Personal Narrative: Life After High School

Going through high school the days were all the same, except for game days. There was just something different about the culture of the school. You could almost feel the excitement in the air. Every “Good luck tonight,” that was received made it feel like the whole school was rooting for me. This was my senior year and tonight was an especially big game. The game that night would decide if we made playoffs and if I could step on the court as a Hawk again.

Contemplating back on my high school journey, I began to recognize and appreciate the life changes I experienced and the imperative lessons I learned throughout those four years. If I had to choose several words to describe my high school experience, I would begin with eventful, challenging, and memorable. High school afforded me many experiences that continuously led to stressful and challenging encounters. Being involved with the Ambassador Program and the National Honor Society was one of the greatest decisions I made in high school. Both clubs provided me with numerous life-changing opportunities that will continue to have an impact on me for a lifespan.

It was an warm sunny day I was dabbing it ,four boys were strolling down woods street. There four boys names were Mac,dope boy ,devin and Shaddy. Devin was the smartest one out of all of them hood boys,the rest was the same.Devin was ready to start his own business selling shoes.Dope boy,Mac and Shaddy were going on the wrong path selling drugs,robbing and beating up people. Devin would hang around with them often and conversed with them, but he would not do any bad things. Mac has been a dad already, he had to take care of his 2 year old. Dope boy had an older brother, but, he go shoot a couple weeks ago. Dope boy was reckless, everyone was scared of him even his own mother feared for his life .Shaddy was the slickest one out of all of then, he would get away with everything he did.Shaddy was a only child ,no mother, no father living with his grandparents and living in the worst part of town.

"I'm so glad we can finally move into an actual house than an apartment." Kyle Sapienti, soon to be Stump, smiled and said. He traced the date on the calendar behind Patrick. September ninth, two thousand fifteen. Kyle moved away from it then grabbed the last bag of his from the apartment and packed it into his car. Patrick was taking Kyle's car with him because his car was already at the new house.

Looking back at my high school years I would say it was not easy. I was not the person I am today, I was careless and dull. I wasn't concerned about my standards or entity. The start of high school is the most critical year that will set your GPA for the future. Raising your GPA will not be an easy thing to do. As for me I had started out with a moderate GPA, but throughout the rest of my high school years I had to work very hard to bring it back up.

When I was five years old, all of my friends were starting Kindergarten. My mom was trying to decide if I would be too; so I told her I was going too. I think that was the beginning of being outspoken and saying what I thought.

My father noticed on the caller id it was my school calling. He looked towards me then answered. The principle explained my grades were bad and needed to arrange a parent, teacher, and principal conference. After scheduling the appointment, he confirmed with my mother. She yelled “I’m going alone!! I tried to convince her that it was an error but she didn’t believe me. The following day she rushed to the school. I began to sweat. I knew my mother had a zero tolerance for anything wrong that I was doing in school. As the conference started. I was asked the first question by my principal, he said ‘’ Mackenson what is going on?’ The class stared in fear for me. I answered ‘nothing’. My mother had no time to waste. She asked my principle, “is there any errors on his report card?’’ He responded no. By the blink of an eye, my mother reached in her purse and took out a belt. I had a panic attack. I knew it was going to be the worst day off my life. I was embarrassed. She spanked me in front of everyone.my reputation had been destroyed. A couple weeks

As I walk through the revolving doors at the airport in my hometown, I feel the anxiety begin to spread through my body. I have never been away from my parents for more than a couple days. How am I supposed to go nearly two weeks without them in another country? I greet my classmates, and we check in our luggage at the counter. The agent hands me three boarding passes one for each of the flights I will board today. When I check to make sure they are correct, it finally sinks in, ‘I am on my way to Costa Rica.’ As the final member of our group finishes with the agent, I hug my mother goodbye and step into line to go through security. It is time for me to be responsible for myself.

I quickly raised my hand thinking " I know it, I know it." "Yes Thomas", the teacher said. "MAN!!! " Oh I forgot to introduce myself, I'm the girl that always knows the answer, the one who always follows the rules, the teachers pet, better yet, I'm the know - it - all.

I was standing with hundreds of my peers in an extremely claustrophobic and humid hallway, awaiting to receive my high school diploma. My hands trembled as I slowly walked alongside the podium where my principal quietly congratulated me and handed me my diploma. As I proceeded to my assigned seat, I gawked at the high quality piece of paper that seemed insignificant at the time, but would knowingly open many doors for me in the future. I was nervous. Nervous about walking down a path without a final destination, all alone.

On a regular school day, in my writing class, our writing teacher told us that we had an assignment to do. But it was a challenge. Our assignment was that we had to write an 1000 word essay about how and after our high school years is gonna be. Whether it's gonna be good or bad. But he wasn't done explaining, he also said "whoever has the best essay, will win the scholarship. The winner will be announced at the promotion. Good luck to all of you and you may begin writing." While everybody was writing, i just sat there. I didn't want to write an 1000 word essay. Are you nuts? But i had no choice but to write the darn essay.

The end of eighth grade was coming faster than any year before. It was about to be summer and most of the eighth graders were eager to be a freshman in high school next year. I was not so excited about this. School used to be hard for me, waking up, discussing with new people, being in classes that I struggled with eight hours each day. Speaking in front class petrified me to the point that I did not want to ask for help. There never used to be a time that I felt confident volunteering, raising my hand, or presenting in front of a class. I soundlessly coped with anxiety through eighth grade, causing me to be unsuccessful in a few classes, and wanting to not go to school most days. High school is incomparable to middle school, I knew this change

We reside in high school for four short years. To some four years seems a lifetime, but for a highschooler, four years couldn’t feel any shorter. And in my four years I can tell you what remained true; if you’re running late,take your time because you’re late either way and your gpa does not decide your destiny but most importantly, you are in charge of your future. These all turned out to be truths because we don’t know what we’ll be doing tomorrow, for some of us even in the next couple hours. Not having a 4.00 gpa doesn’t mean that you’re gonna spend your adult years scrubbing toilets at Mcdonalds. We spend so much time worrying about our futures and sometimes neglect the things that keep us sane. So I guess what i’m trying to say is that we all need to chill.

I am fortunate enough to have born into a healthy middle class family. I have never had to worry about not having enough food on the table, or getting the electricity cut off. I still have all four of my grandparents and live in a safe neighborhood. My life has, thankfully, been easy so far. I have never had to make huge, life changing decisions. Well, that is until now, with college and my life after high school quickly approaching.

In my lifetime, I hope to achieve many things. I want to leave my mark on the world and leave something behind to be remembered by. There are several steps to becoming successful in life and graduating high school is what I am trying to achieve currently. That being said, I want to leave the things I have learned in high school behind to those who may face the same challenges that I have during my own high school experience.