Personal Narrative-It's Good

It's a Friday afternoon, I plan to go to Great Wolf Lodge in an hour with my church. I see one of my friends so he says to his mom “ Hey, that's my friend” I said “Crap” So I go inside to sign in to go and see my friends just sitting in a corner on a big sofa. We are listening to music and just talking then a green bus comes.

I have lived in only one location my entire life: Edwardsville, Illinois. A peripheral suburb of St. Louis, it stands as the rare oasis of people in a desert of corn, pinned in its own personal bubble. Due to this blend of time and isolation, I developed a natural familiarity with my hometown. But, throughout my childhood, I longed to break free from the confines of the bubble and venture outward. However, this changed last summer, as I walked through Richards Brickyard, our family heirloom, that my great-grandfather, Benjamin Richards, founded over 120 years ago. I felt these childlike sentiments slip away. The bubble that had surrounded me for so long began to vanish, and the picture that it had been obscuring was slowly revealed.

The sparks fly in the air, there are marshmallows in your hair, and you’re with your favorite people in the world. This is called the best place on earth, for me at least. I enjoy camping so very much, you meet new people, experience different things, make new memories, and have a blast. You also see new sights, smell some things, and always wake up to the birds singing and not the bustling streets of the city. Camping is my go to activity.

It is true in life that everything happens for a reason. It is also true to say that sometimes it is all about being in the right place, at the right time. There was never a more prominent example of this than a traumatic summers evening, only a few years ago.

As our two senior captains closed the practice with their last words I will never forget Claire Basetti saying "Girls, this is my last year here at Wood, all I want right now is this team, my favorite team of sisters I've had at Wood, to win this State Championship". From that practice on, we played our hearts out for the person playing next to us. As we made it to the Giant Center once again in March of 2016, we ended up beating Villa with a lead of seventeen points. The feeling we all felt rushing onto the court as we won when the clock ran out to 00:00 was one of the best feelings I will never forget. That season really taught me that when things don't feel right the way they are going, that talking the problems or feelings out with others definitely helps. If our coach didn't have that one practice dedicated for us I highly doubt we wouldn't have won that game. Winning the State Championship is definitely one of the best moments I'll remember for the rest of my life, and especially the sisterhood I made with my best

I watched the ball roll into the back of the net; it was 12-12 in overtime against Cardinal Gibbons. This was my last game with my brothers, best friends, and a family I will cherish for the rest of my life. I not only let my teammates down, I let my family down. We lost against Cardinal Gibbons in the 2015 3A State Championship game 13-12 in overtime. When they scored their final goal I immediately dropped to my knees and began to sob, I was not upset that I lost, I was upset that I let my family down and that was the last time I would ever step on the field with

In 2016, more than ever, the team was committed to and had one goal of winning. One of our biggest rivals was St. John’s College High School (SJCHS). My doubles partner and I played the last match of the WCAC championships against SJCHS. During the season, SJCHS was one of the hardest competitors we faced but walking onto the court on the final day of championships, my partner and I knew we would fight and win. After 45 minutes, I hit an ace and we won the match that put us in the lead to win the championships. October 30, 2016 was the single most exciting and overwhelming day for the team all season. Everyone’s hard work paid off.

I, Deputy Gough received a call reference a white Ford truck driving in the Gamester trailer court all over the roadway. Upon my arrival I spoke with David Vore and Jennifer Vore. Jennifer Stated that Randy was the driver of the white Ford truck that said, “All Good Construction.” David and Jennifer both stated that they saw the truck drive through the yard hitting a slow child at play sign and the stop sign.

That was a lot of money, and I didnt want to let Tony down so I got in the car and started to drive. As I drove the road was empty. I had confidence I was not going o get caught. It was a slightly wormer day out witch might have been because the sun was out. I had the windows down and was blaring music just trying to enjoy life when a cop pulls out behind me.

This was it: Our last period to determine whether we were going to make it to the championship game for the first time since 2011, against the most hated team in the tournament. Edina is hated since they always make it to the championship and win. Now it was time for revenge. The buzzer sounded. My stomach was turning. Nervousness seemed to be passing through all of us. Whenever each team did one good or bad thing, the entire arena erupted with excitement. Minutes were passing by quickly. Both teams kept having such close shots. Each time I got a bad feeling in my stomach. All of a sudden, with three minutes left in playing time, Ash Altman found the back of the net on a breakaway goal. My heart was pounding with excitement. Cheering and applauding roared through the arena. Looking around I saw everyone on their feet, all 21,609 of us. Wow, this was an amazing feeling. Our fan section was going crazy. I thought we could not get as loud as we were in the first period, but I was proven wrong. We were all jumping up and down, screaming as loudly as we could. Holding each other, some people crying of happiness, I realized we all are in this together. All of us wanted this win. Hockey is so important at East High School, and especially important to the state of Minnesota. The last three minutes seemed to have gone by in seconds. Throughout those minutes, we all had not stopped cheering. This was a fantastic moment to be able to call myself a Greyhound, our school mascot. When the buzzer sounded for the last time, it was true. We were headed to the championship game. This was the first time we had made it to the

At kickoff the student section was rowdy as usual, calling obnoxious chants and getting in trouble with the new athletic director and Mrs. Moore. Although they were the same chants I had heard a thousand times before, somehow being a senior made them seem more real. Almost like this time when the boys heard them, it would do some good. The first half of the game went by so quickly, but I guess time flies when you’re having fun. Campus scored the first touchdown early in the second quarter and made their field goal, putting themselves on the scoreboard first. It was a little disheartening, but nothing could kill our spirit. At the beginning of the third quarter, Kade made a touchdown and our confidence was restored.

When I walked into this game, I walked in with such confidence and arrogance. I thought to myself, “It’s the regional semifinals game! We’ve made it to this point in the tournament, how can we possibly lose?” However, I

It was a Boise morning. Nothing really important, only a Regional Final! Yeah you read that right, a Regional Final. Before you think of happy endings, that’s not exactly always true, “You can’t win them all.” We loosen-up before the ninety minute game, having butterflies because if you have forgotten it’s a Final. It was a marvelous day with no cloud in the sky, the sun was bright as it could be. The referee gasped and blew the whistle with all the capacity of his lungs. The game began, the ball was moving back and forth like ping- pong game. Before the game started the grass was a bright green with a texture soft as a newborn’s blanket, and just three minutes into the game the field was a horrendous mess, the field had scars, the

“It was good.” He was lying. And with the lies of a good day the conversation died and we headed out. As we passed by other cars I counted them. 8 yellow cards, 1 black truck and an uncountable amount of blue cars. The yellow cars were the hardest to remember. With the shock of a black truck and the wave of blue it was difficult to remember the bright colors.

Think of your favorite thing in the world to do. Something that defines you. Something that you can only experience from your eyes. For me it is soccer, and through that came a rite of passage that will be with me forever.