Personal Narrative: The Events That Changed My Life

Until I walked onto the stage to take a bow, I didn’t realize that I just danced, acted and sang a solo. It took me a long time to get to that fifth grade Christmas play where I wasn’t shy anymore. Due to the fact that I wasn’t Darth Vader anymore, so I didn’t need a mask strapped onto my face to breathe at night. Asthma, respirators and surgeries were what my childhood consisted of and I would have time to, at most, socialize with my family. Years after my final surgery, my currently bubbly-self erupted from within and many of my friends never knew how I was before.

Like most adolescents his age, Gene Forrester begins to struggle with self-esteem and this is highlighted by relationship with Phineas. Finny seems to be the perfect person as he is athletic, carefree, and has a knack for getting out of trouble. At first, Gene enjoys being in the company of Finny because he is daring and shows him a side of life that Gene isn’t used to. But as the story progresses, Gene becomes jealous of Finny and tries to become the smartest student in class to compensate for Finny’s athletic ability. He even becomes suspicious of Finny and accuses him of being jealous and sabotaging his studies. But the truth is that, “He had never been jealous of me for a second. Now I knew that there never was and never could have been any rivalry between us. I was not of the same quality as he"(Knowles 59). The root of his resentment is that he knows that Finny has no ulterior motives which means that Finny is a better person than him. Gene desperately wants to be exactly like Finny but they are entirely different people. His envy takes over when he causes Finny’s fall. His fall breaks his leg and it takes away a crucial part of his humanity. This means that Finny is no longer a threat to Gene’s self-esteem. Even today, low self -esteem and envy are big issues especially in the social media driven world we live in. In which, we can only see the highlights of the lives of others. What I learned from the envy displayed in this story is that being

I can cause people to mature, and to grow and learn from their experiences. “You want to break something else in me? Is that why you're here?” (Knowles 184). Finny is addressing Gene after finding out that it was Gene's fault he fell. Gene is having to acknowledge that what he did is wrong, and face the consequences head on. “I’ve gotten awfully mad sometimes, and almost forgot what I was doing. I think I believe you, I think I can believe that. Then that was it. Something just seized you. It wasn’t anything you really felt against me, it wasn’t some kind of hate you've felt all along. It wasn’t anything personal…” (Knoles 191). Before the ‘accident’ Gene was fairly innocent, not in a sheltered way. Just in a way that said he didn’t have life experience, and after he had changed into a shell of his former self. All of his bitterness and resentment that had built up former his rivalry came crashing down on him after the accident. Once this happened he could move on and act like a mature young adult, but only after. As all of this is happening, Gene starts to slowly morph into an adult. He matures. Gene’s actions due to his competitive nature leads to a complete 180 in his

Narrowing down one specific event is rather difficult. If I had to decide, it would be the Sunday morning that I stood in pool of water with my wife Amber holding my hand. Together, we were baptized in front of our congregation at a small church in Elizabethtown, KY. In order to understand why this event is so significant, and why it will influence my academic goals at CCU, it’s imperative that you know my back story. I’ve served 12 years as a military police soldier for the United States Army. I started my journey in the Army, as a young, inexperienced 18 year old young man. I ended my career as a Sergeant, with memories of experiences I will forever hold in my heart. Most of these memories are difficult to even talk about, but being a soldier

When I was 13 years old, my parents started to think about moving to United States because my dad was already working here for a company. We started all the immigration related process which took a while to end. When I was 14, one day I came back from school and my parents told me we were moving to US in 2-3 months. When I heard it first, I was happy, but later I started thinking about how I will be leaving everything behind. My family, friends and neighbors whom I have been with since I was little, I will be leaving all of them in a few months. As the date approached closer, we started to pack more and more things. There was

In order to understand how I got to where I’m today, and why I have made the choices that I made, I need to tell you where and how this journey started. Twenty years ago I was a wife, mother of three girls, owned a nice home in a small town and had a secure job working at United Parcel Service (UPS). Even so, after an injury at work, I very rapidly got addicted to pain medication which turned my world upside down. In a very short time I lost my job, my kids, and my husband and my home and began a six year struggle with addiction that included several arrests, incarceration, probation, and three different treatment programs that finally ended on October 2, 2001.

After TIES and with the knowledge I had gained I began for the first time in over decade to hope. With a renewed energy I came home and I set out on the next leg of my journey. I was going to show the world who I knew myself to be. What had been so insurmountable, no longer seemed impossible and I rose to the challenge and relished the moment as my transformation began again.

The everyday struggle of having no sight or hearing in it of itself is a challenging experience. To gain success in anything she had to work 100 times harder than any other pupil, to create stories she had to endure the tedious process of rewriting thoughts countless times prior to putting a single word on paper due to the fear of plagiarism. Everything that was thrown at Helen she learned how to fight through it; in my opinion, I believe that all these experiences conditioned her into stronger and an undoubtably driven woman. Nevertheless her strength and phenomenal work ethic did not come easy to Helen, it took years upon years to bypass her anger. Personally I don’t think Helen ever stopped evolving into a better friend and person. If I had to define her most apparent change in her life, I would choose her transition from being uneducated to having the ability to communicate her thoughts and feelings.

Jamie has a special place in my heart, and he still treats me the same. He treats me as though I am not any more fragile than when I was in his sister’s body. Jamie acts as though I am the same, even though I am completely different. During the host transfer, Ian was with me. He told me that he held me in his hands and that I was beautiful. Ian still loves me, despite my childish appearance. I am not as strong as Melanie is, and I no longer have the strength to be truly useful in the camp. To benefit the others, and to repay the debt I owe to them, may be impossible. I did not deserve a second chance at life, but now I must earn it. And I will earn my

Throughout the cycle of life, everyone passes through obstacles that seem to overrule our lives. However, a key difference is that people with autism have trouble understanding social cues made by other people in life. Those with autism know the struggles and challenges that life can offer for a person. During my life, I have overcome obstacles, but one obstacle that I would be of the utmost proud to have overcome, is completing high school.

As the current was leading me to snare, my heart started to find itself in a state of panic. I did my best to steer from the danger of being trapped but it was too late. I was stuck. Unable to continue going downstream I got off my tube and tried to push out. But I started to slip, and I was sinking bit by bit. I grabbed a hold of the branch and positioned myself onto the log. So luck would have it, my friend helped me out of the sticky situation. As I continued down the stream, the question came up: what would happen if my friend was not there to bail me out?

There have been a lot of experiences that have defined me and fundamentally changed who I am, whether it metastasized into negativity or cultivated itself into positivity, it drove my core until the very present. Even as I continue to grow, I find myself constantly being challenged in different aptitudes, fighting against forces consciously unknown to me as a child. One experience in particular that I remember, was when I was younger I had been bullied quite a bit. It was actually several racist remarks that had made me cry home to my father, whom was no help to me at all. At the time, I would like to think I knew what racism was. I knew the idea, the concept, and that that concept had rejected my being as something not equal to those who chastised

I drove my father to a Vietnamese auto-repair shop to ask for an estimate on his car repairs. The response was not one we expected and my dad didn’t have enough for the car replacements. “Dad, I’ve some savings from years back if you need it.” Despite my offer, my dad couldn't cover the rest of the cost and was forced to sell his car instead.

In life, one may face many defining moments that can shape them in a variety of shapes and forms. Whether they are good or bad, they result in a significant change for a person. In my life, two defining moments that I have faced include being labelled gifted and placed in a gifted education program, and moving towards high school.

Days go by. They hurt my wing asking me to change. All they don't know is that I can't change when I'm hurt. I want to tell then that if I could change that I would of been gone a long time ago but their is no way to communicate with them. One day they give me a tote and some ink. "Tell us why don't you change." Quickly I write down the answer. They stop hurting my wing and treat every once in a while. As I wait I think of fun memories. Jay's funny jokes. Cole's horrible cooking. Kai's angry tantrums. Lloyd's training. Nya and me chatting. Most of all Zane. His eye his voice everything. When ever I think of him I seem to calm down and relax. Every day I wait and look at the door waiting for anyone to show up. I don't even care if it is dareth.