Personal Narrative: How Graduation Changed My Life

Throughout the years, I have grown and matured as a student, and a person. I have had several experiences which have shaped me into who I am and also shaped my values. I value family. As a senior in highschool, I had a lot of things on my shoulders. I needed to pick a college, a major, pretty much figure out my entire life in a matter of nine months. Many students had their family to fall back on when they needed support, I however, did not. My parents both had jobs that would take them away during the week. I would be home alone, taking care of the dogs, the house and myself while they were gone. It was very hard at first and I struggled. I was use to coming home and talking about whatever happened that day at school and practice, or something

Sophomore year was extremely difficult for me. You know how most people go through a rough patch at some point in their life? Well, that was me all of Sophomore year, everything just seemed too big and scary to deal with, and so I basically put everything off. The guidance counselors always use to say when we were going into high school that we would need to stay on top of things before they started to pile up. I just thought that they were just being dramatic to try and scare us into doing our work, but they really weren’t. By the time I realized this, however, it was a little too late, and I was faced with two options; attend summer school to regain the credit that I had lost, or face my peers when school started up again and be two credits

Upon entering college, I thought that you had to have a majority of your life planned out. You had to have a career of interest, an intended major, and a solid plan for after college. Little did I know, you didn’t need your whole life agenda prearranged after high school graduation. A lot of people say that college is a time to explore and find yourself, and that was something I never fully grasped until I was enrolled at Western Washington University. Throughout my first year and a quarter, I’ve had the ability to take classes in many different fields of study ranging from; humanities, lab sciences, multicultural studies, and many more. Even though these array of different classes were taken for General University Requirements, it allowed

“Tomás, what school do you want to go to this fall" my mother Martha, said to me. This along with the many “Hey, where are you going this fall? Want to room together at Ole Miss?” forced me to think about my impending future after my high school experience. Being from Mississippi I was not an Aggie from birth, my mother attended the University of Texas makes hissing noises* and my father, Thomas Braly Jr., attended a little school on Mackinac Island that ceased to exist only 4 years after opening. So with little to no major direction or fixed plans for my future I went with what I know and love, the water. All of the schools I applied and got accepted to had a sailing team or had maritime related courses, but Texas A&M here at Galveston just seemed to work

Once cheer try outs for my senior year rolled around it was hitting me that I was a senior. We had cheer camp and I realized that was my last ever cheer camp for cheer in high school. Once school was starting and we had to get prepared for football season it really hit me that I was a senior, I wasn’t quite sure how to really take it. I didn’t think me becoming a senior would come so quickly and so fast. I can remember homecoming week like it was just a couple weeks ago, now that went by super fast and I didn’t really realize it till about a month ago. To me time fly’s by when you’re having fun, senior year is probably been the best year yet. I’ve had more memories my senior year than probably any other year. When basketball season came around

I didn’t really get into writing until my senior year. I had always been in Honors English (you know, the class for all the smart kids who were at a high school reading level in second grade). I had this teach for Honors 11, Ms. Mason, the coolest woman I’ve ever met in my life. My junior year wasn’t super good for me, but she encouraged me to keep trying and take her AP Lang class next year. We focused a lot on non-fiction research writing and I loved it. My senior year I also took creative writing with Mr. Day. Worst decision ever. Not only was the class chock full of freshman and seniors who don’t care, but Mr. Day was the type of person who graded you on how much you wrote like him. If he didn’t like your writing style (and he hated mine)

My Senior Capstone Experience revolves around my internship at NanoLumens, Inc. My daily functions vary from assisting with chromaticity, brightness, and thermal measurements to repairing and soldering individual LEDs to extensively researching viewing angles in order to improve upon the appearance and sales of LED displays. Because of the large amount of time I’ve spent studying the construction and implementation of LEDs in a visual manner, and the extensive research I’ve conducted regarding how LEDs can be applied and what impact they could have on the medical field, I’ve obtained a permanent enthusiasm and interest in mechanical engineering. Consequentially, the ideal college for me to attend next year is the Georgia Institute of Technology. Its optimal location, low expenses and fees, and renowned engineering program make it the principal choice.

I saw it. I saw as they drove into the peaceful grape fields that could be seen from any direction as the scorching sun burned our skin. I worked in those fields for eleven hours everyday with my parents. The peace was interrupted when the fields where invaded by white cars with a green stripe on both sides of the vehicle. Men in uniforms came out of the vehicles and started taking away some of my family’s closest acquaintances. I was seven years old when I discovered the reason my family lived in fear of stepping one foot outside the house unless it was absolutely necessary. The thought that they would take my parents away from me made fear overwhelm me until I dropped on my knees. My father grabbed my mother and I and ran as fast as we could

My story starts before I was even born. The doctor told my mom that I was going to be brain dead. I guess I did not move a lot in the womb. I was born on March 7, 2000. It was actually seventy degrees in Huntington. When I was about a year and a half years old my mom and dad got divorced. I can’t remember it but it has affected every day since then. I have had to move back and forth between houses because I felt like I needed both parents in my life to keep me happy.

It is the first day of the last semester of my senior year of High school. I am going to miss this; having my close friends by me every single day. I never really was popular in high school and I usually tried to hide in the shadows, but my best friend Sophie would never let that happen. She really pulled me out from my bubble. Sophie loves everyone, but she is picky with whom she likes. I know it doesn't make sense, but it is the best description.

My whole life I knew there was something different with me. Compared to my peers, I felt as if I was one step ahead of them in a developmental point of view. The thought process running through my head displayed contrast to others my age, and that left me feeling separated from them. Despite having had those feelings of not fitting in, the constant cycle of being the “mature one” did build my confidence. Whether I knew it or not, it has contributed to where I am now.

The first day of classes had arrived and I felt as if I was the lost puppy in a big campus. I had no idea what I was about to endure, when it came to transitioning. I was in the process of making the transition of high school graduate to college student. I had chosen to take my first writing class of the school year, wanting to rip it off like a band aid. I had previously come to the decision that it was not one of my strong subjects, but had the hope I would improve. I walked into my first class of that Monday morning and sat down in front one of the many computers surrounding the walls. I then see a woman enter who appears to be around the age of her 40’s. She came in with a bright smile and a coffee mug in her hand. She came ready to teach and I was anxiously ready to learn.

The decision to return to college after a twenty year hiatus was a very intimidating one. Not only was I twenty years out of school and my study habits and routine long forgotten, but the world itself had changed enormously in terms of technology and everyday procedures. There were no such things as PC’s cell phones and yes the Internet back in the 1980’s. Having evolved with this technology made my return to college that much easier, yet I was still very apprehensive regarding the uncertainty of my success. I made the decision in an intuitive manner at this point and jumped in feet first not knowing what to expect and relying on my intelligence to get me through. The first semester I took extremely serious and managed to become a rational/linear

The fact that there is life after school is honestly a little terrifying. Since the age of six we have been put in school and that is all we have known, but come college graduation we are all thrown out in the real world. We are expected to immediately go out and get a job, start a family and grow up. While this thought is a little scary I am very excited to go on this journey. From college on I hope to thrive in college, become a great teacher, create a family and be financially stable.

As I sat down in my chair, the waves of the Pacific washed up to my feet. The tingly sand, the scent of the Ocean, and the beautiful sunset is truly alluring. My life has been truly magnificent. However, I tune out the wonders of Hawaii and ponder something; How will others remember me? What legacy have I left behind?