Personal Narrative: Chapter Twenty-Seven

Walking away from everything you once knew and starting over is never a picnic. Leaving Iraq, and moving to America has impacted my life more than anything. I was only 4 years old at that time, and the only English I spoke was “excuse me, water please.” My family and I did not know it then, but our lives were going to change; we would become “Americanized”. Learning English was one of the massive changes that occurred, the way I dressed (culture), and even the way I had power to go to school and educate myself.

*disclaimer: bare with me... the next 5 chapters are crap because i wrote them over a year ago...chapter 19 will be the start of some great shit*

I am an introvert. I value my personal space and I need my alone time. I haven’t had much of either ever since I moved into my dorm at the University of Georgia two weeks ago. Every day has been a combination of classes, errands, and friends. This isn’t a complaint. I love the freedom and figuring out how to handle more responsibility. I love being around other people and having friends that are always up to watching something on Netflix or playing a game. But everyone needs a break. The first two weeks have been a rush but there hasn’t been a moment to just pause and take in everything that has happened so far.

I rush into my home and run up the stairs to my room. I jump on my bed and roll over to my laptop and open it quickly. I log onto the One Direction site and see that I made it in time to see the bid. I scroll and try and find my name and I see I'm in third place for the tickets and the time is running out. I've already bid $7000 for three tickets and backstage passes. The reason it's so expensive is because these passes are the last set of passes for their concert. 5sos is also playing so we would be meeting two bands and hearing both of them play.

In 2025, I will be twenty-nine years old and hopefully married. I will be married to my significant other of ten years Earnest Palmer III, who is a dentist. I would have been recently graduating with a bachelor’s in Culinary Arts and trying to plan to open my own restaurant, BubbaD’s Eateries. Knowing my big headed husband of mine, I probably had a baby then and trying to have another baby. Hopefully, by then Earnest will get rid of the idea naming our son, King. We will be living in the suburbs near New York City but working in the city. Being a woman with great memory, I probably wrote a memoir about my crazy life and trying to sell it to a publisher. If none of the publishers wants to publish my memoir, I will probably sell it the Lifetime

I woke up to the distant sounds of cows mooing and the rustling of feet while guards switched shifts at the wall. I would’ve gladly been out there keeping lookout, but General Travis keeps saying that 14 is too young to have your life on the line, even though we all knew that simply being there at the fort was putting your life on the line. I slowly sat up and yawned and glanced at the closed window shutters. A small bit of light spilled out onto my cot, dawn was upon the Alamo, and that meant the cattle were

“Casey, your group needs to do the stunt one more time!” coach said imprudently. It happened March 26, 2015; it was at the end of a two hour practice. During the summer months in South Georgia, it is utterly hot and humid, especially in our cheer gym (a warehouse with no air conditioner); it only has two heavy-duty fans and a roll-up door. With this in mind, my group became slightly irritated. Everyone was exhausted; nevertheless we still had to do the stunt anyway.

Growing up with a father in the military, you move around a lot more than you would like to. I was born just east of St. Louis in a city called Shiloh in Illinois. When I was two years old my dad got the assignment to move to Hawaii. We spent seven great years in Hawaii, we had one of the greatest churches I have ever been to name New Hope. New Hope was a lot like Olivet's atmosphere, the people were always friendly and there always something to keep someone busy. I used to dance at church, I did hip-hop and interpretive dance, but you could never tell that from the way I look now.

This paper took me many revisions to complete. I found a new method to aid in completing the revision. For example, once I completed one paragraph, I would go back and rewrite it and fix the grammar errors until I was content with the product. I did this with each paragraph until I was done the entire paper. My final revision included rereading the entire paper and finding errors that I missed while focusing on each individual paragraphs. This method helped me find errors much easier, and I also found it to be a quicker way.

When I look back on these last weeks I have to smile. I have to say that this class has been a much needed and long awaited step toward reaching a higher goal. I have not been to school in thirty-seven years. I had to leave school when I was fifteen years old. I was a fairly good student and loved to read. I never stopped learning, I never stopped trying to improve, however, I didn’t have any way of knowing whether what I was self-teaching was correct, and whether or not I was improving. I didn’t have a computer, the internet, google, wikipedia, or any of the tools I feel so lucky to be able to utilize now.

“5 minutes!” a voice shouts over the loudspeaker. Perspiration drips down my face and my hand throbs with pain. The seconds tick by but are drowned out by the pounding of my heart. I summon all my strength and will my hands to move faster and faster. The speakers crackle with static as the voice shouts, “Hands down.” Eight hours of mind-numbing calculations and stratagem. It’s over; all the work, the sleepless nights, the literal blood, sweat, and tears. What for?

Dogs look up to humans while cats look down them, yet horses see us eye to eye. Horses are a powerful engine, a rowdy two-year old, a skittish deer, a moody tenager, and an animal that reflects your own personality, all in one graceful figure. When riding a horse, I am not controlling it, I am connecting with it. This challenge was one that long since intimidated me, but this Something New Project prompted me to accept it. In March, I began weekly lessons that varied anywhere from one to two hours. Furthermore, I practiced riding without instructions for an extra two to three hours a week.

Prepare yourself for the most uncommon phrase from a high school student. My family members are my best friends. It’s true, I’ll admit it here and only here, I love my home more than I love anything. Your family shapes your life. Sometimes for the best, sometimes for the worst, but without those influences you would only be a voice in the wind. My father, stepmom, and their strangely adorable baby have shown me logic and love and joy and I believe they have the strongest pull over who I am.

Children begin to learn about the world at around the age of seven and from that point on the children begins to shape themselves from their experience, teachers, and parents. Parent fills an important role in the growth of their child by shaping how they view the world and setting goals for them when they are unable to. It is very fortunate for a child like myself to have parents that care for me, teach me, and push me beyond my limits.

This piece of writing was something I had started in my journal and decided to make it into a story. It started off really well but I feel like I rushed it too much. I didn't use as much detail as I could have. I based the story off of a Jewish book that I really enjoy. I used a lot of good detail, words and imagery at the beginning but I feel like it went downhill when I needed it hurry and get it done. If I were to take my time like I did at the beginning of the story it would have been a greater outcome than what the outcome really was. This piece of writing is something I would definitely consider redoing and making it a whole lot better than it is now. I think I should have spent more time writing the paper and less time worrying about