Personal Narrative: My Dangerous Opportunity

Overall, my first semester has been going pretty well. The semester is going like a roller coaster up, down, and fast. I have some bad days and some good days. Through this semester, I have many challenges I faced which I honestly did not want to face. Even though I just wanted to dodge or run away from the challenges, I still face them and fought through them. Some challenges I face this semester, hopefully not in the next, are procrastination, time management, and laziness. I have not only gone through challenges; I have also gone through successes. I am proud of turning assignments on time, passing tests and quizzes, completing my SCR points, and being involved in clubs. Being in Biomed has helped me grow as a student in the area of knowledge.

Hi iam Edgardo Flores i was born in casa grande, az not that far away from our state capital,Phoenix, Az.theres nothing better to do in a hot summer than going out with the friends to a lake and have a blast riding jet skis boats and my favorite, swimming!My activites of the day are shooting,riding horses,and my favorite one is quad riding.Thats right! ive been doing these fun exciting hobbies since i was 9 years old.pretty young huh?

There I was on the block next to the High Bar. It was about 5:00 at night when my coach told me to do a Kip. As I got up on the bar my nose filled with the smell of chalk. I started to swing, and as I came out of my half turn I looked good. Everything seemed fine but as I came to the part of the Kip where I have to pull my legs up to the bar, I slammed my shins into the bar. My momentum was stopped and I dropped on to the mat, missing the Kip. I felt like I had let down my coach and I had let down myself too. That day I experienced failure. That failure made me want my Kip even more so I worked harder and had support from my teammates.

I have been in the Marine Corps for roughly three and a half years and throughout that time I have done many things. Most of the things that I have done were with Combat Logistics Battalion 26. For three years, I worked with that unit through work ups and a deployment and I have seen and done many unique things. However, nothing I did with CLB 26 felt fulfilling, but that all changed when I changed units to CLB 8.

When my mother asked me to read a book a few months ago, I was hesitant to agree. A stressful school year was approaching, and seeing my friends on a Saturday night seemed much more appealing. When I was younger, curling up with a good book was a typical pastime. Then came high school, and reading was replaced with countless hours of studying, cheer practice, and trying to figure out when I could catch up on some much needed rest.

Walking away from everything you once knew and starting over is never a picnic. Leaving Iraq, and moving to America has impacted my life more than anything. I was only 4 years old at that time, and the only English I spoke was “excuse me, water please.” My family and I did not know it then, but our lives were going to change; we would become “Americanized”. Learning English was one of the massive changes that occurred, the way I dressed (culture), and even the way I had power to go to school and educate myself.

I chose to break the norm of either smiling at strangers or giving them a neutral look when you make eye contact. I decided to give every stranger I passed a confused look like they had just spoken to me in another language. I must admit, this made me feel a bit goofy. I was on the fence as to whether or not to do this in the first place but I decided I just had to. The responses I received were quite comical. A few people asked if I was alright, and one person even asked if I had a problem with them.

Throughout the conversation, Susan did not inform me that the home was still in First Look and not open to investors at this time. Susan did not highlight any features of the home, nor did she talk about the neighborhood or the surrounding area. When asked, Susan paused to reference the property file and stated, "In looking at the pictures it appears that it needs interior paint, carpet, appliances, and a few windows, which the previous seller must have taken." She stated, "I don't know why they have to remove things from the homes." I asked, "Do you have offers?" She paused to check the property file and answered, "No offers." I asked, "Is the property behind the home farmland?" She paused to reference the property file and replied, "It appears

When you first walk into the Hornets Nest the first thing you see is one of the friendly crew member there to swipe your hornet card. Then you smell the freshly stoned cooked pizza and nearby you can see some choices on pasta. I normally don’t the eat pizza. Honestly the pizza is not as good as it smells. I haven’t touch the pasta once because I avoid the pizza so I forget that there’s more than pizza.

Life really doesn't like to tell you what's ahead; sometimes it's nice and gives you a little hint, sometimes life replays itself so at least there's some familiarity in it, but most of the time my life seems out of my control. As a fifteen year old many people would hear me say this and scoff saying I don't have 'real' problems, or I don't know what the 'real' world is like. On one hand they're right, I shouldn't know what the 'real' world is like, most fifteen year olds are thinking about what picture they Instagram is a 'real' world problem. But being the not-so-average teenager, I do know what this so called 'real' world is.

One aspect about myself, that goes unnoticed in my life is my determination. Determination has been a trait of mine for the majority of my life. Both my mother and father are very determined people. Having them as my role models growing up, I always wanted to one day be like them. I personally believe this is where my determination aspect came from. I don’t think that I was born with it, but rather developed it because of the people I was surrounded by in my life.

My dad and I have always loved playing basketball together. Not only do we enjoy playing the sport, we are also avid fans, especially of the Xavier Musketeers. The court (our driveway), is where we have the most fun competing against each other. I remember one game especially well. “Make it-take it or horse?” my dad asked. “Make it-take it!” I responded. Those were always our favorite options, but I’m partial to one on one, make it take it. I was about 10 years old at the time and had managed to keep the game tied at 14 points. I had the ball with only 6 points to go. I was determined to get a quick layup, mainly because I knew I couldn’t lose the momentum which was so crucial in make it-take it. Despite my effort driving to the basket, I missed and he rebounded the ball. He retreated and shot a three. As I had feared, he made it easily. The score was 17-14, his ball again. I could feel the game slipping away from my control and played my best defense. I checked the ball back to him and right as it touched his hands, it left his hands. He shot a three from the same exact spot, with the same exact outcome, a perfect swoosh. I had lost. “Play again?” I

Have you ever been so desperate for something that you redevelop your motive in its entirety? Throughout my life I’ve found myself placed in this frightening situation multiple times; the most confusing of which would be what I’ve endured this year. People in their 20s have it rough anyway. We’re old enough to feel like we’re supposed to know what we’re doing, yet young enough to be clueless and it still be acceptable; then there’s those of us who think we’ve got it all figured out only to be proven tremendously wrong. I have learned, however, that being tremendously wrong can lead you right where you need to be.

Unfortunately, I am still looking for a position at the moment. I feel like I targeted my job search too much in the beginning by looking only for academic advising positions in the Western NY region. I did get two on-campus interviews for advising positions in June and July but I did not get an offer. I made it pretty far into the selection process for an SL3 advising position at UB, but they ultimately decided on someone with more experience.

I came to Miami with big dreams and plans. My biggest dream was to study abroad. I