Personal Narrative: Roxanne

The arena was cold, the lights were bright and the pressure was on. We stepped out onto the ice it was fresh and crisp. It was time I had to be ready for the most important ringette game I've ever played.

Throughout our lives, we all make sacrifices in order to achieve our goals or to help others achieve their goals. For some, this may mean sacrificing friendships or family time, or for others it may mean sacrificing money and other dreams which may also be of great importance to us. A person who has made many sacrifices in order to achieve their aspirations or goals is someone with strength, determination and masses of will-power, and it is someone who is not prepared to give up on their dream.

Who am I? I am a person that likes getting her job done. I am a teenager that is always there when a friend or a family needs an advice or any help on anything I am positive about many things I am a person that is calm relaxing and stay away from conflict who am I? I am Elizanne Barrios a person that will never give up in life until I accomplish my dreams because that’s why I came to America to succeed.

I’m Ralonda Holt and I am a 46 year old African American female born and raised in Dayton, Ohio. I am a wife of an amazing husband and father. Together we have 3 wonderful adult sons, John 28, Kris 27, and Josh 23, and blended. My husband and I will be married 28 years October 23, 2015. I enjoy being my own boss hosting marriage small groups, cycling, kayaking, ministry work, and spending quality time with my family and dear friends. As a young child, I grew up on the west side of Dayton in primarily a poor neighborhood. One thing that I noticed as a young child growing up in the projects is that everyone looked like me, had the same type of home as me, the same size front and backyard as me, and we all appeared to be in the same economic status.

I knew her for less than a year, but in that short time we got to know each other as well as if we had been friends for our entire lives. I met Anna Rondeau* at a private online high school where we were both taking a few courses. With long, sleek, chestnut hair and mischievously twinkling eyes, Anna was one of the most fun-loving girls I knew. Everyone loved her for her blunt honesty, entertaining personality, sharp wit, and charming southern mannerisms. Oddly enough, our best friends shared the same first name and both Anna and I wanted to be the same thing when we grew up. To listen to us banter over both the most serious and trivial of matters, it would have been difficult for someone who didn’t know to guess that we lived over a thousand

Karrie also plays basketball but is the upcoming tennis star. And I am completely different from those two, I attempted sports and failed. So I went into competitions with horses and joined a local 4-H group. While Kassie and Karrie are more alike, we have always been supportive of each other. I can’t count the number of basketball games or tennis matches I have been to! And they have come to every one of my shows, even though they are not fans of horses, and last year, my Scioto County Fair show was the day before Kassie’s wedding. It doesn’t matter if we don’t live together anymore, we make sure we talk at least once a day. We may not be the regular set of sisters, but I wouldn’t change anything. Our time apart just makes the time together more precious now. This picture was taken by Kassie’s husband, Nick, when we went to our first country concert together. We got the tickets for Christmas and saw Dustin Lynch, Little Big Town, and Luke Bryan. It is just another example of how close we are because Karrie and I drove home at three in the morning, but Kassie was on the phone with us the entire

When my sister and I were in middle school, my perspective of my sister was horrible. I despised her and didn’t want to have anything to do with her due to her ignorant attitude. For example, when I was feeling depressed because my older cousins were ostracizing me, she didn’t notice and didn’t stand up for me. I felt angry at her and I saw her as an irresponsible bother that happened to have my bloodline. However, after we moved to South Pasadena, my perspective of her began to change. Because we moved into a new place full of strangers, we only had ourselves to relate to. I wasn’t very efficient in making new friends and I began to eat lunch by myself. My sister, realizing that I was alone like she was, began to pay attention to me and ate lunch with me. She was aware of my friends and people that didn’t like me, and she stayed with me when my cousins tried to leave me out on playing with them. My sister became my best friend and I realized that she was not a stranger that I should hold a grudge on but was someone that I could depend on when I was

I live in a town that as well not exist. It's rainy one half of a the year and cloudy the other. The people come in three groups: intelligent, nihilistic, or hedonistic. Then, there is Thalloway High, with its prized statue of the manure shoveler who started this mess of a city.

Changed her life, changed her name, she was someone all new. Aradia Rose Williams, she was the part of me that just endured. She survived through the losses and realizations of the girl she was and what she had been through. But now, she only had one parent. A single mother, not the same one that she was born to. She had a bigger house now with even less people and less time with this mother. She had two brothers now and a nanny four days a week in grade school which always made her feel like she was too much work for her mother. Nowadays, I like to keep my distance unless I need her so that she doesn’t think of me as a burden or a bother. There were much more expectations in this stage of life like the religion that we practiced and the responsibilities we were assigned. She hardly looked back on the life she could have had otherwise. Moving to Redmond, Or from Boise, ID was a huge change for this girl at age 10. She didn’t like the more personal feel for a smaller town. Being anonymous and small in a big city was much more her style. Moving through middle school in this new town was really hard starting over and discovering who you are all in one big step. She found new friends that were four years older to match her maturity level and the trials in her life never really stopped. She came close to death and always in fear of losing her brother to all the significant mistakes he was making. From these days, I learned to keep more to

I don't like Devin all that much, I believe she can do better. Much better. He's not as intellectual as she. He's not nearly as beautiful as Katelyn. He is a slob and she likes things neat. Katelyn says he is kindhearted and has a good sense of humor, but I don't see it. I see him as boring and uptight. I bet he can't even make her feel as good as someone else could. Sometimes when we are watching movies together and he tries to snake and arm around her shoulders I can see how awkward and uncomfortable they are. Katelyn has never been awkward with her boyfriends before, it's just him, they aren't right for each other and everyone knows. She deserves better.

True friends, who are they really? They will stand up for their friends and back them when no one else will. True friendship is a kind of closeness that won't fail, even if one were to move away, no matter what the distance.

When i was around 10 years old, me and my friend Kelsie were hanging out at our elementary school (Saxvik). We started a game of soccer and a lot of people joined in. But it was my turn to be goalie, so i went into the goal and got ready to catch the ball. A kid kicked the ball and missed but let's just say i didn't miss anything, I ran into the bar and fell down. After a few minutes i got to go and play Striker. As i was running someone passed the ball up to me, and i started dribbling it. Once i got close enough to take the shot i stepped on the ball and fell backwards.

I come from a big family with many loving aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. As I was standing there all alone I thought back to the time when I got to spend a week with Fran. Almost a year ago to the date, most of the family was together for my other uncle's wedding. All the cousins sat at the same table and we had such a good time together. He was a busy person, he

“Because of you, I laugh a little harder, cry a little less, and smile a lot more.” This quote is exactly like Elle and I’s friendship. We always laugh until our stomachs hurt and smile through life together. I have know Elle since I was 2 years old and she was 1. That is 12 years of friendship. Elle and I met at daycare. We were both shy at first but at the end of the first day we cried when our mom’s came to pick us up.

“If love strikes you, let it rattle your bones” (Drake, 2015). We’ve been dating for 3 weeks, and by we, I meant Arielle and I. She’s a beautiful Jacmelian from Haiti, and ever since I met her, my life has changed. From the moment I saw her to the moment we had our first kiss, I was always unclear. However, one day, I realized how much she counted for me. This day was the day she didn’t come to school, and I couldn’t reach her on her phone. This day was filled with sadness, impatience, and excitement.