Personal Narrative: My Summer At Clearwater Beach

About me: Growing up in Miami Beach, Florida, I’ve had a different perspective on demographic issues, the political process, and local politics than most. Currently, I am a junior at Miami Beach Senior High School where I am an avid participant in the National Speech and Debate Association, my school’s Student Government Association (SGA), and United States Grant Committee. Something different about me is that earlier this year I started a political action committee (PAC) called Teens for Teens. As the youngest director of a PAC in the country, I have definitely had some interesting experiences that other 16 year old students don't experience too often.

My grandpa, a plethora of uncles, aunts, my mom, family friends, and even siblings have all attended Miami. As the years go on, the list grows longer and longer. Whether they came in participation of athletics, Greek life, or pursuing the route of your general student, my family has lived and breathed the Redhawk (or back in the day, “Redskin”) persona for decades.

The sun was shining so warmly when my Mom, my Aunt Connie, her boyfriend Zach, and his daughter Willow arrived in Rodanthe, North Carolina. Rodanthe is a very small town located on the Outer Banks of North Carolina near Cape Hatteras. We love going there every summer because it is away from all of the tourist areas, it’s small, and we get to know all of our neighbors.

The soaring sandstone cliffs never cease to amaze me. They offer a freedom from everyday life. After being cooped up in a classroom all of January and February, I needed a break. Going to the slot canyons to the east of Zion was the perfect way to start that break. Spring break. Today my uncle Wade, older brother Tyler, and cousin Silver were going to climb cougars cliff, which is near Snow Canyon. This was the third time that I had ever gone rock climbing, so it seems reasonable to attempt the daunting 135 foot cliff. I climbed into a harness. Wade tied a double fisherman’s knot, and then the four of us approached the wall.

My dad took me and my brother to key west over the summer. He wanted to take us in the trailer he bought, but it was cheap and often broke down, so instead we went on a plane from Des Moines to chicago, and then to Miami. When we got to key west, it was excruciatingly hot. We got off and had to wait for our bags at the bagage claim. My dad had to find a bus to take us to the car rental shop, so me and my brother waited with our bags at the front of the airport.

One day in Florida, the sun is shining two 9 years old kids were playing in the park where they found a dead body.

About four years ago, on a sunny March day, my family and I started our journey from Daytona beach, Florida to Port Canaveral, Florida. Although it was only about a two to three hour drive, it felt like days of driving. I did everything to make the time fly by faster. For example, when I got tired, I would go to sleep. When I’d wake up thinking it had been two hours, really it had only been ten minutes. One more time, I asked how much longer until we arrived.

During the spring of 2017, I went to Miami and stayed with a friend I met in the first couple weeks of school. Her family are Cuban immigrants. I stayed at her house with her family, who live in Tamiami, a Cuban neighborhood on the outskirts of Miami, where most people spoke little to no English. I was immediately immersed into the Cuban culture the moment I arrived. I had the opportunity to first-hand experience the language, food, music, and lifestyle while I was there. A surprising thing for me while I was in Miami, was that we went to some restaurants where I had to order in Spanish because all the people that worked there spoke only Spanish. Also, we went to Calle Ocho, which is a festival in Little Havana, that celebrates Cuban culture.

5 weeks ago, me, my grandfather, my brother and our friend Mikey went on a trip up to Tennessee. Florida is no fun at all. I, being the always self-centered, ‘go big or don’t bother’ girl, decided that adding over 400 miles just to visit a museum and gravesite would be a great idea! It was. Though I could have lived without ever being in a car that long. This stop also resulted in a huge fight between my grandfather and my brother over an Xbox and a toilet plunger. Really? Yes. Have you ever seen pollen cloud up around an Xbox as it is being smased to pieces on the cement? Quite a sight (the damned thing still worked after all that, too!).

I never thought I would make great friends that they would take me to Orlando. We stayed at Orlando for 3 days. 3 friends and I went to Orlando. We had and an amazing time there. We stayed at the gay lord palms hotel. The people who went there went me are my best friends, Will, Jordan, and Preston.

Since I was a little kid I love to play at the beach .For me beach its like a second home, I could spend half of my dayat the beach, built a castle from the sands, swam to catch the waves, or just simply sat there to wait for mr.sun came down after the whole day he was busy brighten up the world , by the way I did these activities after I came back from the school of course. i used to go to the beach with my mom and my dad, they taught me how to fish and swim without any lifevest for the first time. It took me a while to finally know the basic of swimming even though we lived near the beach. Furthermore, when I was a little grown up, ofcourse I went to the beach with my friends more often than my parents.

It was a beautiful day in Fort Myers, Florida. The sun was shining bright, not a cloud was in sight. Perfect day for a swim meet. It was the second day of a local, three day meet, but probably the most important day of my twelve years of being alive. I had a very steep goal in my mind all summer, and this was the best chance I had in achieving this goal. I yearned to accomplish what very few accomplish in the sport, break a National Age Group record.

Waking up at the crack of dawn. I tossed one bag after another down the staircase feeling sluggish.

It was a bright sunny day in Virginia Beach when I went outside to check for mail in the mail box. That is when I realized that I was invited to Wiz Khalifa’s birthday but there is one thing better than that it’s in atlantis in the Bahamas! Then the unthinkable happened Travis Pastrana and Kevin Hart showed up in a big jacked up super duty Dodge with a trailer full of dirtbikes, and at that moment I knew it was time to party. “ I said i’ll be right out with my stuff!”

The air was cold and windy. The beach was black, with small glossy pebbles, and shells. The shells on the beach where beautiful, shiny, and large bigger than my head. The water was gray with rocks that were big enough to climb on. The rocks held puddles of water with ocean life living in them. Small crabs where running over my feet as I sat on the rocks looking at the wave splash against it. A small trail going off of the beach, going to a