Personal Narrative Essay

Every move I made on and off the court from making a terrible pass or even when I would sneeze or laugh was ridiculed. There was no escape. That loud, brain-rattling bell that signaled the end of the class was my hero, my white knight. I could have my clothes changed, hair combed to perfection and books packed away by the time it rang. No matter how fast I would run out of the locker room, it was never fast enough.

I was confident. I was a better basketball player and everyone knew it. Each day after tryouts I told my dad "I've got it this time." Needless to say, once again my name wasn't on the list. I was so dejected that I couldn't even look my dad in the eye when he picked me up. That night, I went straight to bed and skipped dinner. I later found out both my mom and dad silently cried because they knew how hurt I was. My friends kept telling me I should have made the team, but that didn't change the fact that they were playing and I just had to sit in the stands and watch night after night. I went to every single game that season, and supported my friends; all the while feeling empty because I couldn't be out there with

The worst year of my life was in the seventh grade. It was a time of unforgettable and painful moments which took place throughout the school year. This taught me a significant lesson. The summer before seventh grade, my parents informed me that it would be beneficial to join a sport. When I did not find one that interested me, the color guard was counseled to me; which to be honest, I resented. My mother had a strict policy that once an activity is started it must be continued throughout the entire season; for this reason, I did. My color guard instructor was one of the most bounteous woman I knew. Moreover, she was an admirable and gracious woman who cared deeply about her students. When school started, I was a self-effacing, lonesome girl,

As I walked to my locker the bell rang and a voice came over the speaker saying that all the students needed to make there way to the gymnasium for a speech by the principle of the Junior High. I wasn’t very informed on what to do in the school for anything, so while everyone was putting their school materials away, I was making my way to the gymnasium so I had a head start to make it on time if I got lost. This was where my difficulties and

Around this time, my mom met this guy that lived in Royal Center. While having financial issues at home, he said we can move into his house with him. It was a really nice house and I really liked my mothers boyfriend. At this time, I was a freshmen in highschool and started attending Pioneer. This is when my life started picking up in sports and academics. My Freshmen year in highschool weren’t too special. I thought there were no consequences in my actions of goofing off in class and not attending practices for football and track. I was what you would call the “class clown”. When I was in the classroom, I didn’t think, and eventually that would come back around and effect me in a terrible way. Sports was my love through high school. During freshmen year, I was doing football and track. Football season is when I loved to be outside. Every practice was a blessing, and all that work paid off when I started my first varsity game in the third week of

After the game, no one came near me, the disappointment of my teammates clear on their faces. I remember the blank expression my coach gave me. After that game, he didn’t seem like my coach at all, but a stranger who had severed any connection with me. Luckily, with a swoop my dad picked me up in his arms, saving me from the embarrassment of my loneliness and failure.

It was my first year cheering, I had just met all new friends, and gained my first kiss. I figured my high school experience would be so magnificent that my fingers would tingle, but I was wrong. It was just a test to see how far I would break. A few fellow cheerleaders that were unspeakably mean became jealous of me and had decided to spread rumors. For months, dark long shadows followed behind me, taunting me with their rude comments, “You whore, you belong in special Ed classes!” I couldn’t help but run to the bathroom, curl up in a tight ball and squeeze my fists, feeling my knuckles crack as they turned purple. I had never been exposed to  such harassment before and was shocked to experience it. To me, bullying was just something I saw in movies. I figured it was just people being over dramatic, I was wrong. It was real and every day I was reminded. Molly comforted me every day scratching my back and telling me how special I was. She stuck up for me when none of my friends did. This was the first time that I began to break and my sister took care of

As the clock ticked, my stomach rumbled, I had never tried out for a team before. Then my dad told me to go get ready. As what seemed like seconds passed, it was time to go. I had no idea what to expect. I had just driven by the campus a few times and I had no clue what being on a team with kids all older than me would be like.

It was a cold fall morning with a light layer of snow on the ground from last night and I was ready to get the day going. I was out hunting this morning with my brother hoping that we were going to get the deer to fill our tags. We split up like we always do. I Went to the swamp he went to the feild. On my way there I was seeing what I thought were bobcat tracks but I didn't worry about it so I went checked to see if there was any markings in the near by tree line, Except there was nothing but another foot print in the trees behind the left side bank. There was nothing that was looking like there was anything that resembled a deer track to a scuf mark on any of the trees near the bank but when I got back

“Let’s go panthers, let’s go!” the crowd chanted as I sat on the bench once again watching the game intensely. Sweat was dripping down my teammates face like a melting popsicle on a hot summer day. It was my freshman year during the last game of the season that I questioned why am I here? I worked my butt off during practice like the rest of my teammates, how come I barely played. It was at this moment I realized I sucked at basketball and I did not want to tryout next year. All of a sudden the coach screamed interrupting my thoughts, “Emily go in for Samantha!” I bolted off the chair and focused on what I had to do. After, I played a good amount of time throughout the third and fourth quarter, the game ended and we took the win. My parents proudly congratulated me and that’s when the fear of

“Wake up for school honey!” I heard my mom waking me up at the usual 6:00 am. Birds were chirping outside and the sun was minutes away from rising. I got up to get ready for school. I banged my leg on the side of my bed on my way to the bathroom. It made a mark on my leg from how hard I hit it. I got to school early and sat alone in the cafeteria. Everyone walked in happy with their friends talking about their weekends. While I was just reading some book about some ancient kung fu warrior. The book wasn’t bad but the thing was that in my community I’m the worst fighter ever. I always wanted to improve my fighting skills but I just couldn’t. It was like everyone was just so much more better than me that I couldn’t ever win a kung fu fight. The bell rang to go to class and on my way upstairs I bumped into one of the best kung fu fighters in my district program. His name was David. “ Watch where you're going pussy!” David said in a angry tone. I just stayed shut and watched him and his friends laugh at me. This kind of stuff makes me angry inside but in reality I can’t really do anything but let it happen. Class was boring as always but of course I have good grades. I had good grades in every class but Physical Education. I’m a tall skinny toothpick who struggles doing any type of exercise, but I used to be on the cross country team in tenth grade. Calculus ended that abruptly, was the last class I had for the day. I had a lot of homework for the night but

One rainy night in November, I arrived to the church gym for my first basketball practice of the season. As I walked in the doors creaked and you could smell the gym floor. As I already heard the basketballs hitting the ground, bouncing up and down. My friends Brittany and Destiny walked in right behind me through the door. That was when we realized we were the only girls surrounded by all guys. As practice came to a start we began to run, it felt like we were never going to stop. Up and down the court as we ran suicides, you could hear the squeaking of shoes as we went from the next line back and then on to the next. Before we started scrimmaging, the two captains were boys. Brittany, Destiny, and I stood in amazement as we were the last three standing there. You could see by their expressions they didn’t want any of us on either team.

My freshman year of high school basketball was almost coming to an end. Our record was pretty stellar, and we needed one more win to get the wildcard, which meant we would automatically make it to state. My team was playing against Malcolm, in a really tight game. We were down by two points and Coach Henkel put me in to shoot a three-pointer, but both of our hopes and dreams were short lived. I missed the shot, and I lost the game for us. I was devastated, and so was everyone else. As I sat in the locker room, all I could do was stare at the ground. The only thing running through my mind was, no one is going to trust me with the ball anymore or worse yet, everyone is going to be mad at me. These thoughts were slowly tearing me down, day by day. But that was until Coach Henkel talked to me, and told me not to worry about missing the shot. He told me everyone misses, and that he wasn’t to worried. So, I was given two options, dwell on the past and let that affect my playing, or forget about it and move on.

The summer after tenth grade my parents broke the news to me that I was changing schools. As a teenager, of course, I pouted and went to my room. I was so angry at them that I decided to give them the silent treatment for a whole week. I was quite miserable the rest of the summer, knowing I had to leave my friends and all. My parents told me that they will always be my friends but that I can just make new ones as if it was that easy. Summer was coming to an end and I just became more nervous and stressed each day. I even had started doing summer work, which of course I just wanted to burn to ashes. Finally, school came around and I was fearful and shy as all get out. The thought of having to meet new friends and adapt to the new school culture with only two years of high school left was killing me. My parents finally suggested that I play football. I just laughed in their face because I was definitely not the football type. However, they knew that but they said it would be a great way to get to know the guys my age and to gain some school spirit. I thought about it for a couple of days and decided it would be better to try than be miserable all year.

The kid was angry. He came up to me and said, “Why’d you throw that apple at me?” I responded with, “Because I can.” I said this because I thought I was cool and tough. Then the kid swung at me and hit me in the face. The hit was a heavy boulder hitting my face. I swung at his face twice. Both punches landed on his face and threw his head back. Then he dove for my knees and I fell on the floor. While we were on the floor he was covering his head while I was throwing punches at him. His neck was red and his nose was flowing tomato juice. While we were in the scuffle a teacher ran up and broke the fight apart. They took me to the gym and I sat there until another teacher came and took me.