Personal Narrative: Showbarn Style

“I never told you what I felt when I heard you were the one that fell off,” she said, “I could feel my heart sink to my stomach. At first I thought it was a different rider and I brushed it off since people fall off all the time. It hurts more when it happens to someone you know and love.”

In 2025, I will be twenty-nine years old and hopefully married. I will be married to my significant other of ten years Earnest Palmer III, who is a dentist. I would have been recently graduating with a bachelor’s in Culinary Arts and trying to plan to open my own restaurant, BubbaD’s Eateries. Knowing my big headed husband of mine, I probably had a baby then and trying to have another baby. Hopefully, by then Earnest will get rid of the idea naming our son, King. We will be living in the suburbs near New York City but working in the city. Being a woman with great memory, I probably wrote a memoir about my crazy life and trying to sell it to a publisher. If none of the publishers wants to publish my memoir, I will probably sell it the Lifetime

Of course the norm for me is that of any citizen living in zone three.

I promised myself that I would only go for greness. That I would only do what was right and never to be unsportsmanlike while I was out on a cast or out in the bench arena, or anywhere else for that matter. I had played sports and at the time I still was, but everything that had to do with that dog skyrocketed above all the rest. I had fallen in love with the sport and showing off our dogs. I fell in love with the friendships I made at the events. The adrenaline rush that I got when I arrived at the tree my dog was treed on or when I saw out of the corner of my eye, that the judge was walking toward me with the prize of the show.All of my achievements make me proud of who I have become. In the four years of hunting and showing hounds, I’ve done some great things as a teenager. I’ve shown in the world show. I’ve won a national. I’ve made a dog a show champion and a nite champion. I’ve made another dog a grand nite champion also. I’ve made so many friends, and I learned a lot in the

Today would've been Kaylynn’s 16 birthday. She would’ve gotten her first car today, just like Logan did. She died at the age of 8. The doctors tried everything. Her poor heart just gave out on her. She tried to live. She never gave up on herself. She went to school, and did everything the other kids did. She didn’t let her disease stop her. She may of not been good at it, but she tried. Kaylynn inspired many, especially me. She pushed herself, she didn’t want special treatment. She knew if she believed in herself she could do anything. When she turned six we took her to Disney World. She has always loved to pretend to be a princess and her dream came true since then she followed her dream. She always was telling everyone not to give up that she believed they could do it. She helped everyone follow their dreams. If Kaylynn were still alive, I would say

It was just the beginning of February. The winter cold, brutal, and yet normal for the people living in Michigan. My best friend Brian, his uncle Craig, and I were driving back together from Craig’s up north cottage. Brian and I were riding passenger with Craig in his Chevy Silverado pick-up. We were coming back from the annual Perchville Polar Bear Plunge that took place in Tawas, Michigan. A lot was on my mind since it was the second semester of my senior year, and graduation was right around the corner. I had no idea what I wanted to do, or where my future would take me.

Pulling my boots on that morning, I knew that tonight would show me if all of the time and hard work I had been putting in on my young filly was enough for our first exhibition run in the barrel arena. She's been under saddle for a little less than a year and in that short time, this horse had taught me more than I could have ever dreamed possbile. With that being said, Shockem, is more than just her name, but almost a statment for how she would impact my life and way of riding.

You seemed as if you left out of your 4th block Spanish from those rusty gray doors on the side of our school building.

“And last but not least the first place winner of the USA Dance competition 2015 is MALIKA CUNNINGHAM.” Madame Antoinette said as she screamed my name at the end.

We went to the winner’s circle in a daze. The ring steward put the tri-colored sash around my horse’s neck and then we took a victory lap around the ring. The crowd seemed to be roaring with applause, and I could not believe it was all for us. All of our hard work paid off. It was absolutely worth the blood, sweat, and tears it took to be able to set a goal, work hard, and actually accomplish it.

A significant compromise that I have made would be deciding to forgive my mother for kicking me out in order to live with her again. When I was about 15 years old, me and my mother got into an argument that ended with her dropping me off at my grandmother's door and driving off. I was upset and just asked my grandmother if I could stay, she would do this a lot so I assumed that she was not serious. About a week later she brought over my bed and my clothes. I had realized that she was serious and did not want me back home. A few months later I found a stray dog being thrown off a car in the freeway so I decided to get it. My aunt, who I was also living with, told me that there were no dogs allowed at her home so we drove to PetSmart. They were

I do not belong to an American lineage. I originate from the beautiful country of Nigeria, in West Africa. My grandfather once told me a special enlightening statement that I will never overlook. “Life without knowledge of one’s roots is useless. Once you truly begin to learn and experience your roots, your perception of life fluctuates.” Nigeria is the home of over 500 languages. My grandfather can speak and comprehend English, French and my tribal language Yoruba. 10 years ago, my family held a reunion in Nigeria. Every individual family member there communicated by speaking in French and Yoruba, however, I stood there bewildered.

My guilt was trapped behind my heart, knocking and pinching at the organ to open up and let it free. But I found a secret route. It could leave without anyone knowing it was even there.

I was sitting in my room eating a ham and cheese sandwich when all of a sudden I heard a loud bang on my window. Startled I tip toed over to the window curious to see what made the sound. As I moved the curtains slowly, I found I was now face to face with a tiny little fairy. She was no bigger than a roll of paper towels and smiled while rubbing her head and staring back at me. I slowly opened my window as not to scare her, but also scared for myself because I had never been seen a fairy in real life. As the window opened enough for her to fly through she came fluttering passed me and rested on the end of my dresser. I stood in amazement as she dusted herself off and continued to rub her head. I managed to muster out a few words, “who are

Dad was enjoying this, too, but was getting a little tense, he said, “Grab the ropes with your