Personal Narrative: The Wrecked

I come across a rear projection TV on the side of the road one day, load it up, and take it home. I eagerly spend a good four hours stripping it down and saving as much as I can. I end up with a 48” fresnel lens, two hefty speakers, a couple large capacitors, three glass lenses, and a glass mirror. Left over is a box of electronic waste and the particle board skeleton of a TV. I take the electronics to my local electronics recycling center, and set the wooden frame on the curb. I took 70 lbs. of trash and turned it into 10 lbs. of treasure ripe for projects, 30 lbs. of recyclables that would have gone to a landfill, and 30 lbs. of refuse that I had fun

‘Well I think that's enough adventure for today let's go inside it's getting a little dark. I don't want Grandma knowing about this. She would kill me and you!”

I have lost my grandpa and have not gotten over the idea of it. When I was in the sixth grade, my grandfather was very sick; he could barely walk. While my grandmother and some other family members went uptown for some household things, food, and medication, I was told to take care of him. Yet, I wanted to play with my friends outside. He told me to go ahead and play, but for some reason I just got mad and slammed the door and left. Around nighttime, I seen an ambulance pull up to my grandparents’ house.

I sneak outside and go next door to see if Emma and her family are okay. I walk into her house and see her crying hysterically on the ground.

Put the gun down! Put the gun down! Pow Pow Pow. The gun shots cracked into the air as loud as thunder. One after another. We live day by day not knowing our end. In the blink of an eye our lives can be changed forever. Its life, yet even in knowing this we never expect tragedy to find us. We never expect it to affect our lives and the people we know and love. I’m going to share with you the day tragedy found my life.

I know I have not seen you in too long, but that is over. I am now the President. As you know, 12 days ago, was the surrender at Appomattox Courthouse. If you know not, Confederate Army General, Robert E. Lee surrendered his 28,000 troops to Union Lt. General, Ulysses S Grant after the last battle of the war in the morning. Then, one week ago, John Wilkes Booth murdered Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre. Since I was his Vice President, and he died, I am now the President. I am glad that the war is over and the bloodshed is done. The Surrender at Appomattox filled me with joy. As for the Lincoln assassination, I have mixed views. I have deep sorrows and condolences for Lincoln and his family, for I liked the man and he respected me well. I am also

It's been an interesting year so far, and it looks like it is about to get even more interesting (more about that in a moment). What I wanted to write about in this here journal of mine is a new brand of shoe that I just purchased; they are called Nike running shoes, and I love them. They fit well, are comfortable and seem like they will last quite a while. I just had to have a pair (I think I'm the first one here at school to have them most of the other students have never even heard of them; Neanderthals, I know!). I predict they will be a big hit in the future. Okay, enough about shoes, let's move on to more serious matters, my love life! (just joking journal I have no love life right now). Oh well, I haven't written in here for the past few weeks, I guess I better talk about the events of the month. Let's see, it's October 1962 and a number of events have taken place; some here at the University of Mississippi, some in the United States and some internationally. Many of these events will likely have long-term impact on some very serious matters. Of course, I did not think any event would foreshadow James Meredith being admitted into the University, but, the first Negro being admitted into a higher education institution is an event that has only national implications, while the missile crisis in Cuba, could lead to death to thousands or even hundreds of thousands of citizens in both the United States and in Russia.

that we're conditioned to not ask questions and have been marginalized into this as our only source of news .

It was a cool November day, in the middle of Afghanistan. As a medic, I was sitting outside my make shift aid station with one of my buddies sharing stories about home. We hear a loud explosion right outside of the wire. I looked up and could see the cloud of smoke billowing up from about two hundred meters away. Not knowing how bad the situation was, I grabbed a few of my soldiers, our translator and my aid bag and ran straight to the smoke. When we got there, a group of civilians were huddled around a group of people who were yelling, screaming and crying. The translator found out that a group of three men and three children were walking around a field when one of the children stepped on a mine. One of my soldiers grabbed the mine

Home is the beginning of one’s book. It is where your story begins, forms its characters, shows its purpose, and reveals its ora. This is how mine is written. Home is on the buzzing highway down a bumpy gravel road. It’s Brandon, Mississippi. It is the only home I’ve ever known. Home is the smell of homemade biscuits and tomato gravy on Saturday mornings. It is “Bless Your Heart” and “Yes Mam” and “No Sir”. The little bedroom in the back of a grey double-wide where Carrie Underwood songs played and where I learned to curl my hair and put on mascara. My cousins and I running around with mason jars, chasing the lightning bugs. Bar-B-q on the back porch and never meeting a stranger. It is the morals learned and the identity

"Fresh off the boat" or "F.O.B" for short is a term which means carrying your sense of fashion and culture from your country which clashes with the current country's culture. That term is what I was referred to when I first started school in America. I did not understand the American culture or the way the system worked.

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.

When I went to Boston to visit my mom I would see my best friend. She is my mom’s boyfriend’s niece, so it’s pretty clear how we met. One day when she came over for a sleep over we got in a argument over a stupid situation. It was about 2:00am we were still up eating junk food, laughing, and playing. The next day, my cousin who I haven’t seen in forever came over, we were both so excited to see each other she literally jumped on me!

No matter how hard we try to plan out our lives and make them as close to perfect as possible, trials always arise from the abrupt. On August 18, 2016, at 2 am the lives of everyone in my immediate family were a turn for the worse. My father received a phone call that my older brother had been in a car accident by himself and it looked as if he had been there a while. He was flown to the nearest trauma center immediately. My older brother’s name is Mike that was in the accident and he is twenty two. The cause of the wreck was being under the influence. Mike was directly put on life support in the intensive care unit the following week, undergoing multiple surgeries to save his life. However, there was a lot more going on than just that.

I remember the day so vividly, and I can still feel the pain and the sadness. It all started in the early morning, at about seven o’clock. All four of us woke up and ate breakfast together. We got dressed, finished packing, and we left. We were driving down the highway, on our way to Madison, South Dakota. It was in this city that everything started to change.