Personal Narrative: My Day At Chase High School

It was volleyball heading into freshman year that changed it all for me. I realized if I was going to pursue my dream of being the best libero, I had to work my butt off. It definitely wasn’t easy, I had bruises, scars, and was sore day after day that summer. I still was very frustrated because I knew I could get better but it just wasn’t in God's timing. When it came to freshman year volleyball tryouts I went in calm, because when I’m nervous I don’t play well. I heard from coaches “Great pass, Jamaica!” or “Nice job, Jamaica!” but then it came. The day where we found out what teams we got on. My dream was to make varsity, but that wasn’t the case this year. Will the JV coach pulled each of us into his office and he said to me “You will be the starting libero for JV and for

Growing up on the west side of Chicago, it was always about finessing to get where you wanted to go in life. You either play basketball, rap, or scam, and I don’t fit any of the mentioned criteria. I have only one way that will allow me to live the successful life I dream of, and that’s my education. I worked my hardest during elementary school just so I could be able to attend one of the top high schools in Chicago and only then was I accepted into Whitney M. Young Magnet High School, one of the top three high schools in the state.

I didn’t have a license so that really narrowed down my options.I started with focusing on my schooling and my college search, with all this new free time I had, I was able to narrow down my college list and get my grades up mostly A’s. I also decided to coach my little sisters 12’s Junior Olympic volleyball team. I absolutely loved it, they were the perfect age group, they knew how to play but still had somethings to learn. I was actually completely satisfied with doing this because it was fun and rewarding. Suddenly an opportunity arose that I could not refuse. There was a club team a little ways away but not too far that needed players desperately. With an “I have nothing to lose” attitude, I went to try out for this team. I made their 18’s level team when I was at a 17’s age level. This season was great and we never were placed in a bracket lower than gold. This is all mainly background information. Getting cut from that team was probably one of the best things to happen to me. It really shoved me out of my comfort zone and forced me to take control of my

Freshman year I entered high school nervous, scared, and shy. I continued through while participating in soccer at the junior varsity level. As soccer continued on we came closer to the sectional match, which at this time I had no real knowledge on how important it was. On October 6, 2012 I headed for the high school where I would depart on the team bus. Once I had arrived at the high school I was informed by my coach that one of our players had been in a wreck. All the players merged together in the cafeteria where we waited for further information. It was on that Saturday in October that my teammate Jacob

Although I would not have considered myself a leader when I entered Arlington High School, I can safely say that the past four years have changed me into quite the opposite. As I gained confidence in my abilities to lead and make a difference throughout high school, I began to take more initiative of my impact on the community by running for leadership positions and tutoring.

My junior year volleyball season started off with great excitement: I would be a member of the varsity team. Little did I know, my primary position would be on the bench. It would have been very easy for me to become discouraged, but I am no quitter. Therefore, I decided to continue my hard work and dedication throughout the season, regardless of playing time. I made a vow to use the season to become a better player, both mentally and athletically. I became a cheerleader from the sidelines. I rooted for every other girl who was on the court, because they were my best friends and teammates, and they deserved to be praised and encouraged. I did all of

Despite the fact that I was too young to remember anything that I occurred on that day, going to Stuyvesant High School, I’ve heard many personal stories from alumnus and teachers. Every year on September 11th, our school would have a moment of silence for the people that suffered in this tragic incident, for the innocent people in the building, for the courageous people who tried to help out. In our school newspaper, “The Spectator”, there was this article describing the franticness and the anxiety that the student and faculty felt that day. I’ve imagined myself in this situation and I often don’t know how I would’ve reacted. There is always this sense of unsettling feeling inside of me whenever I think of it. I want to volunteer at the 9/11

I started to see improvement, and my coach must have noticed as well, because he invited me to come to the varsity tournament that weekend. I was excited for the opportunity to prove myself, but after sitting for the first two games, I worried that I wasn’t going to get my chance. When I saw that I wasn’t starting in the third and final game, I gave up nearly all hope that I would get to play. I was starting to wonder if all my hard work was even worth it, when, all of a sudden, my coach told me to get ready to go in. As I entered the game, I felt a little nervous, but I knew I was prepared. This was the opportunity I had been waiting

I learned some important things in my sixth grade year at Cascade Middle School. I

My days at Hudson High School have been utterly normal; filled with chemistry labs, AP classes, and long essays. Though classes are hard and days are long, I do not feel the extreme stress of my studies as much as my fellow peers. Instead, I get my daily dose of stress from the girls’ bathroom.

Starting freshman year, I was excited. I was the new kid in town, moving from North Plainfield to Plainfield. Sure, moving to a new city is a very scary thing. Almost all my friends, including my best friend -- lived in Plainfield. Not to mention I was homeschooled, finding new friends would be a challenge. But, I loved playing sports -- when I found out about Plainfield’s recreation basketball team, I had to join. I was a late bloomer when it came to the whole competitive sports thing, but I adjusted well. My team

The second season came around and after three days of tryouts, I was named captain for the Junior Varsity team. I was proud of myself and so was the coach with my improvement. Midway through the season, I was moved up to Varsity. It wasn't a big deal for some, but to me it felt like passing your driver's test or getting an A on a project. I felt proud of my accomplishment and I had a new sense of determination to get better. After losing the first round playoff game, I wanted to get even better so I worked hard during the off season day in and day out. Before I knew it, the season was on my doorstep, knocking. We started off rough, losing our first 5 games. I saw that everyone on the team was slowly giving up. We had a team meeting and I gave a speech to motivate the team, which helped.We won the next game. Our confidence went up, but then we lost the next game. For some reason, though, no one seemed to be bothered. We went on a 4 game winning streak after. We made it the playoffs, but we lost in the first around again. After the game, I gave another speech on getting better as a team and holding our heads up high. After the season ended, I noticed coaches were starting to scout

Sophomore year came, and I was nervous because now there was jv dark and varsity to worry about. I came to tryouts, and gave all my effort on volleyball as well as my friends. They had made the teams, and I never expected to be in jv dark. My best friends didn 't made it to jv dark but I couldn 't miss this opportunity. In addition, I was depressed that I could not be with them, but I needed to be in a team that I knew it was going to help me become better. It surely did because now there was more tasks that I could do. My serves were something no one could receive. Consequently, the only horrible part of jv dark is that I never had the chance to play. I came to practice everyday and I followed instructions, I never complained if we ran, but the coach never showed me that I could be in the court. I did showed her, I tried to show off my abilities in volleyball for her to notice. As a result to that she always put me aside. In effect of this, it brought me down I

Here comes high school. My friends and I from middle school all went to the same high school, and played volleyball once again. The only difference between us was when I was on the B team they were on the A-team, and when I was sitting on the bench they were playing. We got to high school and things didn’t change, they were on JV as a freshman, and little old me was still on the freshman team. I decided that for the next year they weren’t going to be better than I am. I worked so hard the summer going to my 10th grade year.

I tried out ninth grade year and made the B team. The start of high school volleyball was extremely hard because I was out of shape, and again behind technically. This meant that for the next three years of my life I would have to push myself past subconsciously set limits, and attempt to not only catch up with my fellow teammates but surpass them. This entailed summer workouts Monday through Thursday from eight to ten, starting club volleyball, and staying positive through it all. Despite all of my efforts, during the off season of my junior year my coach told me I was not likely to make the varsity team. Everything I had planned since seventh grade was slipping through my fingers, and I felt completely helpless. Furthermore, that off season consisted of my coach’s indecision on whether I would make the team, and my growing dislike for the sport. Needless to say my last months in volleyball were emotionally draining and because of that I decided not to try out my senior year.