Personal Narrative: My Journey To Hawaii

When I started writing this, I had no clue what it would be about. I was told “It has to be perfect.” “It has to explain you without you explaining yourself.” “You have to give it meaning without being asked for anything.” “If it isn’t good enough, admission officers won't give your application a second glance.” So, I put off writing it, pondering it over and over in my mind. I’m so glad I put it off, because until recently, I didn’t know what it was keeping me in Hawai’i. My mom lives in Oregon now, and I had the option to move with her because she still has custody. Something kept me here, though, and I wasn’t sure what. Through reminiscing and building more memories, I realized what it was. It was how much I love being Hawaiian. The food,

Alaska is one of two states not connected to the U.S. mainland. A lot of people don’t get the opportunity to visit Alaska because they believe it is either too far away, too cold, or too undeveloped. People think that is a place where you have to hunt, fish, or catch your food because there are no Walmarts or Targets. My trip destroyed my belief that it was an unexplored land with no opportunity for development, but on the contrary, it has a lot of potential and is already a great place to visit. Throughout my trip I visited Denali National Park, went on a Holland America cruise, and went to Seattle.

“I’m sorry Mommy, I promise I won’t do it again. Please forgive me.” this was all I could say. I had no excuse for my actions.

I hope you are fully recovered from your time in Florida. I am glad that we were able to share a true Polynesian cultural experience together.

Trying to find memories is like looking for treasure. You look at the surface and see something mediocre, but you dig deep and find something cool, pretty, and meaningful. It took a while to think of a fond memory, but once I thought of some, it was hard to choose a favorite. Growing up I have had many great experiences in the form of vacations. Between going to Disney World, owning a vacation home, hanging out with my grandparents in Arizona, traveling to Canada and more. They all make amazing memories that I will forever cherish. The vacation spot we go to the most, though, is Wisconsin Dells. A few times I have been allowed to invite friends to come with. When I am allowed to bring friends, it is always a ginormous amount of fun. We goof off in the hotel room, play in the arcades, and swim in the water parks.

How is everyone doing and did anything change? Hawaii has very warm consistent weather, but I miss our home cooked meals and the different types of weather. Especially the springtime when the whole family would sit under the cherry blossom tree and gaze at the beautiful pink leaves as they would fall. 10 years ago, when I first arrived for my marriage, I thought the pay would be wonderful because there were so many rumors around the neighborhood and everyone was talking about it. I was excited that life would be like paradise and that is why I thought it would be completely fine to sign the contract that I didn’t even understand, to work here, but we were completely wrong.

Losing my wallet seems to happen on a weekly basis for me. I place it down somewhere and then later cannot for the life of me figure out where I left it. This same memory lapse applies to my long-term memory. I can remember a brief scene here, a smiling face there, perhaps even a story or two, but in general I’m just not stellar at remembering things. One of those few recollections I have is of a warm afternoon spent playing some football in my backyard while I lived in American Samoa.

I used to be the type of person that needed my life planned out; I needed a routine or a schedule. I was going on an amazing trip to Catalina Island with my closest friends. We had a plan; take a bus to LA and get on a boat that would take us to Catalina from there. When we arrived to LA the weather was so bad we couldn't get on the boat. We had to wait until the next day. Having to go off schedule we ended up making more memories, we went to a huge aquarium and spent the night on a boat. After that trip I realized things happen and you need to be willing to make the best of things or you will not have the opportunity for new experiences.

Have you ever experienced something so amazing that it did not even feel real? I was engulfed in this feeling for the entire 10 days that I was in Hawaii. Now, everything about Hawaii was so magical but there is one memory in particular that sticks out in my mind. We had just landed in Kona, Hawaii. We made it to the house we were staying at and everyone began to unpack. Of course, I could not wait any longer to go explore some of the amazing features that Hawaii has to offer. I finally convinced my family to take the 3-minute drive down to the beach from our rental house. Once we stepped foot on that beach my jaw hit the warm, silky sand. I had never seen anything so beautifully breath-taking. The palm trees danced in the wind, the waves crashed with a mighty force and my

I had just arrived at Haleakala national park in Maui, Hawaii. I thought this was going to be a normal day, but it definitely has not. The day already started off crazy because when we got there we put the cooler down and the Hawaiian state bird the Nene goose took the cooler so we had no lunch. Me and my family still went on with our day. First we bought our tickets at the ticket booth the man told me and my family that the park was established August 1,1916. Then we moved along realizing it was a hot day we packed a lot of water but, that was in the cooler so I did not think with no food and no water we would make it that far into the day my mom just said if we wanted to go to the crater we would have to tough it out. So as me and family were still complaining about the food we stumbled upon a man who looked like he was native of Hawaii we asked him a little

Have you ever met a new special friend? I have back in 2011,I was as tiny as a mouse.I was at least 3,4,or 5 years old when I met her.

Growing up somewhere as beautiful as Maui has taught me the important values that define who I am today. One place and event specifically enlightened me of the value that I strive to fulfill each day, which is to live exactly in the moment. Prior to this moment I struggled a lot with anxiety and fear of the unknown and things that were out of my control.

“No, I promise I’ll be fine, Mari. I think a 26 year old male like myself, will do just fine in Hawaii.” At this point, I was literally placing all of my weight on my luggage in hopes of keeping it shut. “Barely zipped and ready to go. I’m just waiting for Anthony to get up.” “How are you guys doing by the way?” Mari asked, her voice filled with concern. “Oh, um. Good I guess. Nothing's really happened since last night except...nothing. Nevermind,” I stopped myself as I saw Anthony creeping over to my bed. I ignored him and hurried the phone call with Mari. “Well Anthony’s up now so we’re about to head out.” “Call me,” she pleaded on the other end. “Will do. Bye.” Anthony stared up at me in confusion. “We’ll pick up breakfast on the way, okay? You should start packing.” “Packing?” he questioned. “Packing for what?” “Did you forget? You and I have to head to Hawaii, and our planes leaving in 2 in a half hours. We’d better get a move on.” It took a moment for what I said to sink in, but he finally got the message and got up. “I’ll be ready soon. Just give me 10 minutes or so.”

If I got a free trip to any where in the world I would go to Hawaii. On the trip I would take Morgan because she is one of my best friends. I would go to Hawaii because I have never been there before. It also isn’t that long of a trip so that means I can spend more time having fun in Hawaii. I would also go so Morgan and I could swim in the ocean. Me and Morgan would stay in Hawaii for the first day then we would go on a cruise for the last 2 days.

I jump up dazed and confused. Wondering where and how I got here. I look around, noticing I am in a thick, shadowed jungle. The only thing I can recall from the past was going on a vacation to Hawaii. I sat there in the middle of a jungle naked, sad, and afraid. I stood up and walked around yelling, “Is anyone here.” I heard no response but a monkey climbing high in the trees. This jungle was very shady with tall Mangrove trees overhead. As I kept walking I found a bush filled with berries. I was so thrilled to find something to eat. I reached down and snached one of of the bush. I took it and started chewing it up. It tasted horrendous. It was the worst thing I have ever eaten. I kept on traveling looking for food, water, clothes, and people.