Personal Narrative: The Thunder Bay

The sun was glistening through the tall, swaying pines. To the right of the trail, a gentle river flowed softly down towards the mouth of the lake. Walking across the rickety wooden bridge, I inhaled a deep breath of refreshingly crisp mountain air. The sun beat down on me as I made my way across the bridge and back onto the well-used hiking trail. The ambient sounds of chirping birds, babbling water, and the croaks of several frogs filled my ears as I made my way around the bend. As I entered the mouth of the forest, I could see my father standing in the middle of the path, glancing upwards, taking in the beauty that had began to engulf us. “We better get going.” he said, looking back at me. “There’s still many miles to go.” I smiled and turned, taking in one last view of the beautiful creekside. Then, with determination, we set out to finish the challenging trek we had started.

The summers of 2013, I went to Cedar Point. It was me, my brother, my mom, dad, and my dad’s friend. My dad said, “we are going to get on all of us the roller coasters” and the rest of us said “ok.”

Regularly, we would go somewhere and do something new regardless of whether we were in the country or in the city. When we were in the country we would stay at my uncle’s grandparents’ house. They owned a cow and a calf, so while we were there my uncle’s grandma would milk the cow after dinner and give us fresh, warm milk to drink. They also had a big farm filled with rows of corn, which my siblings and I would run through. There was only one thing my siblings and I were not used to, and that was having to run outside to the outhouse when you needed to use the bathroom.

Have you ever been in a situation where you didn’t think you could do it? Well I have many times and I’m going to write about a time during Rodeo when I didn’t think I was going to be able to do well in goat tying.

I am one of the following students who had the chance to obtain the South Bay Promise Scholarship. I didn't know about the South Bay Promise, nor the First Year Experience. I am thankful for having such an amazing statistic’s teacher, Mr. Espinoza from Hawthorne High School. When he told the whole class about the opportunities here in El Camino College, I knew I had to apply because it would make different. If it wasn’t for him, a teacher so passionate on seeing his students not just graduate but to motivate them to go to an university or a college after, I would never be in the place that I am.

Red Lake Ontario a place that I’ve been But only in my dreams in the last year and ten It’s always been with the boys, mainly my son I invite you into my dreams because you’re my special one. The cabin on the hill faces north over the lake But as the sun set down theres not even a wake

It was a polluted, blazing hot morning and I felt like I had just been working out for the whole night. As I got ready to go to school, putting on my pollution mask, and taking my bike out, I was concerned not about the teachers and getting lost, but about fitting in. This wasn’t perfect Canada anymore, this was chaos filled, contaminated, messed up China! Everyone was so different from the people in Canada, they spoke quite rudely, they wore shaggy cloth, and their shelter was very traditional compared to the ‘modern style houses’ in Canada. You could say that my school was a giant playground with a playground mansion and an additional indoor playground. As I entered the humid environment of the Mansion, strange figures zoomed around

Lotes en Cleveland Heights. Sucio, basura por todas partes. Pero imagine uno como un jardín. Eso era verdad. (Lots in Cleveland Heights. Dirty, trash everywhere. But imagine one as a garden. That was true.)

When I was a kid, a girl lived next door to me. She was beautiful, graceful, and overall a kind person. Her name was Riley. I remember the times where I hung out with her. She was a cool girl who didn’t mind a boy hanging around with her. We often spent our time swinging on a rope in the park and playing tag. In time, I felt… attached to her. I wanted to tell her this. However, something happened.

The United States has always been “home” to me because I feel that I am a bit of the quintessential American story. I was born to immigrants hoping for a better opportunity than what was offered from their third world home country. I was raised and went to school here, which blended many of my parent’s home culture and the new American culture. As I have matured, I have noticed how much my life has been influenced by society’s opportunities and issues. The American character is the crossroads of opportunity, struggle, and hopefulness because the it is not only a reflection of the founding father’s ideas, but also a reflection of minorities who have interjected their experiences that shaped my American journey.

When a typical person considers taking a vacation, they do not immediately consider Windsor, but the city has plenty to offer such as the WFCU Centre, Canadian Historical Aircraft Museum, and Ojibway Nature Centre. The WFCU Centre hosts fantastic entertainment acts and it also feature sports, music, and comedy performances; some acts that have performed at the centre include: Jerry Seinfeld, Neil Young, and the Windsor Spitfires. Not only does the city provide wonderful entertainment, Windsor is home to the Canadian Historical Aircraft Museum. One of the projects the members of the museum are working on is the restoration of two airplanes: a vintage Lancaster Bomber and Mosquito. Furthermore, pilots fly other antique aircraft and there is

Harpers Island. A place I never imagined myself going back to. Not after all the shit that went down there. Too many bad memories for such a small island. Yet, here I was, on the ferry, heading back to that very island. If that wasn’t surprising enough, the only reason I was going back was because my father was getting married again and decided that Harper’s Island was the best place to do it (bullshit). Most of the guests attending were on the bride’s side of the family. All of them were hot-shit lawyers and judges and doctors and basically everything my father wasn’t. He lucked out though, his words. When I received the invite, to say I was hesitant would be the understatement of the millennia. I almost decided not to go. I was so close.

Tall, brown eyes and creative, the funniest person in the room and makes you want to laugh. He was the only one there for me when I needed a second hand or to have each other's backs, he means the world to me. The only friend I had as a little kid, my brother A.K.A. Michigan hero.

Few days after my 8th birthday, my family and I left our home in India and began a new life in Canada. It was not long before, I became aware of how different I was from the other children at school. Not just aesthetically but even our thoughts were different. Steadily, I became isolated and lowered my self-esteemed. At recess one day, the clear skies suddenly changed in the dark clouds with chilling wind. I was shivering in the cold, when one of girls from my class wrapped me inside of her jacket. She was smiling and at me and hugged me and said, “warm”. Soon other kids hugged us and we formed a small huddle. Although they did not know me, they understood the gestures of hugging to provide warmth. Jessica, the girl with the jacket, and

I followed Cliff and his siblings to the safe zone. We arrived around nightfall. They checked our eyes to make sure we didn't have symptoms of Mentis Rabidus, then they gave us canned soup and bedrolls. After we ate, they told us the plan. We will follow a river and using the mountains as protection. The end point is about 1,500 miles away. It is near the Peace River in Canada. They told us it will be a lot of walking and everyone will need to help with chores. I'm not too happy about that. I would rather just look out for myself. But Canada is a lot safer than L.A., and to get there I need to help out.