Personal Narrative: Transitioning To A Better Person

Throughout high school, I’ve been involved in multiple activities. As I began high school sports, I looked up to the upperclassmen and tried to be like them. As I grow older, I try to be a positive role model for the underclassmen, just as the students before me had done. I believe that being a positive influence on the ones that look up to you is a splendid aspect to have. As my senior year approached, I participated in volleyball for my fourth year. Throughout practice, I was sure to reach

A new school, a new chance for myself and my classmates to define ourselves, and our futures were now relatively at stake. Coming into it, I already had an edge. My place on the varsity cross-country roster was cemented, the varsity basketball coach was looking at me to potentially fill a need on the team, and my school record in the 1600m run was freshly being marked on the wall. In most circles, this would have been a dream come true, however none of this changed my role. I was a follower, always had been, always would, and I had no intentions of changing this. We had older kids, “leaders”, who were supposed to know what to do in any given situation simply because they had been doing it longer. Why would you look to a freshman to take the lead anyways? That doesn’t make sense, but we had a young team. Very young; we had not had seniors the previous two years, and coming off of last season, expectations were pretty low coming into the year. We knew we had a chance to be talented, but we didn’t know how to step

Taking the field with a varsity football team as a freshman is quite scary. Friday nights are something I have grown to love even more than before. Mental toughness as well as physical is very much needed in this sport. This year would be the test for me. Nerves are always going to be a factor for people that are starting to play football with older guys.I was a fourteen year old freshman. Over the summer break I had been lifting a lot of weights and getting strong. It wasn’t ever going through my mind that I would start as a freshman, Until Coach Cole came to me and said that I was going to have to be tough because I had a good chance to start because we needed another lineman.

The second season came around and after three days of tryouts, I was named captain for the Junior Varsity team. I was proud of myself and so was the coach with my improvement. Midway through the season, I was moved up to Varsity. It wasn't a big deal for some, but to me it felt like passing your driver's test or getting an A on a project. I felt proud of my accomplishment and I had a new sense of determination to get better. After losing the first round playoff game, I wanted to get even better so I worked hard during the off season day in and day out. Before I knew it, the season was on my doorstep, knocking. We started off rough, losing our first 5 games. I saw that everyone on the team was slowly giving up. We had a team meeting and I gave a speech to motivate the team, which helped.We won the next game. Our confidence went up, but then we lost the next game. For some reason, though, no one seemed to be bothered. We went on a 4 game winning streak after. We made it the playoffs, but we lost in the first around again. After the game, I gave another speech on getting better as a team and holding our heads up high. After the season ended, I noticed coaches were starting to scout

As an eighth grader I started playing on the varsity team. The team has had amazing success, 5 back to back league titles, and 2 state finalists. My contribution, 1 goal and 5 assists. My dad would say that my stats are “laughable.” He always makes fun of me, saying that the only impressive stat I have is the minutes I have spent on the bench. In a sense he is right; it is impressive that I have sat on the bench for 5,540 minutes and never complained. I see this as an accomplishment, I have been able to hide my true feelings and put my teammates first. It is more important to me that I help them to succeed because then I see that as my job; to push everyone around me to do their best. However, I still focus on my own goal, to feel that split second of success that is only felt by scoring. Everyday at practice I would take a little time to teach myself how to score. By shooting pucks everyday trying to score every single one, learning how to see beyond the goalie so that the puck would finally go in. This year all my hard work paid off I scored my first goal versus Waltham. The place went bizerk. All the parents were on their feet cheering and my coach hugged me. All for a goal. This is why I love playing. Where else can you feel success like this? Instant gratification for hours spent working on one skill. With a lot of hard work and a little bit of luck anyone can feel that split second of

I unzipped my coat as I stepped into the warm basement. I crinkle my nose as the bitter smell of alcohol hits it. I feel like I should be used to it by now, I go to concerts at least once a month. We walk over to the small table overflowing with merchandise. It’s a tradition to by the opening bands CD.

Waking up, knowing the day was going to be the same, Elizabeth or Liz for short, was ready to go to school. Doing the same routines every day of school: waking up at 8:15, take a 10 minute shower, get dressed up, brush her teeth, do her hair, eat breakfast, walk out of her apartment, drive to school, and hang out with her friends until the bell rang at 9:15. Liz started the second semester in 11th grade, but now she has been in school for 2 months.

“The thing about perspective-changing events is that they usually don't announce themselves as such.” -Andrea Goeglein. For my family and me, there are few quotes that seem quite as true as this. We have learned all too well how one split-second can entirely change one’s perception of their life and the world around them. I know now how a seemingly awful event can be beneficial to the mindset of a person- how one occurrence can make everyone realize and appreciate the most important things in life.

My early years were a patchwork of typical suburban activities--school projects, basketball teams, and zany summer camps. I hung out with friends from church who lived generally carefree lives with few heavy responsibilities. Naturally, I fell into the same boat just through my own assimilation into that core group of friends. Recently, my father stepped down as the lead pastor of our church to pursue a different calling as a missionary consultant to churches across the United States. The week after my parents said their final good-byes to the congregation, my brother went off to college in Arizona, followed by the start of my senior year of high school. Everything was happening so quickly at that time, but it wasn’t

Imagine your best friend, the person you’ve grown up with. The person who knows everything about you, even some things you don’t know about yourself. The one person in the world you would trust your life with, knowing that they would protect it with theirs. Now, although it’s something no one wants to imagine, think about them suddenly being ripped from your life, right as you needed them. This happened to me in the summer of 2013.

Island life is nice… if you don’t live it every day. I’m sure any teenager you ask born and raised on any small island like St. Thomas will tell you the same:There are barely any clothing stores, grocery prices are high, and the worst part: there are only two public high schools. The metaphor, a “big fish in a small pond” becomes real to you, especially one you enter middle school . After enduring this for about five years, I decided that I needed to leave St. Thomas ASAP for the sake of my education, my future and, most importantly, for my sanity. August of 2016 I boarded a plane headed northward to Georgia leaving my parents an empty nest early, to live with my aunt and uncle. Four hours from my new life, I was hit with the most agonizing realizations :I don’t know anyone. I don’t know how to act. Georgia? I don’t know her.

This past summer I attended North Carolina Governor’s School West and it was a truly growing experience. Through my time with the program, I strongly believe that I made the transition from childhood to adulthood.

My Mom and I are on our way home on a late Sunday afternoon from shopping and soon getting ready for a great family dinner. We call my grandparents, “Hello! How are you doing honey?” They say to my mother as they don’t know I’m in the car and listening.

One of the most basic contributing factors to my success, in and out of school, is my participation and volunteering in local sports. My intense involvement in the athletics that the Northside Community established has founded my key leadership skills in my life. In the fall, whether I was reffing or playing on the field, I was always found at Jack Stack Soccer Fields for a majority of the week. In the spring I headed for Garvin field to practice and play baseball. If I wasn’t on the field or enjoying one of my sisters game I always found a way into the concession stands. Announcing the games as best I could from the second floor, I did anything to be involved. Achieving medals, awards, varsity positions, and even captain positions in high school sports, I must always stay true

Moving on, again westward, I was looking for a panel that I'd wanted to find for several years. I had written down clues I found in blog posts and forum trip reports, looked at maps for likely places and spent far too much time on Google Earth. I was pretty confident this time. The dogs and I started off up the steep slope to where I thought it was, this asthmatic flatlander and her flatlander dogs sucking wind as we went. After a bit of searching, I decided I was thwarted again, which was fine - the view was pretty fantastic and it gave me another reason to visit the area and explore more next