Quicksand: A Short Story

I have always been very obsessed with body image. When I was young, baseball was my sport. Soon after, I joined the swim team. During these years I’ve never looked the way that pleased me. When the age of fourteen came around, I decided to join the gym with a personal trainer. At this time, being overweight and unhappy. Never did I think the gym would mean so much to me in the future. Just before the age of sixteen, bodybuilding made a drastic impression on me. The art of building a well symmetrical body. Everything about this sport fascinated me because it gave a chance to create a new me.

When I started working out, I wasn't the strongest critter in the jungle. I felt ashamed of myself, I was a walking stick, my little sister weighed more than me and most of all, I was below the average height, but I didn't let that stop me, in fact I used it as a motivation to accomplish my number one goal of a healthier lifestyle

Brian snapped back to reality in the St. Lucy’s gym. If he wants to acheive his goals, he knows he will have to work hard. He feels great at this moment, and in the future he will become even better. With a pep in his step, he saunters back to practice, prepared for what challenges are to

The Harlem Renaissance period in Modernistic American Literature began when Black authors wrote about that with which they were familiar—what it is to be black. Writers such as Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Willa Cather proved through their writings that the African-American lives were not only different from that of their white counter-parts, but that the writings were relevant for the historical period and beyond. Another Harlem Renaissance writer who led the way for future black writers was Nella Larsen, author of the story Quicksand.

I had started the day early in preparation. At 5 A.M., I had woken up, before anyone in my house had stirred from their night of sleep. I grabbed a t-shirt, shorts, my phone, a pair of earbuds, and a hoodie. It was essential that I kept myself as calm as possible. I stepped on the scale, praying that I had not gained any amount of weight, it read 175lbs – this would suffice for the open weight class. The open weight class was for anyone over 175lbs. I allowed myself some food, a piece of bread and a glass of water would suffice. Three hours would pass, filled mostly with pacing and deep thought on my behalf. I would wake up my mother, who had arranged to take me to the venue, Phoenix College. The thirty minute trip was painfully long, with each mile I questioned my decisions. Was I ready? What if I got

I woke up that morning walked up to my scale dropped all my clothes and suspensefully stepped up onto my scale, and slowly looked down to see a daunting but expected result 177 lbs. 7 pounds, I needed to lose 7 pounds. What did I do, well I did what any wrestler would do; I try to drop as much water weight as possible. I had spit two full water bottle while chewing cinnamon gum; sat in a sauna while wearing 3 trash bags, 2 jackets, and 2 sweatpants; I hadn't eaten all day but that should be a given I mean I'm a wrestler after all. This self-abuse some would call; essentially, was all in the name so I could walk on a mate for three periods then get my arm lifted(when you win a match the referee lifts your arm up) and walk off. I'm getting ahead of myself. Before I could wrestle in a half-dead state: I had one measly task in front of me. I needed to step onto an officially weighed scale and make my class weight. As

At 10pm we sat silently in my mother’s car. I had just spent the entire day competing in a wrestling tournament, and not well I might add. I was frustrated, and ready to quit. My 8th grade wrestling season had been a disaster, and I decided I was done. But I had been wrestling for half of my life, for 7 years and my mother knew this was difficult for me. She looked at me and said, “Just give us one season of high school wrestling Justin. I have a feeling you will really like it if you just give it a chance.” I looked at her cautiously, “One season. Fine.” Ordinarily, participating in an extra season of wrestling wouldn’t sound serious, but I thought it was. Toward the end of middle school I weighed only 75 pounds; I was small for my age. In high school the lowest wrestling weight class is

As John F. Kennedy once said, “Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth”. The novel Quicksand by Nella Larsen chronicles the plight of a young, racially mixed woman struggling with alienation during the Harlem Renaissance. The female protagonist, Helga Crane, born to a Danish mother and West Indian father, was abandoned and disowned by both her mother and father. Larsen wrote the novel in a time during which racial uplift was promoted and it was expected of women to comply with society’s ideologies regarding marriage and female sexuality. Readers are exposed to the indecisiveness and insecurity of Helga Crane, which further discourages her desire to become one with herself. As a result of the stereotypes present in

Rainsford now knew where he was. He rubbed his eyes and started to take in what this could mean. “The quicksand.” Rainsford thought. One of the places the General warned me of. He tried to escape but every move he made just made the situation worse. Deeper and deeper he went. He stopped, and knew he had to try to think of something else. So he used all the background knowledge he had from when he was in different situations. But he knew this one was different. He didn’t know why until he really put the pictures together in his head. He was now the prey, and the general was the predator hunting him down. The tables had turned for Rainsford and he knew it.

I've always been the odd man out on any sports team who looked forward to conditioning at the end of practice and would hold my plank an extra few seconds until I really felt the pain. I loved pushing myself beyond my expected limits and the satisfaction of leaving the gym knowing I gave my full effort. Although the thought of taking a weight lifting class was extremely intimidating, I acknowledged my deep love for training and bettering myself.

We landed our axel and a new jump consistently, and a bliss came over us. Joy filled our bones and we finally felt free from the weight that was once upon us; however, two or so weeks later we lost both jumps and thus the longing to try again. We could feel the disappointment growing in our parents’ and coach’s faces. Heaviness grew upon us every time we stepped a foot into that ice rink, it was time to move on.

Drops of sweat flow from the temple of my head to my locked jaw. Holding 200 pounds of iron overhead, knowing this amount of weight could shatter my ribs. Every rep is a like a battle between my body and my mind. Arms and chest on fire, while struggling for air, I continued to push the dense barbell skyward. Rep after rep, my body screams in desperation; this is too much weight. What was I thinking?

The weather was glorious. About 90 degrees, with nothing but sun shine! Not even a cloud in sight. I jumped out of bed, and made my way to the bathroom down the hall. As I was finishing with brushing my teeth, I spit in the sink, looked at myself in the mirror with a stern glance and said, “You made it”. After all, I was only 2 short hours from making my way to the Minnesota Vikings first training camp practice of the 2001 NFL season, located near the hotel I was staying in, in Mankato. Although, that wasn’t the only reason why I credited myself. I have been known to struggle with my weight in the past, but I felt good

What if in a matter of seconds all your dreams that you have worked your entire life for shattered before your eyes? What if this happened all while millions of people were watching? Would you still get up and try again? Shawn Johnson has conquered many challenges throughout her gymnastics career all while being watched by millions of people. In the book, “ Winning Balance,” Shawn shares some of her challenges and how she overcame them. The theme of this book is to never give up and keep trying even if it seems as though you have already lost. One quote from the book that really portrayed this theme is, “ Sometimes the real victory comes from simply not giving up. Just remember: God is big enough to handle every challenge, and he is loving enough to calm every fear.” ( pg. 91) The setting of this book takes place in Iowa as well as the 2008 Olympics in Bejing, China.

The doctor struggled for a minute but was able to get a beat on him again. As Luke reached the water, he stopped and began writing down something on the pad of paper he took with him, he held it up in the air, then began reading aloud what was on the pad of paper, "The air is fine. I'm going to check the water now." From his viewpoint, the doctor watched in horror as the wild dogs began to zero in on Luke. Unbeknownst to Luke, he dipped not one but three Ph strips in the water. As he pulled them out the doctor could see, to his bewilderment, the strips were all light green.