my brothers and I back to Hungary to do a year of schooling there. That single year expanded my perspective of the world, it was no longer the United States as a separate entity from the rest of the world, but it

I’ve always been an outsider, it’s been hard for me to build friendships and relationships. Not too long ago, there I sat in the corner of the room in the way back, trying to hide from the world, and be myself. I didn’t really want to get involved with anything or anyone. I was afraid to open up, talk to others, maybe because I was afraid to get rejected. Until, I met the best people I could ever meet, my best friends Marisa Mendoza, Jessica Contreras and Deseray Reyes, the ones who up to this day have sticked by my side, at my best, and worst moments. They have all been a big part of my life, I can enjoy every minute I spend with them. For me, they aren’t only my friends they are like my sisters.

This past week would be my fourth time going to anything state. This Tuesday my aunts and a couple of my cousins and I got in the car and drove all the way to Des Moines for the state tournnament. Once we got there we sat down in a good spot it was Hannah, Trey, Kayla, and I. Kayla and Hannah left to go to the bathroom, and it was Trey and I saving the spots. Trey left to go to the bathroom so I was saving the spots. After a little bit Kailyn Erikson and Emma Rissman came and asked me to move, (I thought they wanted to get through) then all of a sudden they sat down. And I said "excuse me these spots are saved" and they said, "not anymore". So when they got back they asked the girls to leave and they said 'We are older so we can sit here".

I moved into a quiet neighborhood in Orlando, Florida on January 24, 2008. I was a college student working part time at a local Target. I kept to myself and tried to make a little money and have good grades. I didn’t really know anyone, and no one really knew me unless I either worked or went to school with them. One day in early March, I was working on my yard and a little girl tossed her ball into my yard by accident. She ran over and grabbed it. As she ran off, I noticed how happy she was to just be playing with a ball, something that anyone else would take for granted. She looked happy and so excited.

On July 8, 2016, I passed through TSA security between 4:00 a.m. and 4:12 a.m.

It was my freshman year of high school where I was just a lost fish in a hugh sea of people attending Byron Nelson High School, with no clue who I was and my place in life. Life seemed rough but then again it was freshman year. When I was attending Byron I didn't know what I was going to do with my life in the future. On one day just like any other the morning school announcements came on; talking about some meeting in the counselor's office about some academy. At that time I had no idea what they were talking about and I had never even heard of Eaton High school, which happens to be the new high school for my school district. It came to lunch time where my friend that I sat with was absent, so I figured why not go see what this meeting is

Once upon a time, I was travelling in a random European kingdom. I had just arrived in the capital, when I heard a juicy piece of gossip. Apparently, a local miller had boasted to the king that his daughter could spin straw into gold. Of course, this took me by surprise because spinning straw into gold was my thing.

There was only one week before I left for my trip to the Bahamas. My dad had already booked our trip and he told me we were staying in the little hotel across the street from the Atlantis Resort in Nassau, Bahamas. To be honest I was pretty upset about it. Although before leaving for our vacation I was given the great news from my dad that we were not staying at the hotel across from the resort and we were actually staying at the huge Atlantis Royal Towers section of the Atlantis Resort with a great view. This news had completely brightened my day. Two days after finding out the fantastic news we left for the airport at around three o’clock in the morning. We flew out of O’Hare International Airport so we had to ride on a tram to get the airport where something happened that, to me, is rather coincidental. Since it was only three in the morning there was no one on the tram except for my parents and I, along with a young couple. Once we got off the tram we made our way to the gate for our flight to Miami, Florida to board the connecting flight to Nassau. When we got on the plane we recognized the people in our row as the same young couple we saw on the tram earlier in the morning! After landing and making our way to the connecting flight we noticed that the young couple from the flight was going to the Bahamas as well. I just thought that the encounter was a pretty interesting coincidence and is something that I will probably remember for quite a while.

My mom got a call from my Aunt in Florida. My Aunt had just spoken to her son, who was hysterical about the death of one of his best friends. His best friend happened to be my physics/AP Computer science teacher. My teacher was making

August 28, moving day. With all our stuff packed in boxes, garbage bags, plastic storage containers, and suitcases, we were ready to bring all our things downstairs. 7 am in the morning and my mom assigns us all a “job”. Her, my older brother, my dad, and my two uncles were to bring all the things downstairs and make sure nothing was gonna get left behind. My mother sent me and my younger brother downstairs to check on the two cars in front of our house. You see, we needed those cars to move so we can park the uhaul trailer in front of the house so packing our stuff can go faster. 9 am, the cars still haven’t moved and as the others finish up cleaning, we were losing time. Since of course this was my last day in Brooklyn, i wanted to see some