Personal Narrative: Tommy Read

It was late one day in June, and the sky was as blue and clear as sparkling wine. I sat back in my hammock reading the book Unbroken enjoying myself, and my uncle came up and asked me if I wanted to play poker with him, 5$ buy in. I jumped at the idea finished my page and went inside the house. Poker is a pretty big thing in my family and I’ve grown up playing and my uncle was one of the best, so spending time with him playing poker is always one of my favorite things to do. We proceed to set up the table, “Texas Holdem“ he says, Jacks to open”. Nothing weird, so we get the game going and the pots getting pretty big when all of the sudden he drops his cards. I stare the cards dead in the eye and see that i'm going to surpass him! He looks

Growing up with a father in the military, you move around a lot more than you would like to. I was born just east of St. Louis in a city called Shiloh in Illinois. When I was two years old my dad got the assignment to move to Hawaii. We spent seven great years in Hawaii, we had one of the greatest churches I have ever been to name New Hope. New Hope was a lot like Olivet's atmosphere, the people were always friendly and there always something to keep someone busy. I used to dance at church, I did hip-hop and interpretive dance, but you could never tell that from the way I look now.

*disclaimer: bare with me... the next 5 chapters are crap because i wrote them over a year ago...chapter 19 will be the start of some great shit*

I’m sitting within my petite Barbie dollhouse when suddenly I hear a slam at the door. I immediately stand up from my pink chair and sprint to the front of the house; it’s my older sister who has arrived from elementary school. From the second she would step foot in the house I would yell at her, “It’s time to read!” after a few eye rolls she would finally squat beside me and read a Dr. Seuss book. The way the words would just roll off her tongue so smoothly made English look so effortless, however, when she handed me the book for me to read I didn’t know where to begin, all that came out of my mouth was gibberish. I would make up my own words, not even knowing what they meant but for some reason, it was satisfying. As I continued to

When thinking about the neighborhood, school has to come to mind. Mr. Ellis, my third grade teacher, prided himself on educating students. No matter the problem Mr. Ellis would try to help in any way possible, which without a doubt makes Mr. Ellis my favorite teacher. An example of the undying devotion Mr. Ellis shows Other than Everett, the Capital Area Career Center was one of the best schools around Ingham. Understudies could pick any class that fit their field of study. As the understudies work through their class they can acquire school credits which can trade to Lansing Community college or Davenport just to give a couple of cases. Assignments sanctioned us to learn the required information while being able to work at our own particular

When I was young my Dad would always remind me of how important these years as a kid are. He would always say watch how you act as a kid, for it will set the stage for the rest of your life. So many people I know ruined their lives when they were kids. This small, yet so important statement runs through my mind everyday. I love how everyone says they don’t care what people think of them, but I wish they knew how important it is to have a good image. I am not perfect, but I would like to be close as possible. But as Salvador Dali said “Have no fear of perfection, you’ll never reach it. “ The problem I see is everyone wanting to be someone that they are not. Sure, we all have our idols that we look

The clouds were black, immeasurable, and grotesque. I still believe it was because my best friend was leaving for war. My friend Nicholas was the only person that I could have reliance and certainty with. He was the person that when the stresses of the world got to heavy on my shoulders he would pick the world up of my shoulders and carry the burden of the stresses of reality for me. In the end there are no words to describe the signification he has in my life and there is no comfort that can fix the loss that I feel in my heart because of his absence. So for the time being my heart will be in two places, half with me here in Denver, Colorado and the other half in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Have you ever had to do something that you absolutely hate, but have to do it anyway? That is how I feel about reading. It is not that I hate to read, I just have a hard time finding time to read. As well as, I have a hard time finding a book that grabs and keeps my attention. I love the idea of curling up with a good book, but it reality I just cannot seem to make it happen. To me, reading requires time, effort, and discipline.

Where does inspiration come from. The heart maybe. The brain. The soul. Your peers. Maybe even no one. You could have all the acquaintances in the world and I don’t care what anyone says because if they don’t care about you you’ll still end up feeling lonely as hell. I do. I have many acquaintances. But when they don’t care to check up on you to say, “Are you doing okay?” or, “Did you make it home okay?” maybe, “How’d your day go?”, or even, “I know you’ve been going through a lot lately, I just wanted to let you know I’m here for you.”

“There is a house in New Orleans, they call the Rising Sun, it’s been the ruin of many poor boys, and God I know I’m one”

Of the memoirs in the packet, number I was my favorite and the one that stuck the most in my head. Now it may have just stayed in my head because it was the first, but I still believe that it was the most exciting one in the packet. I really like stories that start out like any other day, like it could for anyone, but then it changes drastically and all of a sudden your heart is beating fast and you feeling the adrenaline as if the events of the story are happening to you and not the character. I can somehow relate to the author at the end of the memoir because I too wonder if I could handle myself in a dangerous situation. I would like to think that I could but the occasion has never arose where I could prove myself. It was amazing how the

Monday was sweet, emotional and so addicting. This is my first read from author E.L. Todd and I wasn’t sure what to expect, but this book hooked me from the beginning. I loved Hawke and Francesca. They were so hot together and I couldn’t stop myself from reading.

We are at the Philbrook Museum with the class and of course it’s boring. My best friend Tommy and I are just walking around, waiting for something exciting to happen. Since we were raised by wolves and we’re alphas of the family we leave the pack. We go downstairs and there’s a sign that says “DANGER ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK.” Us being who we are, we enter because we don’t even listen to our parents. As we’re walking in the cold, dim room there’s sarcophagus’ everywhere. I walk over to one of the sarcophagus and as I begin to open it, all of a sudden the electricity shut off. I got scared and jumped back so fast. I yell Tommy’s name as I’m running blindly to the exit. I was running faster than Forrest Gump but Tommy somehow caught up to me. We’re

The first day of the new semester had Mike Stevenson in quite a good mood. It was a welcome change for the older tenured professor; who, at 52, would have been the envy of many other men his age. He had a great job, a full head of hair, and was liked by his colleagues and students. However, due to his messy separation and impending divorce to another professor at the school, his state of mind could have been described as 'irritable' at best. Though even with the messy personal situation going on, he didn't fail to be at his desk before the sun even rose, preparing his lecture notes for one of his favorite classes. His traditional three cups of coffee had been brewed, and his charcoal grey sport coat, donned over a snug fitting navy shirt and

The big day had finally arrived after nearly ten months of preparation. It was the day of my very first dance recital! I had practiced my routine in dance class and at home constantly with the watchful eye of my mother helping me. My costume was ready and so was I.