Personal Narrative: The Great Legged Passage

My summer of 2017 consisted of visiting places all over the United States such as New York City, Washington D.C., and Florida. Not only did traveling this summer teach me new things, but it also made me go outside my comfort zone and experience new things. This was single-handedly the best summer of my life and wish I could relive it over again.

After about an hour and a half we stopped for a little break for about fifteen minutes and continued on the trail. Four hours in and we somehow ended up on a different trail and had to figure out how to get to where we were trying to go to begin with which was a bit of a task we had to climb and jump from these rather large rocks which had big gaps in between them so we had to jump from one to another we decided to regroup and stay here for awhile we sat on the large rocks looking at our maps to find our way we ate some snacks, talked and took

Looking back at my original “The frog in the Well” essay from the beginning of the class made me realize how much my knowledge and perspective expanded from before. Before I used to think that individuals think and act in different ways because of the way they were raised, but this class made me realize that it’s not only that. Individuals think and act in different ways due to many different circumstances such as background, parents, environment, and other variation that involve in this.

Over the weekend, me and my mom went on a 5 mile bike ride; Went up the Julian Dubuque trail, through Mt. Caramel, around Murphy Park and then back home. We did that

By the end of our trip between the bears, the tram, and rafting I could not have felt ever more enjoyed by the feeling of being one with nature. As our vacation days came to an end the following morning I heard my mom whisper "Johnny, get your stuff it’s time to leave," as it was time to make the road trip back home. The great memories and stories I have from this trip are one of the greatest things I have ever experienced. I hope to one day go back and create more amazing stories and

After about a hour ride and my complaining a lot we finally got there. We stopped by the cabin so we could put some stuff in there and then we could head out. The cabin wasn’t anything special, it was a log cabin with two bunk rooms, a kitchen, and a living room. In the kitchen there was a wood stove that they used for heat. There were other guys in the cabin with us that were part of the club but I can’t remember what they were talking about but now my dad tells me that we left because of what those guys would say around me. The cabin was ran by a generator and it was the first time I had ever seen one so I got to help refill that. It also didn’t have indoor plumbing so it was also the first time I had pooped in an outhouse.

My mom and I went to Indian Hill to take a hike. I put on my sweatshirt, my pants, boots and then put on my camel backpack. We looked at the map, picked the yellow trail, then walked up the stairs and started hiking. I looked down to check my phone to see how much battery I had. I wanted to make sure I could listen to music. It was at 87% charge so I started playing music from Pandora. I put it on today’s pop and hip hop. All I could see were lots and lots of trees . The park was filled with the noise of cars driving in the background.

Just this senior year I made it to the world championship horseshow with my horse Chief. We’ve come a long way considering this is about only his fourth year being a western horse. In the world championship horse show only the top so many horses can come down, Chief and I were 15th in the world. The first show at the world championships I got on him and just started walking him around because I know he hates standing still for long periods of time and we have to halt in the show. Once they called for our class to enter the arena it was an exciting feeling, to finally of shown on the green shavings. We went down the shoot, he was really good, and once they called for the line-up I went in with another person from our barn so we started talking some. They called all the placements and we didn’t get a ribbon, but

We got on the trails and started riding. Right down the road, I got stuck in the dich. My grandpa

This week’s assignment in retrospection has taken me through a whirlwind of memories, as my past is scattered with times of great joy and other times of despair and intense loss. All of this has ended up being useful. Some of the most growth in character has come from hard times. In reading the book Courage and Calling by Smith (2011) Smith spoke of looking for “footprints of the Spirit throughout our stories”. This focus gave me great joy and revelation.

When I stepped into my cart at the 2017 Eastern Regional Championship Show for my first class, I instantly knew that it was going to be the most fantastic show I’d get to experience in my few years of showing the Miniature Horse. The spiritual connection between me and my horse, Red, was indescribable and an astonishing feeling that I’ve never felt with any animal at such a level. His legs were soaring through the air as he was strutting like he owned the place, and he naturally had his head tucked with such light pressure on the reins. That was probably the first class I’ve ever smiled in because I could feel the connection we had, and I knew he looked elegant as he floated above the ground with his sweeping trot. We did get Grands and Reserves

After I got all my bags loaded and got in the car I almost instantly fell asleep when I finally woke up we were at the west entrance to Yellowstone and I was so excited but, soon, that was all gonna change.

My heart was thumping heavily, as the bus took a turn towards the mountains. I didn’t know why I had agreed, but it was too late to turn back.

Bang my eyes opened as I leaped out of bed. I ran at full speed to my brother's room and woke Miguel up and screamed Happy Birthday to him. We went and changed and went on our iPads before our parents woke up. It was all a hurry as we looked like buzzing bees zooming through the house, at around 10 past 9 we ran out of the house full of eager and excitement. Sitting in the car, we drove along streets, highways and whinny roads but when I though we would ever make it to the horse riding we reached. I hopped out of the car ready to get on the Horse but realised the first group wasn't back yet. The three of us played basketball, got a helmet and got ready.

Less than a week left of summer break and I realized that I really hadn't shared any summer adventures. So in short I got a job, traveled to Maryland and D.C., passed my first online summer class with an A, spent a short 20 days with my boyfriend before he left for Japan for two years, showed my horse (still have one more to go!).