Personal Narrative: Second Place

Cheer stole my life away from me. We practiced mornings, afternoons, and weekends. All I ever did was run an incessant routine, having no time for myself, my friends, or my hobbies. This is when depression hit me. I struggled to balance school and my coach’s unrealistic expectations, and found myself breaking down slowly. My biggest dream became my biggest nightmare. Everyday, I wanted to give everything up, but something within me said no. This was my journey to competing nationally, 3000 miles away from home.

When I was younger, I had a fear on competing in front of judges and my parents. My stomach would get butterflies and I would start to second guess myself. In 2012, I somehow made it all the way to regionals for gymnastics. Fast forward to the meet. I had one more event left and was having the best meet of my life. Right before I jumped onto the beam, I took a deep breath and told myself that I can do this. The routine went incredible and my coaches picked me up and spun me around. My parents were crying and I was so confused why. My name then got announced for placing fifth in the region and advancing to nationals representing the United States. From that day forward, I always remember to tell myself that I can anything I set my mind to. It has helped me become a better student and person. Throughout my personal journey in education, I have learned that being involved with something you love to do helps gain confidence in yourself, find your true passion in life and help develop good habits.

It is a warm May night, and I couldn't be any happier. I am sitting in the middle of the Gwinnett Arena anxiously waiting to hear my name. "Look someone is waving the Mexican flag up there," the guy next to me said as he points to the audience. I turn around to see, and realize it's my family. I wasn't embarrassed at all. Actually, I was happy to see the excitement on their face. They call my name, and I go up to get my diploma. "WOW! I MADE IT," I think to myself. I immidiately wave my diploma at them and they wave the Mexican flag even harder. After the ceremony was over, we had over 500 seniors trying to find their families, it was total chaos. I didn't have a way to contact my family since we weren't allowed to have phones with us during

Hiro didn't attend school that day, emotionally and physically drained by the past few hours. The pattern repeated the in the two following days until the week had come to a close. One day of wallowing in grief was turning into a weekend affair. This was the kind of anniversary no one wanted to remember, but the squeezing pain of loss made itself known regardless.

I rubbed my well rested eyes, crawled out from under my warm, cozy covers and stretched my replenished body. It was a sunny, Friday morning, and the air was thin. I walked into the living room: Our living room is your average sitting area, two couches and two chairs. I

“Not for the first time, an argument had broken out over breakfast at number four Privet Drive. Mr. Vernon Dursley had been woken in the early hours of the morning by a loud, hooting noise from his nephew Harry’s room.” — these are the words that framed my childhood. Unlike other children, who were raised to spend time playing outside, I was raised alongside a young British wizard with a scar on his forehead and a penchant for finding trouble. Of course, the adventures of Harry Potter are not actually fact; however, to a boy gleefully resting on his mother’s lap their authenticity was never in question. I can still remember so many things about the way that she would read to me on those lazy Sunday afternoons. Entranced by her soft voice rising and falling as each syllable passed over her lips, I sat and dreamed for endless hours.

I’ve been dancing my entire life. I started by tap dancing when I was three years old, then later moved on to different styles of dance. However, the first day of my audition for an actual dance crew was kind of intense. I remember walking into a room full of talented dancers and completely doubting myself. It gave me a strange feeling in my stomach. I felt like throwing up, but I knew I had to suck it up and get through it. It made me nervous knowing that I was one of the last ones to audition. As soon as I got up on that stage, it was like all my fears suddenly switched off. I danced my heart out and gave it all I got. I got a call a few days later and they had told me that I made the crew. Since that day, I have never doubted myself in

My Placement When I was in high school, I distinctly remember the foreign exchange program the languages department ran throughout the year. Students from Russia, Germany, France, and Spain came over to the United States to live with a host family and have a taste of what everyday American life is

Throughout my early childhood, I knew I wanted to change lives for the better. I have always contemplated on being a doctor since the age of three and decided to be an actress/singer at age six. Since then I have worked hard to maintain good grades and up until now I have worked relentlessly to maintain good grades, this all payed off when I was accepted into a university that would give me the opportunity to follow my dreams. To be able to accomplish my dreams, I have studied, auditioned,and performed to get prepared and be in the place i’m in today. If it wasn't for my determination,persistent,realization,and hard work, I wouldn't be where I am today. Through countless rehearsals, I was able to accomplish my dream of learning how to sing,

It was a new morning in Philadelphia, I woke up, started my day eating and then walked to school. While I was walking I noticed that no one was around me and continued to walk. I made it to my class wondering why no one was here and in the hallway. A few second later someone banged the door behind me, I backed away to the back room. The person came in and started to walk towards me with blood and bite marks on his body. Covered with fear I ran through the back door looking for a teacher. While I was running I saw more people like the person from before outside the window and began to realize that my school was infested with zombies. I started running to the gym looking for equipment and took with me a hockey stick, a rope, and a backpack. While

It’s all a blur really – the memories that is, some dreams and others reality. I hate that dreams seem so real, that they make everything that you truly want happen. Then, when you wake up, you still think it’s real because you felt everything in that dream and all its emotions. And in that moment, that blink of an eye you have to deal with the nagging in your brain telling you it’s not real. My memories consisted of misguided mistakes that made me who I am today. Like the day I got lost in the mall and hung out in the book store because it was quiet. And the days where my dad and me would sit in the living room and listen to music. My mom would always laugh at me and tell us how lame we were, but it was okay because we knew she was joking.

Initial Thoughts I first arrived at the Breakfast Club, and was a little taken aback by all the action that was going on in the room. In seemed like one large stew of energy that continuously fluctuated in different ways. As a camp counselor, I am very used to this type of environment, and it is just a byproduct of having more than 30 children in a confined space. After talking to Janelle, and hearing what happens at Breakfast Club the other volunteers and I got right into playing with the children. I started coloring and playing with whatever else while talking to several children. I remember introducing myself to several of them and them being cautious about telling me their names. Some of them even said things like “why do you need

There were boxes all around me. My room had gone from being colourful with posters to a bare, white room with all of my belongings collected, packed and ready to be moved. Mum had told me that we were moving to a place called 'Victor Harbor', a place I had never heard about before. I began to imagine what this new place could look like. I first imagined a street like those stereotypical ones in movies; with houses on both sides and a straight road in between. There were beautiful, leafy green trees scattered along with an asphalt path along each side for pedestrians to walk along.

If there were to be a film or novel about me I would include my wooden elephant that my grandpa made me when I was 9. The reason I chose this artifact is because it symbolises my Indian heritage and my Indian lifestyles. I came from India to America when I was 1 years old, so I know more about america than I do about India. My parents were both from a long line of Indians and made sure I wouldn't forget my Indian heritage by decorating my house with Indian paintings and sculptures. When I was 12 My dad made a Tamil class with the help of some other families so that their kids wouldn't forget the our home tongue over the years. My Family always kept in touch with our family in India on the phone and through Skype, but It wasn't the same thing

The Way Down “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” I thought, as I inched forward and looked over the side of the plane. I looked over to see my friend who was with me getting ready to jump. Chris had been skydiving before, knew all the basics and would go everyday if he could.