Personal Narrative: My High School Career

It was May 25, 2018 at 7:47 in a steaming hot gymnasium when the name Anthony Joseph Sansalone was getting called from the loud speaker, the sixth to last person to receive their diploma I begun shaking the hands of all the board members and everything that I had known from the last 13 years at the same school was over and a new chapter of my life was stating to begin. A few seconds after receiving my diploma the Class President guided us to changing of our tassels from right to left then commencement was over and I was walking out with my future roommate at BGSU, Vincent Zhang, we looked at each other knowing that our high school career was descending and our college careers were lifting off together. High school was tuff for me due to the fact that I have know what I wanted to do since I was a freshman, I want to become an animator and work for an Academy Award winning company such as

“Soon shall thy arm, UNCONQUER'D STEAM! Afar; Drag the slow barge, or drive the rapid car;

I have always been a studious school-minded person. I went to school at Miles Exploratory Learning Center aka Miles ELC from preschool to 8th grade. I was very hard working receiving all A's and B's throughout my schooling. I then moved to Tucson Magnet High School. I was top 25 out of 600+ kids in my class and got to wear an honors cord and be called up in front of everyone. I graduated high school with a 3.8 GPA something I am very proud of. I worked very hard in high school to make sure I graduated with good grades because I needed all the scholarships I could get to be able to afford college since I am white and middle class and not very many scholarships are offered to middle class families.

Growing up I always took part in extracurricular activities to be more active and social in my life. I grew up with two brothers who had very different interests in things than me so I had to rely on friends and activities to help me from becoming couch potato.

Throughout my Jr. High and High School career, I've had many pastimes and hobbies that I found I could participate in outside of the classroom for. During the seventh grade and all the way until my sophomore year of High School I participated in basketball. From the seventh grade until my senior year of high school I participated in cross-country. In Middle School I participated in wrestling, and most recently I have partaken in soccer for my junior and senior year of High School. Besides sports I spent a good amount of time dedicating myself to volunteer for the local parks and rec center. I volunteered on projects such as the Annual Triathlon, the Haunted House, and many more. I also volunteered for the local Clinic during their annual 5K Color Run.

I attended three different high schools as a teenager. I was a member of the JROTC program for four years. As devoted as I was I was on the unarmed drill team for two years at Roosevelt high school called the “ Riderettes “. My junior year of high school we actually made first place out of seventy schools in Kentucky, Louisville. Which means we qualified for Championship Daytona, Fl Nationals. It was a lifetime experience for me as a teenager. Who knew I would be going to Kentucky or Daytona for free with a team I can actually call my sisters. One of the most things I loved about my trip was the beach early in the morning with the sunrise out and all you could see was the beautiful blue waves washing over the shore.

In junior high, I could not wait to grow up. I wanted to be older, be able to drive wherever and whenever I wanted, and hang out with all my friends all the time. Little did I know, that is not really how it works. In junior high, I had a variety of friends and we hung out as often as we could. I was with the same group of girls all the time, we would go to school together, play sports together in the evenings, and hangout together on the weekends. In high school friends change and I was told that it would happen, but we all thought that it would never happen. We, of course, were wrong. Most of my high school career had been taken up with playing sports. It started the summer before my freshman year, I would go from a softball game, to basketball

As I think back on my high school career, of which I seem to be doing more and more lately, I now realize that I was fortunate enough to have more positive than negative experiences. I remember as I left middle school my main goal was to attend a high school where I would be able to further my athletic abilities. Luckily for me I went to a school which was great in both athletics and academics.

It was January 2013. I suppose I had known this would come. After Dad had started coming home later each night, more exhausted and drained than usual, I began to realize that our current residence might not be as permanent as I had wanted. We had relocated here, to the outskirts of Humboldt, Tennessee, four and a half short years before, to have enough acreage for our horse Clyde to stay at home. Our previous location in the city had not allowed for that, and stable boarding expenses were piling up. In the country, we could go riding any time we wanted, without having to make a long drive to the stables. We began to like this, and fell into a routine. Dad had now had his job for eight years, and I expected everything to stay the same as it had been. I was in for a surprise.

Throughout my high school career, I chose the recommended path. I followed the requirements and chose my courses based on the advice of my counselors and my older classmates: use high school as a period of exploration and growth. Whenever possible, I took classes that I knew I would enjoy; Digital Graphics, Sociology, World Religions, and French. Senior year, I chose to take Accounting and Statistics because of my interest in business (sparked by Business Principles and Ownership) and probability. In taking these classes, I hoped to explore potential career and major paths. Additionally, I chose to take classes that would expand my knowledge by stretching me to my limits. These classes included Calculus, AP Human Geography, American Literature,

Something I chose not to do probably could have made my time in highschool much more fun and exciting. I decided not to get involved more in high school, maybe it was cause I was nervous to try new things, and it’s made me wonder what else I could have experienced. nI also think that maybe it would help me get into the college I want to go to if I got more involved. However, I also really like how my high school years are going for me now, but I feel as if it could have been better.

Developing into a mature, educated adult is like building the perfect sundae. It all starts with cream, sugar, and vanilla beans. After a time, cream becomes ice cream, ready for hot fudge, peanuts, and whipped cream.

Throughout my high school education, there have been many factors that contributed to my performance. Some were out of my control and others were solely my actions. I take full responsibility for not pushing myself to try harder in school. Some circumstances made this difficult, at the time I lived at home with my mother, sister, and brother but then one day it all changed. First, my brother joined the Marines and left home and soon after my sister followed and joined the Air Force and also left. Since my mother is a single parent, my siblings contributed a lot financially and helped her tremendously. For this reason, she began to work even longer hours. To attempt to help my mother, I started working a lot when I turned 16. My mistake was

As a senior in high school there was many things I was excited about the top choices were graduating, and starting college. Fast forward past my graduation and to the first day of college I soon began to realize I made a mistake, I let others talk me into joining a school that was never for me. A school I just didn’t fit in or feel comfortable attending, I pushed through the classes often times feeling depressed, and on the verge of a break down, but I did not want to give up. I wanted to succeed, and the only way I could do that was by getting a degree, as time continued on I became more depressed making it feel impossible to get out of bed. The thought of waking up early leaving bed to catch a city bus to a school where I did not feel welcome became so overwhelming, but I still forced myself to get up and tried.

In the beginning of my high school career I knew that college was my ultimate goal, good grades were my top priority. I knew that extra-curricular activities along with involvement in my school and community were also very important. As a result I have been an honor roll student every year, am currently the Student Body secretary, Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) president, Vice President of Interact, member of National Honor Society, and am currently enrolled in the dual credit Jumpstart program. This will allow me to experience college and receive credit while still having the support of my hometown family and friends. Along with my classes and activities I currently work in a long term care facility as a CNA. This job is teaching