The Change-Personal Narrative Essay

After three hours of of hiking what felt like a vertical slope, the top of Mount Haystack was right in front of me. I knew that I could keep pushing through because I had suffered so much worse before. I wasn’t about to let this mere incline prevent me from reaching the top. I powered through the aching muscles and throbbing knees, while ignoring the sharp radiating pain in my calves. After what felt like forever, I was standing 5260 ft above the sea and taking in a spectacular view. When I glanced to my left, I realized I wasn’t quite at the top, I still had two more peaks to go before I’d reach the top of Lafayette. So after a few minutes of rest I got started on the rest of the hike.

A sharp bend in the passage revealed a sight which made him gasp. A faint circular opening in the distance permitted the rays of the moon –which had fitfully begun to shine –to penetrate the stygian blackness. The end of the passage lay before him. Victory –escape! The cold night air fanned his face; he urged himself onward in a last desperate effort.

The sun was glistening through the tall, swaying pines. To the right of the trail, a gentle river flowed softly down towards the mouth of the lake. Walking across the rickety wooden bridge, I inhaled a deep breath of refreshingly crisp mountain air. The sun beat down on me as I made my way across the bridge and back onto the well-used hiking trail. The ambient sounds of chirping birds, babbling water, and the croaks of several frogs filled my ears as I made my way around the bend. As I entered the mouth of the forest, I could see my father standing in the middle of the path, glancing upwards, taking in the beauty that had began to engulf us. “We better get going.” he said, looking back at me. “There’s still many miles to go.” I smiled and turned, taking in one last view of the beautiful creekside. Then, with determination, we set out to finish the challenging trek we had started.

We started our journey the next morning; early enough that it was still dark outside.

After a long ride, we saw our new home for the first time. It wasn’t luxurious, but to a couple of young children like us it was cool to live on the beach. The changes that lied ahead of us were great. There are many ways in which this new start changed my life. First, no longer did we live in fear. This enabled me to move on. I enrolled in eight grade that year. I felt like had a fresh start. No one knew my business. I could make myself whatever I wanted. My whole personality changed. That year I started at quarterback for junior high and from there everything started to look up. If I was to go into details of all the success I had it would be bragging, so I am just going to say I went from a casualty of a broken home to a respected and important part of High Island High School. In the five years I was there, I had more fun and a more productive life than all the other years put together.

It had looked so far away it was hard to believe I would be on top of it in a few days. Besides in the campsites, we only saw one other group of people during the entire 12 day trek and the only human sounds were our own. Each camp was an island of civilization in a great sea of wilderness, and a wonderful solace to end the day’s hike.

I had woken up extra early that morning to watch it all happen. To watch part of my life that had been ever so dominant disappear in a small gold 96’ Saturn. I watched it carefully, not thinking that these few moments would be our last, but that they would be the last that we were in some way equal.

“My compadres dallied to memorialize their arrival at the apex of the planet … using up precious ticks of the clock. None of them imagined that a horrible ordeal was drawing nigh. Nobody suspected that by the end of that long day, every minute would matter” (Krakauer 11).

It began to get dark and the sun was beginning to fall so I headed

Starting out, I was walking slowly down the freshly snow covered dirt lane in front of my cabin. As I was walking I could hear the crisp

“The landscape, the whole great circle of it, grassheads, scrub, water, sky, quite took his breath away.” (Pg 17)

As I left behind the somber forest, I now recognized an appreciation for nature that I did not realize I had. I now knew there was more to nature than just trees and animals, but also I found the

The air was thin. The cold bitter air blew fiercely across the desolate snowy landscape. Dense fog had made it near impossible to see beyond the hill. Not like there was much to see besides thousands of snow-covered trees.

The sun wrapped my body in its warm blanket. It extended its radiant arms to the surface, illuminating my surroundings. The slight breeze flowed through my hair and encompassed my entire figure in order to reverse the toasty effects of that ball of heat from above. The wind and warmth worked together in harmony without overpowering one another, helping to establish comfort. Finally, the weather was perfect – ideal temperatures and beautiful, clear skies. With a sunny and cool day, it was a relief that Athens was not cursed with scorching temperatures or with an incessant downpour of spontaneous rain. I wished I could turn back time and pause this moment in order to immerse myself in nature’s scenic beauty. However, I

We trudged through a dark, dank forest where the only light we had was what seeped between the