Pre-reading: You are entering a whole new world – one of many changes and challenges. As you consider this think about who are you, where you have come from and who you will become. This personal essay we will read together shows us how the author has experienced change and challenge in her life. During Reading:…
I awoke to a knock on my bedroom door. Light shone through the curtains, softly illuminating the room. The blankets that had covered me the night before were now strewn about, mostly on the cold floor. As I was still in a daze, I answered the knock with a small groan. “Montresor, sir, I apologize for disturbing your sleep.…
As a military child, I left the United States with my family at the age of five and spent eight years living overseas at duty stations in Japan, Germany, and Italy. We traveled extensively during vacations to over 20 different countries. As a result, I claim proficiency in ordering french fries and apple juice in several different languages. Although moving has brought me some misfortune, and many people would say that living overseas qualifies as adversity, I never felt it was such.…
The door slams. Angry voices pervade throughout the house. Fear, fear of what was to happen next lingered in my mind. It became a part of my daily routine. At a very young age I realised that life was not all sunshine and rainbows.…
I have always loved riding in cars. After a long day in first grade, I used to fall asleep to the engine purring in my mother's Honda Odyssey, even though it was only a 5-minute drive home. As I grew, and graduated into the shotgun seat, it became natural and enjoyable to look out the window. Seeing my world passing by through that smudged glass, I would daydream what I could do with it.…
Long hours, close bonds and rigorous intellectual challenges. That is how I would describe the summer I spent as an apprentice at a local mechanic shop near my house. Each client’s car was like a puzzle needing to be deciphered, a mystery wanting to be solved. Critical thinking, pattern recognition and good old elbow grease were keys to a job well done. At the time, I had just been accepted to transfer to UT Austin and was still unsure of the profession I would pursue.…
Have you ever had something minor happen and multiple major things come out of it? I had an experience like that where I learned something interesting. It was an average Thursday, although it was a little hot for November, and it was recess time. I was running from my friend Connor when I decided to run under the slides, where a hornets nest happened to be right above.…
I had been dreaming about this day constantly for four years. All of my blood, sweat, and tears had gone into this one particular goal. On September 24, 2015, I had finally achieved my goal in successfully verbally committing to a division one college. Through motivation, determination, and hard work, I achieved my goal head on, even though many obstacles were thrown my path. My journey began in seventh grade.…
For as long as I can remember, as a child I was raised to believe that a man should be the king of his castle. When I was five years old, that statement became a fable to me. I felt the Judas kiss the day my dad left. His reign has ended as king of his castle. He relinquished his crown and abandoned his kingdom.…
When we pulled into the parking lot, I stared at the forty-foot high ropes, excited, but prepared. My confidence was full blast. I was aware that my seventh-grade field trip was going to be like no other. The day was perfect! The horizon was one hundred percent, clear blue.…
Her father and I were those crazy and stupid teens. We had been dating for about three years. He had dropped out of high school. He was gone a lot for Magcon. I was visiting one weekend.…
A week into Fall, and the temperature was still lulling at 90 degrees, like the mosquitos that swayed comfortably above the bayou that ran for miles outside my English II class. The bayou would eventually diverge by my neighborhood. In class, the philosophical discussion on the Power of One by Bryce Courtenay also diverged. If Peekay could reach compos mentis (full command of one’s mind) after years of training, epitomized by a drunken bar fight, when would we ambitious students scrawled across plastic chairs and creaking wooden tables, reach compos mentis? Was it in adulthood, after college, or after the birth of our first child?…
I always had this burning desire to get on the road and drive. With my family’s limited income there was no other option but to purchase the car on my own. The first step was to attend classes in order to prepare myself to obtain a permit. Shortly after I was behind the wheel practicing daily with my father. The day came where I would take my behind the wheel test.…
Freshman year was one of the hardest years i’ve ever gone through. The pressure of anxiety, peer pressure and grieving from a terrible loss created a depressed lifestyle. I endured some situations that many people could never relate to. I wasn’t happy. My grades slipped, I pushed away my friends and I lost myself.…
The room gives me the peaceful moment after a long day of being tired all day. As my mother walks in, the room seems that it brightens up and make my day more cheerful to spend in this earthy warm room. Touching the spines of the books with my fingertips, they felt coarse to the touch because of the book being opened up too much made rough lines that go up and down the middle of the spine. To me, it was a good sign that I have read that book very…