Personal Narrative: Lauren

Improved Essays
“Lauren”. The horror I felt as they called my name was immense. I had been dreading graduation all year. I went up to take my diploma. I hugged Kasey, my teacher, and took my seat. My friend, Sadie, had written a speech for me. I heard nothing but two words. High school. As a charter school kid, those two words were the literal embodiment of what I imagine hell would feel like. No more recess. No more hikes. No more class at the stream. No more meaning anything. They’d give me a number and throw me with the other cattle. Some of those cattle turned out to be the sun gods and somebody snatched them up and ate them. The rest of us cattle were in the crossfire of an angry god and starving men. High school turned out to be a seemingly endless battle …show more content…
The ugly yellow school bus wasn’t hard to miss? Was it a sign? Getting myself off the bus on the first day of school was brutal. There were so many people and it (the school) was so crowded. But, I just followed the herd to my classes.

Unlike Odysseus, I was not afraid of sirens. In fact, I signed up to sing with them! MK freshman treble sirens. Yep. That’s a thing. We might not be pretty good because as far as I know no one in the audience has been lured to their death. Humans: 1 Sirens: 0

When I left class I was swept up in a sea of people. Everyone pushing and shoving at each other from every angle to get where they need to go in the allotted time. Newsflash: 5 minutes is not enough time to cross a whirlpool.

When I discovered the lunchroom it was a hot mess. Too many cattle shoved into a small pen and fed questionable food. Amidst this whirlpool of change there is one consistent thing: Fries. Get them all day every day. Reheated, soggy, fresh from the plastic bag in the freezer to the deep fryer. Fried have now infiltrated the food pyramid. Any student who tries them has no desire to eat anything else. Upon further inspection, these fries appear to contain the lotus flower. A dangerously addictive flower that causes you to forget your goals and aspirations in life. Oops. Wonder how that got in
…show more content…
The Land of the Dead is comparable to (Regan’s) gym class. This is the first time in the story that Odysseus shows fear, so it’s kind of a big deal. Gym class is also the only place I show fear. Surprise tests I can deal with. History, Biology, English, French, you name it. But the second I am out on the field and a ball is coming at me, I swear to god I can see death. The Land of the Dead is like hell and so is (Regan’s) gym class.

Like Odysseus, I have struggled with faith. Him for “stealing all the glory” in a war and I for questioning the sever lack of evidence in church. “Men hold me formidable for guile in peace and war: this fame has gone abroad to the sky’s rim” (Sailing from Troy, Homer). Odysseus is known for being very smart in the Trojan way. The gods were angered that he took credit and punished him for it. Last I checked, the gods didn’t fight in the war. It was Odysseus and other men. The gods don’t deserve the credit if they didn’t do anything. This was the turning point for my beliefs, or lack of, that I struggled with all year. I don’t need faith in faceless gods when I have faith in

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    As with most people these days we look toward to our end goal on trips such as the coast, a different country, or to meet certain people. In Homer’s The Odyssey the journey that Odysseus takes to return him home to back to Ithaca has viewed that his goal was more important than the traveling that gave him the knowledge and experienced when he comes home. Without his knowledge of his travels, Odysseus would not have been as wise as he was before he left his home.…

    • 602 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Concluding the sessions we had I can definitely say that Odysseus has a mild case of PTSD, although I wouldn’t recommend any service dog, instead I believe he should had total disconnection from the Gods. The Gods had a hand in the war of Troy, they also had a hand in killing Odysseus’s shipmates and friends, along with getting Odysseus shipwrecked, stranded on a goddesses island keeping him captive for many years, and attempting to foil his plan to get home. Yet some might say Athene is actually helping him, but on the other hand it is because of her that he slaughters many people. Evidently he told me of a time he was at peace, it was when he returned home and visited his father. After the people unsuccessfully tried to kill him he said…

    • 153 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Who am I? Well of course I am Lauren Elizabeth Goll, but you can just call me Lauren. I am 14 years old and I was born on November 25 of the year 2002. My mom told her family that she was pregnant with me on April fools day so her family thought she was joking which now that I look back on it, it may seem pretty depressing but I swear once I first heard about this I was laughing so much.…

    • 722 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Introduction The question of who am I has never really been more difficult than answering “I am Sarah Newell. I am from Libertyville, Illinois, I am nineteen years old and studying Psychology at Calvin College.” But, this question has always been answered in the present, never in the past or the future.…

    • 1096 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Bani Narrative

    • 191 Words
    • 1 Pages

    All the blood my heart was pumping it was going directly my ears and during that moment, I did not know what to expect and all I could think was about how to make it through this day. I never asked for any of this. I left friends and my family behind to start a new life, an opportunity for education that I did not have in my hometown of Bani in the Dominican Republic. I was still in shock, preparing myself mentally while my sister put her coat on before getting on the bus. When we arrived in William H. Ohrenberger Elementary, we were introduced to the principal and my first thought was: “Oh my god, my nightmare will start at this moment”.…

    • 191 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Odysseus Bad Leader

    • 1306 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Is Odysseus good or bad leader? One of the huge discussion of a greek hero ,that is going to be about Odysseus that has good side of being a leader,also a bad side,too. People in history says that he is bad leader,such as selfish to his men by”sacrificing them to monster. ”Also people in history ,also say that he is good leader,by being heroic,strong,winning the trojan war with his intellects skills.…

    • 1306 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! I look at my alarm, it’s 7:00AM. I fall out of bed, furiously brushing my teeth, throw some clothes on, and run out the door to catch the bus.…

    • 1171 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    When I was young, I never thought that I would ever be subjected to major change. I had a general path that I would take in mind, and was content. Everything changed that eventful afternoon when my mother told me that we were moving. I remember feeling distraught and confused which eventually pushed me into isolation, leading up to the move. Moving houses meant that I had to go to this new school, something that I never thought would happen.…

    • 1204 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    I am Anna. I will be totally straightforward with you: I dislike describing myself, it sounds trite, conceited and boring, just a string of facts, most of them biased. But, just in case that you need to hear them, here they are: Attractive, hair the color of champagne, curvy, fit and smart, just tall enough and with eyes as green fresh mint. Direct, self assured, hard working and lover of literature, The Beatles and good strong coffee. Open minded, entertaining, creative, extroverted and curious.…

    • 210 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    I was waiting in the airport waiting for Carly to leave that plane and I get to see her again. To start off, when the airport staff told me and everyone else to come and go to the banquet room in at the airport hotel and I felt like something terrible happened. Next, we all had to walk awhile to the airport hotel and some people where exacted from just walking. Also, I am realy hoping they aren't going to say the plane crashed on land or water. Then, I am realy hoping it is just a surprise and all of the passengers on the plane are doing a surprise party for making…

    • 114 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Where You End and I Begin For much of my life, I have been tied down religiously by my family. From the moment my skin had been exposed to the world, I could pretty much assume my father had covered it to abide by the law of tzniut: modesty for women. At the age of eight was when my mother and I snuck buying me my first pair of pants, a secret we kept from my father. I remember we walked around town in West Hampton Beach (aka -the “Jewish” Hamptons) and there was the ‘end of summer sale’ in main street. I stroked my finger tips through all the velveteen overalls and corduroy pants, watching all the girls try on clothes and show them off their fathers and mothers who smiled approvingly.…

    • 725 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Make it work,” exclaims Tim Gunn, host of the hit show Project Runway, while designers scramble to reassemble a runway ready look worthy enough to display before the prestigious judges. I have never experienced the situation of completing a perfect ensemble in less than twenty four hours, but I have felt the pressure of starting from scratch with very little time to “make it work.” Last February, after precisely planning my track training regimen, I injured my leg. Indoor track season was fast approaching, and I was beginning to feel frustrated and defeated. However, after consulting with a doctor, I knew I could use my injury as motivation to work towards becoming healthy once again.…

    • 759 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A Hero's Perspective There once was a poet named Homer Whose hero was quite the bold roamer. Avenger he was Triumphant because ‘Odysseus’ is not a misnomer. The name Odysseus translates as wrathful, and that is fitting because he fought his way home through dangerous adventures.…

    • 755 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Every parent will at some point deal with "too many" tantrums, defiance, talking back, lashing out etc, the list goes on. At what point does it stop being "normal"? When is it too much? Children acting out, often leads to many feelings of loneliness, anger, guilt and despair. It doesn 't need to feel that way.…

    • 1080 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    I had the experience of interview Laura Munro, my cooperating teacher at Nova Blanche Forman Elementary School and Sarahis Vega, the disability service advisor for Broward College Central Campus. When I went to interview, I felt a little nervous because usually I am the one answering the questions, but it was the other way around this time. When I asked them questions, they both took time to think and give a detail answer. In the end, they both taught me different things about the learning experience. My first interview was with Laura Munro who is a fifth grade teacher and has a passion for teaching and learning.…

    • 897 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays