Personal Narrative: US Naval Academy Summer Seminar

Four or Five years ago if you were to tell me that I would be confidently applying to the University of Miami I would have laughed. Through high school I did not give much effort and like most of my peers, thought that furthering my education was my only option. Nearing the end of my senior year I started realizing that no noteworthy university would even consider accepting someone like me. As the days ticked away, I applied to a nearby college with an incredibly high acceptance rate and found myself opening an acceptance letter a few weeks later.

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.

The three things I learned this summer was that I just have to read every once In a while and I understand stuff. Reading this summer has improved a lot in my opinion. I can follow along with the professional reader when he reads and I can follow along with my pen when Mcgee reads, so that has improved since the school year. Also that our teacher can talk about things and actually make you think a little bit. Just when he does the little kindergarten impressions, he makes a really good point. He makes you think in depth which I think is a good thing.

During my two last years of high school, i've been in contact with a lot of colleges and universities. Many of which don’t get my attention. Throughout my whole high school years, there was only one college that i wanted to go to, Liberty University. I have heard so many wonderful things about Liberty and what i loved the most was that it was a christian school. Liberty had the number one thing that i am looking for in a college, that is a christian school, but many of my other things that i look for in a college where just not there. I used to live in Florida approximately 11 years ago and let me tell you, it's hard not to miss the sunshine state. Liberty is in Virginia, a state where it doesn't feel like home. When i received a brochure

Cresting the hill, I struggled with my ragged breathing and the pain in my hips. I focused on my rhythm I in order to keep going. My running shoes slapped the pavement as onlookers expressed their encouragement with cowbells and cheers. I wondered again why I put myself into the situation by choice. As I passed mile 13 I remembered. I felt my eyes water and my legs shake as the finish line approached. Marines in uniform stood ready with medals and smiles as they encouraged us in our own hardships to rise above the pain and finish. The announcer spoke my name but I hardly heard him as a medal slipped over my head and I marveled at the weight, not of the medal, but the accomplishment which seemed impossible for the past three hours. I finished in 3 hours, 7 minutes. It was not an Olympic record and I detested running at mile two, but I did it.

Over my years of school, one big influence on me has always been sports. Ever since a young age, I have always enjoyed playing and watching sports. In my four years in high school, I have fell in love with the sport of lacrosse.

Being at the Chief’s Academy has been a great experience for me. I have learned many things during my time here that I will take back to my unit and apply to my day-to- day work. In the following paragraphs I will talk about three things specifically. The first thing I will take back will be my dedication to working out and my overall fitness. I will take what I have learned about fitness and share it with my subordinates. Secondly, in relation to the generations class, I will think about how people are different and how they come from different places and how I need to adjust my self to those differences. Lastly, I will take what I have learned about coaching and use that to better understand my people by listening and asking thought provoking questions. Even though I have learned many things, these are the three that I believe I will

Hello everyone. I was born and raised in Puerto Rico. In 1987, my dad was working for IBM and was given an opportunity to move to United States. After a few months of debating and researching, my parents chose Knoxville as our new home. Four years later, I graduated from high school and enlisted in the Marine Corps. During my four years of service, I traveled from one side of the world to the other and saw and did things many people can’t even imagine. Tough as the work was at times, I wouldn’t trade that time for anything as it shaped my view of the world and, along with my family, became part of the foundation on which I built my life.

On top of the hill, they followed the Georgian exterior around until meeting with the wooden porch that faced eastwards, towards the redwoods. They left the tinted grass behind but the smell was far too powerful to flee from. Mr Evans kicked in the front door, with the assault rifle to his shoulder. A procedure he'd learned at military school perhaps?

I was never really good in school. I graduated high school with a 2.15 GPA, and I blame that on my struggle to focus for long periods of time. Furthermore, I struggled with math and science in high school. I failed geometry twice and chemistry once. To overcome these educational barriers, I employ two things I learned in the military: get the task done and get it done right the first time, and hold yourself accountable for your actions.

Many students my age have their shorter, easier to attain goals planned out for the not-so-distant future, whether it be to graduate college or to just get through high school. I am no different; however, some may say that my ambitions are further reaching into my future. My ultimate goal is to become a midshipman at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland and, then, to serve my country as a member of the largest navy in the world. I took the first step to my dream this summer as I attended NASS, or the Naval Academy Summer Seminar. On May 30, My father and I left for the academy, where I would be spending a week living, working, and learning about all the academy was about and how to get in. Upon stepping out of the car, the

Focusing on the course that lay ahead, chills slithered down my back. The shot of the reverberating gun fired and I charged with my heart pounding like the sound of a drum. With my arms pumping and legs moving vigorously onto the course, I was the average runner in battle with my mind. My teammates leaped and hopped with excitement as I bolted; I pictured my body gracefully drifting through the air while the world stood silent. The last grueling hundred meters, I thrusted my body to the end of the finish line while the other runners stood in utter awe of my amateur performance, I flailed to the ground. Staring up at the sky, as I sat breathless and fatigued, engulfed in deep thought. I could feel the wind in my face and the dirt in my mouth. I was swept away by the calm before the storm, the exhilaration, the immense amount of heart each individual had, but mostly the passion for running.

I believe that the best dreams are ones that you share with people, who conceive them be so preposterous that they cannot help but laugh in your face that you could even think of possibly reaching that point one day. Entering High School, I had begun taking basketball more seriously than any other sport and had the goal of earning a Division 1 scholarship. Which would be the first step in making my dream of playing professionally a reality.

My field experience was in Ms. Felkins third grade classroom at Washington Elementary School. The class there are nineteen students total, nine boys and ten girls. There are two different ethnic groups in the class, four African American students and fifteen white students. Additionally, there are three students who go to a resource room throughout the day for academic instruction. One of the students goes to the resource room for thirty-minute increments throughout the day. Three students go to a small reading group each day to work on reading skills.

Growing up in small town Georgia, there is not much to do in the blazing summer heat. My days this past summer (before I-Day of course) consisted of listening to Zac Brown Band and watching my beloved Atlanta Braves. Listening to music and watching baseball are sources of stress relief for me; the two media outlets take my mind off of hardships in my life. Coming to the Naval Academy was a big change for me, and I felt a little blindsided by the endless rules I was required to follow. I had no idea that freshman here would not be able to rate media. My life at home and at the Naval Academy are completely different. At home, I can always fall back upon the excitement of an upcoming doubleheader, but at the Naval Academy, I must live in a high