“Look!” my mom exclaims as we cruise down Highway 49. I take out my earbuds, peer out the window, and I see it. The red, peeling paint of the metal support bars, the eccentric yellow of the roller coaster car, the passengers with their mouths wide open with excitement as they fly down the rails of the roller coaster. Children are screaming in fear; the good kind, of course. I think back to the time, a few years before, when I had been the screaming child on the ride, yelling so loud it seemed I was the only one there, hands reaching into the sky so high I could almost touch the clouds.
“That was a fun day, wasn’t it?” my mom asks, breaking the silence.
“It sure was,” I reply, putting my earphones back into my ears.
I begin to listen to the calming beats of the music, and allow myself to drift away with them. I start to reminisce about the great times I had that day, July 5, 2015, specifically when I conquered my fear of heights on roller coasters. It was a sunny, clear day. School had ended nearly three weeks before, and I was ready for some adventure. My family found this amusement park online, and had been longing to go since that day. I was skeptical at first, mainly because of my fear of heights, especially on rides like roller coasters. Before this day, I had never thought of even going to an amusement park. I was a simple kid, just living day by day. My summers consisted of listening to music, playing games on my computer, and occasionally read a Nancy Drew book
The summers of 2013, I went to Cedar Point. It was me, my brother, my mom, dad, and my dad’s friend. My dad said, “we are going to get on all of us the roller coasters” and the rest of us said “ok.”
One summer, the Lane family planned to go to Six Flags. I was probably in third grade. We were (or at least I was) absolutely ecstatic! I love roller coasters with all my heart! The rush and the drops that turn your stomach into jelly are simply breathtaking! When you go to Six Flags over Georgia, or any other amusement park, your goal should be to get to the gate as early as possible in order to get to the best rides before anyone else does. The experience is even better if you can ride the best one multiple times. My unofficial job as a Lane family roller coaster fanatic is to set up the schedule for the day, especially because I am the youngest in the family. Our first priority was the Goliath. All that came between us and the main event was one hill and a left turn. As we headed down the path to our destination, I couldn’t help but think about how much FUN we were about to have. It was about 10 am. The crowds will start filling the empty gaps in the park at any time now. I became truly excited when I began to think about the rush I might get when gliding down the first enormous drop. I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that someone thought up the idea of having entertainment you can ride that’s bigger than the eye can see. Suddenly, my
Attention all riders! This ride is now closed for maintenance. Everyone in the front of the line, please come and get a free pass to another ride to the front of the line. Thank you and sorry for the inconvenience.” I felt a wave of relief and just felt lifted off my feet. It was like the heavens were lifted off of Atlas’s shoulders and he was freed. “ Hey why don’t we go ride the roller coaster that goes upside down,” my dad asked both Rhett and I. Rhett, overjoyed with feelings of pride and ready to do anything, was quick to say yes and went running to the exit. I on the other hand, was distraught with grief over the fact that I was about to go through something much worse and faster too. I walked to the next ride like a convict to the electric chair, thinking that this might be the
My sense of security is screamingly absent. Their main attraction in the park is called, “dragster,” shooting out to 500 feet in the sky, with a straight angle going down. My friends have been on my tail about not being scared and not worrying about anything. The thing is, is that the roller coasters go so high and fast, with no guard rails on the sides. That places deadly snap shots in my head. While looking around in my surroundings, seeing huge bulging rocks, a beautiful sky blue lake with swans swimming and floating mindlessly. We overheard the staff members that were running this killer ride talking about shutting the ride down. That brought shock into my eyes. I was nervous once again. It seemed hopeless, as if they were going to shut down the ride because we were the next ones in line. My friends wanted to go on this ride so bad that we had waited over an hour and a half in this line. During the last five minutes we had become very paranoid. “Wouldn’t it be funny if those brakes at the top weren’t working?” Joe said, laughing at something that wasn’t funny at all. “Just shut up,” was the only thing I thought of. All of a sudden we hear this arcade type noise and lights were flashing. The ride had opened up again. The crowd was yelling and chanting. Everyone was happy.
I looked up at the roller coaster and all its' loops and turns and jumped with excitement. "Let's go!", I exclaimed. As we were walking up the stairs, a part of me wanted to turn back, but i was determined to get on this one ride. I stood at the gates, waiting for it to be my turn and before i knew it, I was the next one. I went through the gates and went straight to my seat. Henry sat right next to me and held my hand. I was ready. The ride started to take off and I knew there was no turning back now. Up and up we went. The ground below us got further away. I held on tightly to my boyfriends hand and down we
The roller-coaster was in Disney Land and it was an extremely busy day at the park. I found myself constantly worrying that I would be separated from my family and be lost, with no clue where to go. The sound of everyone talking over each other, combined with the roaring of nearby rides, put me into somewhat of a sensory overload. Due to this, I became disoriented and anxious, even before I got in line for the roller-coaster.
So those are the places we went to first. Then we went to all the rides, the first thing that we did was the Ferris wheel, and the one at adventure land was way too big for me to go on because I am afraid of heights and if the guy controlling it stopped it at the top my stomach would get really upset. Then Tru and I went on all different rides while my mom Rachel and my aunt Stephanie took my little brother Elliott on the little kid rides. Then Tru and I came upon a big roller coaster and the roller coaster was called the tornado so we were thinking about going on the roller coaster but then Tru thought are we going to die or live, he was a little over exaggerated on if we were die or live so I told to relax and I said “sometimes we need to accomplish something big in our lives as a kid because if we don’t nobody is going to think that you are a brave person”. Tru said “Then how come I have to ride the roller coaster? Can’t you just go on the roller coaster by yourself? I said “no because what I mean by accomplish something is that we have to do something in our lives so when we do get older we are not scared of anything no matter what we do you have to have self-confidence and don’t be scared, and let me tell you that guess what you are going to live if you go on the roller coaster, it might feel like you are going die or pas out but really you’re not.” Tru said “ok fine I will ride the
I never seen as huge roller coaster and I knew that I wasn't going to ride it at all. As we came in my cousin already asks me can we ride the huge roller coaster I just didn't listen to him so that's what I did.
Brushing aside the invitation to ride along with friends, felt as if I was creating a void in our friendship. The idea of that feared me more than anything. Sometimes one just has to endure their fears and go for it, just as Theseus did when he successfully slayed the minotaur of the labyrinth. The satisfaction of getting off my first roller coaster ride released the tension I had between the it and myself. Luckily, it has also made me realize that fears that may seem too large to conquer, can be made easy as long as one puts the dedication to overcome them.
I was always scared of roller coasters, something about them made me feel weird inside. I would go to Great America with my friends and wait outside the rides that were scary for me. I never really thought about getting on any rides that dropped at the speed of lightning and loops that make your stomach flip upside down twenty times. I would just sit down and watch the rides as they dropped. That was until one day, my friend told me “Close your eyes I’m taking you to somewhere that’s fun.” I didn’t know what she meant by that but I did what she told me to do. She also covered one of my ears I didn’t know why. “Open your eyes Steven.” I did and at that moment my mouth dropped. I tried running from the line but it was too late. My friend had made me get in line for the scariest coaster in the park. It was named “Flight Deck” .The seats were empty and the small gates opened. She pushed me into the seat and locked me in as fast as she could. I heard the snap which meant the seat was
I buckle my seatbelt and pull down the orange safety harness, my stomach starts to get butterflies. The workers who look like they are still in high school have our lives in their hands. They go down the line dragging, as if they are sleepwalking. The thumbs up is given to the booth, the green circle button is held down for us to start creeping past the gate. Click-click-click, click-click,click! We start to climb up in the sky on the Renegade at Valleyfair. It is then that my heart starts to pound. I start to doubt that this wooden roller coaster is going to hold us. We are so high up we can see almost all the rides and attractions. I find the entrance of The High Roller, a coaster I was trying to find earlier. We reach the top of the almost hundred foot tall peak, my stomach is in my mouth, I can’t see the bottom of the drop.
Like I said before, I could not feel anything at the time but the help I got was more than I could have hoped for. I guess I just hoped for anything that would help take the pain away.
After three hours of being stuck in traffic and one hour of line waiting we finally made it inside the exciting world of Six flags. My right cheek was still marked with the shape of the hard metal piece from the car seat. Everyone was rushing to enter except me, and this was because I was really nervous to go inside, it was my first time there and I was completely terrified of heights. So why was I there? Well let’s just say I believe that it is always good to take new risks, to experience new feelings. I saw everyone rushing to the first ride, while I was still trying to see how high the superman roller coaster was but the infrastructure of the sign did not allow me to see more than SUPERMAN.
I am convinced I am the product of a/the Creator. As a human being, I am the highest form of earthly life, made in the image of that Creator, God. It says in the bible that he formed man out of dust from the ground, blew into his nostrils the breath of life, “and the man came to be a living soul.” (Ge 2:7; 1Co 15:45)
The alarm went off, “Ring-ring-ring-ring!” Under my cozy blanket, I thought of the spectacular experiences awaiting me these few days. I jumped out of bed, swished through my room and got ready. In no time I got ready for what was awaiting! With the stars shining like little diamonds in the dark sky, my parents and I got into the car. I couldn’t believe this day finally arrived, and I was going to Disneyland. We first picked up my enthusiastic friend Kaitlyn and headed to the airport where some of our Spirit Squad friends awaited, ready to get on the plane and fly out to the Happiest Place on Earth. In a few hours, we reached Disneyland where the adventure started. The enormous rides were waiting, and I felt scared at first, but then my adventurous side revealed itself, although I was still cautious. My time spent at Disneyland was priceless. Not only did I have a lot of fun, I also learned that if I don’t face my fears I might miss some of the most wonderful moments in life, but that doesn't mean I can’t say “no” sometimes.