Personal Narrative: Rileigh Deitemeyer

Rileigh Deitemeyer A phrase I have heard a lot over the years is, “You look just like your father”, and each time my father and I would exchange a glance that to us meant, “little do they know”. This is because if you were to look at me next to my parents, you would have no idea that I’m adopted. My birthmother was thirteen years-old when she gave birth to me and was taking care of all her younger siblings in a household with drug and alcohol usage. Not being able to care for me, she gave me up for adoption. I was a mere four days-old when my mother and father took me home. Looking back at it now, I would consider my adoption to be both a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing because I was delivered into the hands of two wonderful parents …show more content…
I was lucky enough to see some of the most amazing sights in Mexico, The Bahamas, England, France, Italy, China, Austria, Hungary, and all over the USA. These experiences cultured me and gave me a wide worldview from a young age that manifested overtime into wanderlust. The summer before my Sophomore year at Ursuline Academy I decided to leave home by myself for the first time. I attended the Japanese Concordia Language Village, Mori No Ike, in Minnesota. For one month, I was fully immersed in the Japanese language and culture. I had to quickly adapt to the fast-paced schedule, and do my best at learning the language because everything, even the classes, was conducted in Japanese. After returning home, I was inspired to keep learning and exploring, so when the second semester of my Sophomore year came, I left again. For four months, I attended Coastal Studies for Girls, an all-girls, marine biology, and leadership, semester school. This experience was the most challenging, humbling, and eye-opening experience of my life to date. I only saw my family three times during those four months, and one of those times was to attend my grandmother’s funeral. While I was there, I learned how to be vulnerable, how to love myself, how truly privileged I am, and the true meaning of home. After such a life changing experience, Ursuline Academy wasn’t a good fit for me anymore. I felt that it wasn’t …show more content…
In a week, I’ll be spending a month in Portland, Maine with my sister to help her move in and get accustomed to city life. As someone who likes sticking to a schedule and gets stressed when things go wrong, I will learn a lot from my sister who is much more carefree and spontaneous. I think we will both mature and grow during our time together. Lastly, next year in March, I will be going to Tokyo, Japan for two months with a gap program called EF Tokyo. I will be taking the most intensive language course they offer. With this, I hope to achieve fluency in Japanese and the confidence that I can succeed in any environment. My life experiences have molded me into a passionate, resilient, adventurous, young woman who is wise beyond her years. I only have myself to offer to the world, and even though I’m still learning who exactly that is, I know that she is enough and can make a difference wherever life leads