Personal Narrative: Going To School In Aspen, Colorado

Leaving my home in Hawaii and moving to Oregon was one of the hardest things for me to do. Maybe I would have felt better about it if my parents had asked me for my opinion before picking up our lives and moving to some place I had never even heard of before. I know I shouldn’t have cared that much. After all, I was only a 1st grader and even now my parents don’t consider how I’d feel before making decisions, so why would they then? At the end of 2007, I said goodbye to my best friends for the last time and left for Oregon.

One year it was spring break, my family planned a trip to Colorado. Two days before we left we went shopping. I got a lot of shorts and capris. Also shirts to match. Then got snacks from sams and went home to pack.

During my high school days and the last few semesters when I was at Sandhill Community College I was way too comfortable. I slacked off and all I was thinking about was just getting doing the minimum to just be finished already. Recently, I was pushed by the looks of my grades that I just needed to get things done; I wanted to be free, not to do my best, just to finish so I could say I passed all my classes. Now I realize life isn’t about just getting by, but about bringing all you have to be able to become successful in what needs to be done. In the next paragraphs I will explain what I expected to happen, what actually happened, what I learned, and how I will apply what I learned to future plan.

I would be lying if I said Rock Valley College was my first choice when it came down to choosing a place to continue my studies. Then again, like many others students, I didn’t have a

I have some news for you… You’re not going to like it”. The hardest thing for me yet, is trying to fit in. So, coming home to a parent saying we’re moving was amazing news, I couldn’t be happier. But, moving school districts was going to be a very hard obstacle to maneuver around. One year later, coming home from work, my father came up to me and told me he got a promotion in his job. I was thrilled for him, after that he told me we have to move again, this time to Texas. This is not what I had in mind, however, I still was happy for him and expected myself to accept the idea of making more friends in a different state.

Beginning my elementary school career, I attended Indianapolis Public Schools. When I entered school, Kindergarten was only half days, and we were working on materials such as, learning our alphabet and counting to 100. The workload was a far cry from the addition, subtraction, early reading skills, and science that my daughter is learning in kindergarten this year. Following the first grade I left the Indianapolis Public School System and entered into a new school system. Embarking on second grade we started working on the skills that would help us read proficiently. I was absolutely struggling, but I was also so distrustful that I didn’t dare to say anything to my teacher. Thankfully, even without me saying anything to her, my teacher noticed

The year was 1999 when we moved to Colorado from New Mexico. I was just a year old. My father recalls searching restlessly day and night to help support me and my mother. Coming to a new state was difficult; moving from basement to basement was their only option. Fortunately, a little after our arrival, my father found a job working construction and we were able to get a small apartment.Although small, it was still fulfilling in every way. Money was scarce at the time, as well as food. As he talks, he mentions a weekend night when he and I were spending some time together in the living room. I was a year old, and I was hungry. I decided to go to the kitchen and find some milk. When I made it to the kitchen, I opened the fridge. My father says,

Canton, Georgia was the city where I was raised from the time I was seven years old. The quiet neighborhood was where most of my friendships were developed. The majority of my friends rarely left Canton. We attended the same elementary, middle and high schools and played on the same sports teams. My upbringing is what most would consider a normal, American childhood. During the summer before my sophomore year in high school, we were given the opportunity to move to the city of Chicago for one year due to my father’s job which required relocation. That August we moved to Lincoln Park, a neighborhood in the city. Moving to Chicago was a new opportunity to live in a metropolitan city. Since I never lived outside of the suburbs, I was not sure what to expect. Jones College Prep, a highly

Kansas City born and raised in rural Indiana, I did not live and grow up in the same house as most kids around here do. I’ve moved twice in my lifetime and couldn’t be more grateful that we did. My family has made southern Indiana our home now for the last 15 years. I’ve played multiple sports here and with each sport I made more and more friends. When I go back to the city I was born in, I think about how different my life would’ve been if my parents hadn’t decided to move. I would have never gotten the chance to wake up and be surrounded by corn fields every day. I would never have been able to ride fourwheelers in my backyard, mow grass on a riding-mower, or even have a garden. There is privacy here, whereas neighbors in the city can see

Colorado, known for the Rocky Mountains, is a gorgeous place to be. The rectangular state rich with wildlife, covers 104,185 square miles. In the black timber, it is dark and silent, not a sound to be heard. The thick pine trees block out most of the sunlight, only to see about seventy-five yards. The terrain is brutal, almost straight up and down, but the elk love it because it is a challenge for hunters to see them. As I walk my favorite ridgeline in the black timber, I watch for the slightest movement and listen for the smallest crack. Watching thirteen-lined ground squirrels run around and chase each other can be humorous when they fall down from trees. My adrenaline pumps and heart races at a million miles per hour as I wait patiently

When I moved to this city I didn't think that I would be popular or the All-Star Quarterback for my school. We had to move here because of my dad's “business opportunity” that would give our family a lot more money. We were always struggling with money, that’s mostly why mom and dad fought a lot. I was always telling them “let me get a job and I could help”. But they always said “no you are too young and this doesn't concern you.

My life experience while attending Pikes Peak Community College in spring of 2012 seemed to be moving right along. My husband Larry and I decided to take a trip back home to South Carolina when the semester was over. We arose early Friday morning and got on the road around 5:00 am. We continued driving until we reached St. Louis, MO. We had been driving for 16 hrs, therefore we were tired and hungry from driving all day. We decided to stop at Red Roof Inn. We arose the next day at 6:00 am, ate breakfast and proceeded on our way to South Carolina. We arrived at 2:00 pm at my big sister’s Lillie’s house. There we found out that my little sister Sarah had been staying with Lillie for the last four months. As the day continued into the night, we had gotten some news about Sarah

Moving schools and neighborhoods was when I first felt like a stranger in the village, but in this case it’s not a village. Attending my new school was so hard to get comfortable with, but I managed. I made friends instantly and made new memories. Unfortunately some problems with my dad didn’t change and he would try to meddle with my mom's life and control her still which wasn’t good for my mom.

Have you ever had to move to a place and didn’t want too or even couldn’t do anything about it? Having to make new friends? No way. In life things changes a lot and I didn’t think things would change so drastically at such a young age. I’ve been living in Iowa for my whole life and I had thought I would be living there for the rest of my life. That was my city, I had grown up with the most fantastic kids who I went to school with since preschool. I knew like every kid in my grade or near my grade because that’s how long I lived there, to know a lot of locals. Iowa City was a place I was born at, it was a place I knew that was home because I was so used to everything around my surroundings. There are many mistakes I’ve made in my life, yet

Hello all! My name is Luis. I been living in Colorado Springs since 2009, and I am currently working to finish my Associate’s in Accounting. Yes, I love numbers! Also, I am currently working at Colorado Springs Health Partners as a buyer of office and medical supplies. I like exercising and motorcycle riding.