Personal Narrative: Maine

I come from the small town of Caribou, Maine. “Why so far north?” You might ask. Well, my father took a job as meteorologist for NOAA in Caribou following his retirement from the Air Force after 20 years of service. I moved to Maine in August of 2008, exactly 9 years ago; however, Maine is the 4th location I’ve lived in after Virginia (my birthplace), Alabama, and North Carolina.

Growing up in rural North Carolina was both a blessing and a curse. My hometown, Fallston, North Carolina, is a tiny town way off the beaten path. Most people speak with a southern accent, are devout christians, vote Republican, think camouflage is a normal fashion pattern, and adore country music. But while I was a child, none of these things were a problem. I never realized how close-minded everyone was or how there were no opportunities for success; I was too concerned with the three most important events of the year: the Fallston FunFest, the Belwood Tractor Pull, and the Cleveland County Fair. However, as I grew older, zeal wore off and reality set in. I started to realize how conservative and restrictive it was. What little Fallston offered,

In recent days I had the opportunity to go back to North Carolina for a few short days. There, with a heavy heart from a loss in the family, I had nothing else to look towards. I’ve always heard of individuals finding peace, faith, blessings, and love of Christ from attending church. I’ve never been a person who put their faith into a higher power. As I was growing up my parents never wanted to force me into any religion without me knowing everything about it and choosing which route to take on my own. As the years treaded on, I never bothered myself to learn about the many different religions and what each stands for. So I used this opportunity as mine to attend church for the very first time. I attended the Roman Catholic services held

The only state I have ever known as home is North Carolina. I was born and raised in Charlotte and the only time I have ever moved away was last year to start a new chapter of my life as a college student. Growing up in Charlotte has had such an impact on what I plan to do with my future. As a young child I always thought of Charlotte as the next best thing to New York City. I shortly realized after visiting that was not quite the case. New York City introduced me to a new world of opportunity.

I hope you will remember when we met in California, I was visiting Becky Palacios in Glendale. I heard Jackie Porter is working at the Texas Education Agency, recently named the Early Childhood Executive Director. I applied at TEA, hoping for the manager's position in the Early Childhood Department. Jackie and I met while working at Pearson Publishers, with Gloria Horner, the Texas Manager, nevertheless, I don't think if it's appropriate for an applicant to communicate with her. Recently my husband, works for AARP in San Antonio, had a change in his job position, which means he might be working out of Austin again. If an occasion arises, you happen to see or talk to Jackie, I would appreciate a kind word regarding my interest.

Everyday gets harder and harder to survive. The storms are getting worse. They make my husband's farm all dry. It’s very hard to find food when we can’t grow our food either. The stock market just crashed a few years ago and everything is just getting worse. Everyone in our little town in Kansas is struggling it's not just our family. Last week the dust got so bad outside we were trapped inside our house for almost two days. The wind would be so strong and the heat would also be so bad it would burn our skin if we went outside. I know the whole town is struggling even though I haven’t been outside for a few weeks. We lost all our chickens from the wind. I wonder if anyone else has lost any of their animals too? If my family was strong enough

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.

West Virginia has always been a part of my life, although I am not a resident. When I think of the state the first things that come to mind are college, beauty, and friends. My family has had ties for many years to West Virginia. My mother attended West Virginia Wesleyan College and my relation to the state grew stronger when I chose to attend WVWC. In the past three years I have become enamored with the state and all it has to offer. The pure, wild, beauty of the state is something I will never forget. From orienteering to the top of Spruce Knob with other students in the honor’s program to white water rafting the lower Gauley River with my roommates, I have enjoyed exploring West Virginia. During my time in West Virginia I have learned more

I never thought a white woman from North Carolina could make a change. Back then, everywhere I went I can feel the town's eyes follow. You don't grow up thinking that your beliefs could/would change. Hell, you grow up thinking much of nothing down here. In North Carolina, the only thing you have time for is making money. So you can buy more time.

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

My life was just normal being in New Hampshire. But then I had to move to Florida, when I was 3. The reason why is because of my mothers' job. She found a school that was better than the one she was at then. That was an interesting change for me. I was just 3 years old and I loved the cold and snow. Our time in Florida did not last long. The difference in weather really did not affect my life as much then others because I like colder weather a beater then hot weather. Me and my parents moved back up to New England again, but to Connecticut this time because of my mom for her work again. Apparently, it's hard for schools to find a good head admissions person. So, in Connecticut where I met 2 guys that became my best friends. We taught things

This past week would be my fourth time going to anything state. This Tuesday my aunts and a couple of my cousins and I got in the car and drove all the way to Des Moines for the state tournnament. Once we got there we sat down in a good spot it was Hannah, Trey, Kayla, and I. Kayla and Hannah left to go to the bathroom, and it was Trey and I saving the spots. Trey left to go to the bathroom so I was saving the spots. After a little bit Kailyn Erikson and Emma Rissman came and asked me to move, (I thought they wanted to get through) then all of a sudden they sat down. And I said "excuse me these spots are saved" and they said, "not anymore". So when they got back they asked the girls to leave and they said 'We are older so we can sit here".

When I was little my family and I lived in the small city of Elmira, New York. I remember one of the problems there was that I almost never got to see my dad. The job had required him to commute a long distance everyday, causing him to leave early in the morning, and come home late at night. Even when he managed to get home early he was tired and couldn’t do much. Eventually we moved to Connecticut where we lived in two different places. Living in Connecticut was a little better than living in New York. My dad’s job was a somewhat closer than before. For some reason, life in Connecticut seemed dull to me as a child. To this day I don’t remember anything really fun about living in Connecticut. Our first house had a gigantic downhill driveway

The landscape in between is dotted with homes and small rural towns that embody small town America. Montana also had stunning contrasts of landscapes, geological features, and biomes that change drastically. I could be at my family friends house in central Montana on the plains and be in the mountains 10 minutes from their house. No matter where I go in Montana I will never get bored of the landscapes I see, and find something new. Working for United States Forest Service as a firefighter gave me a chance to explore forests. I was able to gain a better appreciation for them, and their beauty. My father loved the outdoors, and passed that on to me teaching me to appreciate and respect the wilderness. Robin Bielman once said “Montana should come with a surgeon general warning that its addictive. The sky is big and blue, and the air is always fresh and crisp.” Its hard to put into worlds this prospective of Montana and wilderness, no words can adequately describe it. In John Stienbek's Travels with Charley: In Search of America he describes his feels on Montana. He says “I am in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection. But with Montana its is love, and its difficult to analyze love when you're in it.” Montana is the embodiment of wilderness, and draws people. For me it is hard to quantify wilderness growing up in one I have loved for so long. However, I would never want to give up this wilderness for the joy, and benefits it gives

The movies of the Maine exploding definitely put people into a frenzy. I still can’t get over how the people in the one movie theatre threw tomatoes at the screen. I knew people threw tomatoes at actors onstage, but I did not know they continued that when moving pictures were invented. People were so upset by the real and war fake footage. It reminds me of a story I once read about an actor a long time ago that portrayed a demon in a play. He was so convincing that on his way home from the theatre a group of people who saw him perform killed him, because they actually believed he was a