Personal Narrative: My First Night In Memphis, Tennessee

During September the year 2014, my family and I took a 2 day trip to Dollywood. I was just eight years old at the time. That drive took us 12 long hours long because of car problems. Finally at 10 o'clock at night, we sluggishly dragged our extremely tired selves into the comfort of our soft beds in the hotel. The next morning, we drove over to the park and just past the entrance was a special place where you can get measured and given a color coded bracelet that would let you and others know what rides you were tall enough to ride. I was so excited because I was finally tall enough to get an orange bracelet, which meant I could ride most of the rides. After riding the smaller rides with my younger siblings, my mom wanted to take me on a

Have you ever expected an unfavorable outcome from an experience, yet were shocked with the best? Nashville, Tennessee is the city where I was able to realize that I have the potential to do great things with my life. It was the middle of June at the 2016 HOSA International Leadership Conference, and I was sixteen years old. At this time, I had been dealing with anxiety and depression for so long that I never thought I would be able to make an accomplishment that meant something to others and myself. This trip helped me realize that I am capable of more than I think.

Have you ever been to Atlanta,Georgia before?The time i went to Atlanta,Georgia was month I have ever had. I got to hangout with my cousins,family,and friends. We had so much fun with them because we did something so much fun.We went to Atlanta,Georgia to go visit people.

Well the week of our trip to Memphis Tennessee had finally arrived ! My colleagues Beverly,

At church, in addition to my participation in the worship services, I volunteered at our church’s soup kitchen, medical camps and elementary school for underprivileged children. These experiences opened my eyes to the deprivation of love and care in the world and a dire need of God’s grace for people at large so they could receive forgiveness, healing and restoration in their lives.

Cleaning out a barn, organizing a hoarder’s collection, painting a garage, hanging siding on a house, pouring concrete for a walkway, making meals for families--all projects promoting my life goal of helping make communities better and serving others, especially the less fortunate. I have been able to go on several mission trips with members of my church volunteering their efforts in completing helpful community projects where needed. These trips changed my life and made me a better person.

This year’s family vacation was one for the books. With my aunt living in Tennessee, we do not get together as often as we would like so my family decided to go to Nashville, Tennessee. When we started our trip, it was 6 a.m. and it was nothing short of fun and laughter along the way. Never having been to Tennessee before, I figured I’d enjoy the eight-hour ride of sight-seeing and laughter with my family. When we were a few miles into the trip, the mountains of Georgia were breathtaking. While I was enjoying the scenery, another thing that I found enjoyable about this trip was the conversation that I had with my family. We went on talking about life in general, all the struggles, and childhood memories that we had. We even talked about years

The greasy scent of cheap burgers and fries wafted into the car as we pulled into the parking lot of a Wendy’s, right in the heart of who-knows-where, East Tennessee. I couldn’t contain my excitement as I rushed my 12-year-old self out of the minivan and into the palace of grease. Clad in ratty sweatpants and a t-shirt with my hair pressed down from my prolonged use of headphones, it was evident that I spent long hours sitting in a car, asking “if we’re there yet” too many times to count. In this moment, however, carving up Snowshoe Mountain on my snowboard didn’t seem as exciting as the machine that stood across the room. Standing tall, shiny, and red, the Coca-Cola Freestyle soda fountains were in the early stages of being released, and

You know what is really fun... doing what I did this summer! What I did this summer is go to Tennessee cabins. Tennessee cabins is a huge cabin of choice you stay in for as many nights as you book. The Tennessee cabin I went to was called Majestic springs. Majestics springs had a four jacuzzi baths ,and a hot tub.

Everyday we walked to different churches. These walks were long and unique. Every time the children saw us they would come running towards us and grab our hands. As soon as we arrived at the church we would set up the puppet theater and tables with provisions. We first welcomed the people through songs and a puppet show and then we had them stand in line to receive donations. The puppet show filled the air with laughter and our tables with provisions filled empty stomachs. Days before it was time to leave my pastor asked to speak to me. She gave the opportunity to preach to the people of the church we were rebuilding. I could not believe it! For the next couple of days I spent the night thinking and writing about everything I wanted to share with the people. Sunday arrived and I stood in front of the church and shared how blessed I felt to be there and meet them.

I am Denise, and I peacefully reside in Columbus, Georgia I am married and have two daughters who have been a wonderful support in my ambition to obtain an MSW degree. I recently moved to Columbus, Georgia by way of Chattanooga, TN where I worked for a community based agency that provided services for the adult mental health. As a case worker, I traveled throughout the mountainous areas of Tennessee. also known as the Rolling Hills of Tennessee with san mountain and Lookout mountain being most commonly known for its steep twist and turns and where I conducted most of my visitations. In meeting individuals that resided in very rustic locations, I gained awareness of the lack of available resources for lower income individuals

Thinking back on my morning, I came to realization that God has blessed my friends and I graciously. We do not struggle to find shelter or beg for food. There are so many things to be grateful for such as a loving family and a good education. I am ashamed to say that I usually take these blessings for granted. God was present throughout the whole experience because He was present in the volunteers, the people who donated the canned goods, and the people receiving the canned goods. One of Jesus’ teachings was to love your neighbor as you love yourself. It is through volunteering and helping out in the community that we fulfill this teaching. Also, the more I told my friends about Second Harvest the more they starting joining and volunteering. Second Harvest has strengthened my actions because it has made become more active in my community. It also has shown to me that there are people in my community that are starving, so my friends and I need to try our best to make their life a little bit

You awaken in the apartment bedroom, news blaring on the television and the sound of a helicopter soaring outside. You stayed up way too late and do not remember all of the details but flashes of moments: drinking whiskey, chaos in the streets, your sister packing suitcases, and police cars lining up along the major avenues like makeshift border crossings.

In spring of 2016, my youth group and I began planning a trip to a neighboring city. This wasn’t just any trip however, we were going on a mission. Each of us there were bound and determined to

On January 30,2016 I volunteered to help clean, St. John the Baptist Catholic Church. Six other members and I from the church gathered at 6:30 a.m. until 8:30 a.m. The job was to clean the church benches, floors, bathrooms and other areas in the church that may needed tidying up. I was asked to clean the bathrooms and back church benches of the church.