Personal Narrative: The Kite Runner

When you parents tell you not to do something do you just do it anyways. Well I do and this time I think I learnt my lesson. It all started on a normal Saturday and we were gonna go on a hike, but none of us wanted to go somewhere so we just did it at home. We got our bags and water ready and busted for the trail. I thought it was gonna be a normal day and we would all have fun, but I got proved wrong. The trail itself is about three miles and a couple of extra steps,but with the surprise we only walked a mile of it.

The only thing that experience has shown me is that without diligence and perseverance, nobody can be successful in the long run. Sometimes, people will be born into a richer family or will be more talented than you, but adversity is the finest blessing in disguise. The US Navy SEALS say that when you say you cannot keep pushing, you have only realised 40% of your potential. From waking up at 5:00 am in the morning to go lift with my track team, and sleeping less than 5 hours each day to handle more than double the normal number of courses in high school, I have always believed that this 40% rule is true, and will continue to do

Change is inevitable. Whether it be positive or negative, change is constantly happening. More than often change can take you from the known world and spit you into the unknown, where you return a changed person. While embarking on the journeys provoked by change, you are on a hero’s journeys. The hero’s journey was popularized by Joseph Campbell. When describing what prompts hero’s journeys, Joseph Campbell said,

There’s a saying that everyone’s said at least once in their lifetime, I’m sure. It’s so cliché, but now I know that there is so much truth behind it. “Believe in yourself.” Rather than giving up on yourself, use your failures to make you better. Learn how to bounce back from adversity and learn from those experiences. This is called using your growth mindset. According to Carol Dweck, research psychologist, in her book Mindset, “In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment.” It wasn’t until the summer between my junior and senior year of high school that I learned this and of course I learned it the hard way. I had played club basketball for four summers in a row with the Longmont Rush basketball club. I loved the game of basketball and I had spent countless hours working on my skills on the court. I even wanted to play in college. I already had schools scouting me. Unfortunately, in my final season, just before my senior year, my biggest fear came true.

Sea gulls bickered on the warm, morning breeze over head. The waves lulled the vessel boat to-and-fro as it skimmed through Blackwater Bay. The water sparkled like sapphires, clear and bright under the sun. From the bow of the boat, Alayna peered out towards the Narrow Sea. Beyond the bay, adventure called her like a siren song. She longed to explore the lands beyond Westeros. However, this voyage wouldn’t ferry her towards that dream. She’d continue to dream of that journey. The schooner wouldn’t be sailing beyond the bay.

My story is an interesting one. The first major thing that happened to me was my family's move to Peru. I lived there for two years, from when I was seven to nine years old. I did learn to speak Spanish pretty well but sadly, I did not retain it for long after we moved back to the United States. Living there was a huge blessing to me, it taught me how to adjust to whatever life throws at you. Anyone who has ever moved knows it can be hard to readjust, but moving to another country teaches you how to adjust to almost anything. The second significant event that happened to me was my start of becoming a runner. Running taught me to be tough and to fight through the pain to become stronger and get to the finish line. Another event that has shaped

When I was younger, all I heard from the outside world was that “You can be whatever you want to be“, but at the same time, The person I obsessed with when I was an adolescent, Bear Grylls, had stated “A man’s pride can be his downfall, and he needs to learn when to turn to others for support and guidance.” I had dreamed of becoming an NBA superstar when I was only five and every single day I practiced my tail off to watch if I could possibly pull off my goal. However, when I was eight, my parents signed me up for a city league, and all I witnessed was everybody able to outdo me at every possible fundamental. I ended up being atrocious and my dad told me “ Sometimes talent is natural, and it provides dreams out of reach, but you must look around for everything possible for something you can reach that will help you in the long run. “ (Slides 20 and 25). Throughout the rest of my childhood, I had explored several possible careers such as working with animals. I was always interested in animals that you could interact with in public, but I always had a fear with household pets on behalf of knowing that they would prey on and attack each other unexpectedly, and that’s something I’d always been terrible at coping with (Slides 24 and 28). However, when I started high school, I recall that I was always doing something that I enjoyed. Whenever I went to class, someone would always call on me to assist them with a problem and I was always able to help them solve it. It was very rewarding and again came another Epiphany. I was guiding people what to do under proper circumstances. That congenial of guidance falls into the category in Teaching, and at that instant came my quest to become a teacher who could make a change in the world. I started taking the teaching courses my school offered during my Junior and Senior years and I knew I was making a positive

It was just like every other day. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping playing their songs in harmony. I was at the station drinking my coffee.

He wanted to know why was Wes talking to Marie while she was sick. I thought of my answer for a long time and finally said Marie has some information for your dad to hear. He thought the BIA handled their problems but I told him that Wes was just helping her. I walked away not far from David to a tree. I told David that I liked the wind. It was true. The wind reminded me of North Dakota. My dad use to curse the wind and say it was carrying the topsoil and giving it to South Dakota. I always loved the wind though. I loved the way it felt. David told me it makes good fishing because it riffles the water so the fish won't be able to see you. I told him the wind had a different smell here. In North Dakota the wind always smelled like dirt. Even

There I am standing alone at the top of Mount Everest. I have everything I need to go back to the bottom. I don’t use any of it. I am a soldier, and my mission is not complete. Alone, I am still not afraid. Temperature is 28 degrees, but I am not letting it affect my skills. I walk alone through the dark, eerie woods. It has been 32 hours, and I have still not completed my objective. I was sent to assassinate the leader of an military trained group. The group was out here training to intercept signal for a helicopter transporting cargo to an unknown military base in the valley of the mountain Everest. I have intercepted their signal and found out where exactly they were located. I found them, and it wasn’t an easy mission. Many

When In my Mind’s eye his face has been etched since the day I first saw her.

The sixth sense; something so mysterious and bizarre we consider paranormal, yet this vestigial method of perception can produce beautiful results.

Never shall I forget that day, the first time I rode a roller coaster that made my day continue without a voice.

I was free from playing, but I didn’t know how it would affect my life. As it turned out, it was one of the best choices I had made, but I wish I could of known that before I did it, so I didn’t have to be so scared. As I’ve grown up, I realized that I am faced with more and more challenges like deciding to quit a sport or deciding where I want to spend the next four years of my life, and I know there will only be more challenges to come in college and beyond. For this reason, I want to approach challenges without fear of failure because I know no matter what happens it will help change me into a well-rounded person. If I stopped being so afraid of challenges, I would become a more successful person. When I was in fifth grade, I remember reading a poster with one Albert Einstein’s quote, “I have tried 99 times and have failed but on the 100th time came success”, and I didn’t quite fully understand it. I thought maybe that Einstein wasn’t as great as everyone said he was if he had to do something a hundred times. Now I read it, obviously knowing that Einstein is rather smart, and understand that to find success it will not be easy and that I will make mistakes, and I have to be fine with that. I have plenty more obstacles ahead, and I realize that taking the safe way every time will be like a rabbit racing a cheetah and a turtle; I won’t come in last place, but I sure won’t be in first either. When I stop being so afraid of failure, I will make far more mistakes than I would have, but how else does one become successful without

Before this pivotal moment in my life I was someone that would quit if things got too hard. By this point I had already quit two different sports because they got too difficult or I just didn't feel like doing it anymore. A lot of the time I would just get lazy and not do what I was suppose to do. I would say I tried when I knew I really didn't.