Personal Narrative: My First Break In High School

Today, halfway through my spring break as a high-school junior, I am somewhere that may surprise you. Somehow, I have found myself six feet under a century old house, slowly chipping away at a wall of dirt and clay. I’m dressed in a bright yellow jumpsuit, breathing through a mask, with a hammer in my right hand, and a chisel in my left. As I take my first break of the eight-hour workday, I look at the progress I have made. Over the last few hours I managed to clear out another foot or so of hard clay, slowly making my way to the other end of the house. I take my hammer and chisel back out, and ease myself into a hypnotic rhythm. As I gauge the chisel deep into the clay, and put my entire body weight into prying it upwards, a huge chunk breaks free. When the dust cloud clears, I look into my lap to find a whole rat skeleton, along with the box of poison that ended its life. …show more content…
We both knew that there were dozens of clubs that I could join, and multiple sports teams that I could try out for; however, I was a relatively shy kid. Getting involved and leaving my comfort zone was a real challenge for me. One afternoon my adviser told me about a community service field trip that was happening through the school. The week-long trip was with the Habitat for Humanity organization. My first thought was that there was no chance I was going on this trip.Travel all the way down to North Carolina with a bunch of strangers? There’s no chance. However, I told her that I would think about