Personal Narrative: Growing Up In Montana

It was a nice ordinary warm morning or so I thought. My mother had been thinking of moving for the past year, but she never really got around to it until that day when she told me and my younger sister at breakfast that we were moving to Idaho. I was very shocked and confused. It was only a few weeks ago that we went to visit Idaho to see if we liked the state. There were so many thoughts buzzing through my head such as what am I going to tell my friends and how much longer do I have to say goodbye to everyone before I never see them again. I also thought why Idaho, what was so special about the little potato state. I liked it in California. All my friends were here, this is where I grew up, and all our relatives lived here as well. Even though my family had moved around California many times before this move, Idaho was something new altogether.

Looking back out of the small window, I catch a final glimpse of corn fields and lonely railroad crossings before they dip below the horizon. For my first time on a plane, the excitement of adventure meets me as I depart from the comfort of home and enter a world unknown outside of Nebraska. Seeing the world in God’s view as the landscape evolves below, I fall in love with flying. Looking down from 30,000 feet and seeing earth on such a vast scale, I realize how much there is to discover.

San Luis, Colorado is the oldest town in Colorado. The Rio Culebra winds through the valley, surrounded by majestic mountains. It is one of the most beautiful scenes I have ever seen. My family along with many others have been here for generations. The beauty of the land is only accentuated by the beauty of our tight-knit families and culture. To counteract of all the physical and cultural beauty, there is social and economic strife everywhere around me. I live in the poorest county in Colorado and being impoverished is a challenge my community faces because of a lack of education and job deficit. As I have delved into community and family history, I have better understanding that the fact the that while many things like our support and love for family and culture have remain unchanged and untainted, so has the fact that our community struggles

I thank my luck stars for being born in Missoula, Montana on March 2, 1997. A time when phones didn’t rule our lives and no one cared about how many like they got on their Instagram. Growing up in Montana I never understood what an equine experience my childhood was until I came to college. I had always thought every kid had spent their summer afternoons romping through the woods or wreaking havoc in their neighborhoods until the sun set in the west. But when I would share stories of these times with kids my age and younger I would always be struck by the same astonished and longing look on their faces, like I was telling them stories out of a children’s book. For many of these kids they grew up in a much different world then me. One where

A toast to a place above all the rest, this place though odd has captured my heart. I know this isn’t a conventional Burns supper toast, or even a real toast at all. But as I was thinking about which toast I wanted to give; I realized that there was only one place that I wanted to talk about. So firstly, I would like to ask you guys have you ever been to a place that makes you feel happy. A place that even at the mention of its name, you can’t help but think of happy memories you had there. The place that does that for me is the Black Hills of South Dakota. I spent my summer working at a campground in the heart of the Black Hills. So here’s a toast to the Black Hills and all of its natural beauty.

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

Yankton, South Dakota. The place where the world competition for archery commenced and concluded. As I disembarked at South Dakota, I wondered why the World Archery Association held the biggest youth archery competition at this ghastly venue. Blegh. The dung of cows and the fresh scent of the earth fused together was horrendous. To make things worse, the airport was humid, outside was even more humid. Everywhere I went, humid.

I just thought it was a state of strictly farmers and cows, but it just happened to have a large military fort that my dad was getting stationed to. My whole family was in shock when he told us we had to move to Kansas of all places. We were all pretty upset about the situation, but my dad and I didn’t compare to my mom and sister. My mom and sister were notorious for being beach bums, as they would sit out in the sand for the whole day only coming inside to refill drinks or get something to eat. They were out in the sun so much that their hair turned from dark brown to an almost dirty blonde, and their skin was almost as dark as their hair. As for my dad and I, we were white as sour cream other than our arms and legs as we enjoyed the beach in modesty from our deck. On top of the tan lines we both shared, we looked exactly alike. Both dirty blonde hair and same facial structure, but my dad was 6’2” with biceps the size of my head and I was just a 10 year old. We didn’t seem as upset about the move because we both had the interest of moving somewhere different. As we packed our things and said our goodbyes, I never thought about the deeper changes in my life that I would have to

I am from Bozeman Montana Where I have lived my whole life I am from the tiny black archery targets That I shoot my fun camo bow at every day! I am from the cold morning “wake up’s” That tell me it's time to stalk monstrous elk. I am from coming home to my fluffy loving puppy And a warm mug of hot coco with fluffy marshmallows.

Later on with this student, we were out in Wyoming. By then, I had met his wife, and his son. Nice people for sure! The student was driving. I asked him why he would leave such a young, beautiful family at home to come out on the road driving a truck. He said he worked his ass off all his life. He told me that he worked in the engine room of a battleship while in the Navy, and he was tired of working like that. I asked why he thinks driving a semi is a piece of cake. His response was, " how hard can it be sitting there, holding a steering wheel?". My job as his trainer was to teach him everything that I could while he was with me for 10,000 miles. This is what I did! I would call in to dispatch every chance I got, without his knowledge, and

I have moved to five different states throughout my life. The first few moves were easy because I was younger, but as I got older it became more and more difficult to say goodbye to friends and everything I knew. The most difficult move I experienced was right before my freshman year of high school. I had lived in Utah for seven years and I did not want to move to Idaho right before I started high school. I have never gone to Rexburg before we moved there. It is a smaller town with many people who have lived in Rexburg for most of their life. It was hard to fit in at school and become friends with people who had known each other their entire life. Finally after making the effort to meet many new people I felt like I fit in. I realize that students

Growing up in the Washington metro area, and in my family specifically, has left me with a special predisposition toward the opportunity of consulting with Hilltop. Growing up, I used to question my father on his issue of the week or newest clients whenever he returned home. As a result, I was instilled with a desire to experience that same diversity of problem-solving challenges. On top of that, my family, despite being lucky enough to live in the suburbs around DC, regularly noticed the struggle of the cyclically impoverished. Whether it was on the way to a Nats game, or around my high school in the heart of DC, there are people all over DC who need help.

“You want to go inside or just eat in the car? I usually eat in the car because so many people want to talk sports or ask about my college plans if I eat at a table. I hate the attention and feel obligated to be civil, but I must admit, it usually ruins my lunch. I think people forget that I’m just a kid trying to enjoy his senior year in high school.

I expected to go to North Dakota and be bored out of my mind. I thought that we were going to be fishing on a boat for 8-10 hours a day. I am a very impatient person so sitting on a boat in the middle of a lake, not being able to swim because there are hooks in the water sounds absolutely terrible to me. That is exactly what had happened the year before, and it seemed like i was on that boat for years.

My Idaho trip was a way for me to see my family and have fun on countless adventures. I was able to see a different part of the country. They included going camping, swimming, and spending time with my family in Idaho.