Personal Narrative Essay: Wicklund's Home

From discovering turtle nests, cliff jumping, to the daily wind down it was a blast. After catching two baby turtles, Stuart and I made sand castles for them to live in and brought food for them to eat. Koopa Troopa and Shelly were our very own turtles. We eventually had to let them go and release them into the lake. At this point my seven-year old self was probably very emotional and probably cried. Once my turtle phase was over, we often times went cliff jumping. A few miles down the lake was a group of cliffs that we would jump off fairly often. The feeling of falling from the rock and splashing into the water was so fulfilling and invigorating. Since running up and down the cliffs was relatively tiring, we eventually would take the pontoon back to our dock and unload all of our belongings. When the day would come to an end, our entire family would cozy up around the TV and watch The Wilderness Family movies. Most of us would fall asleep on the couch and wake up when the sun shone through the huge glass windows that surround us. By then the weekend was over, and it was time to go

We are finally here. First, we check in at the camp office, we had online reservations for a specific site, so the registration went with ease. Then we stock up on firewood purchasing five bundles. Being somewhat of a regular here we know exactly how to get to our destination campground. We drove on a narrow, winding dirt road, the gravel under the tires made a popping sound to our site and the drive was gorgeous - fall foliage at its best. A coating of vibrant red, yellow, and orange covers the terrain. Panoramic views of the sprawling Pawtackaway lake are breathtaking to witness. Wooded campgrounds line the shore of the lake and most of them come with a private view of the water. You get the feeling of being secluded in forest and lake environment with a relaxing and picturesque atmosphere. The lake is spotted with numerous various size islands mainly created from post glacier rock formations. Much of the topography is boulder spawn giving it a New Hampshire mountain feel. There actually is a small mountain you can hike. Hiking trails overlooking the rim of the rambling lake. There is a no better place to escape to the great

I was in school when I got a news flash about a shooting near a bus stop. At lunchtime, I opened up the story and it read, “Teen killed on way to lake park bus stop”. However, it wasn’t the headline that hit me but rather the first line of the article which mentioned that a Palm Beach Gardens high school teen, Claverle Joseph, was the one that was killed on his way to the bus stop. I didn’t know how to react. I just froze; I couldn’t process the emotions that were swirling through my mind. This was the first time in my life that I dealt with a death that was personal to me. My Grandparents had died when I was too young to recount any experiences with them. It was difficult to comprehend that I would never see a kid that I had gotten to know so well over the last three years ever again. My family and I did what we could for his family in there grieving state and donated to help raise money for his funeral. Although his death came as a surprise, I knew there was something wrong before the incident occurred because he did not come out for the travel team that last year. This was strange because he truly loved the team and playing basketball. Following my suspicion, a couple days after his death, I found out that there had been a series of incidents, including a shooting one week before his death in which he had been shot in the hand. His family stated for the news that they had been living in fear of their son’s life for a while. I wish I could have done more for him because whether he knew it or not he did so much for my growth as a person on and off the court. His life and this experience taught me to truly value one’s own life and to never take anything for granted because it could all be erased in an instant. His death helped me understand that I need to be as compassionate and empathetic for everyone I meet because you will never comprehend what adversities and difficulties they face in their

My father was the adventurous man in the household, and it was because of this characteristic, that he always knew the best place to go to during the summer of my sister and I’s childhood. My father was the one who taught my sister and I how to be creative and have fun with what you have right in front of you. Summer weekends down at Batsto Lake located in the Pine Barrens were my most precious memories.

We all woke up that morning early so we could get all packed and ready to go. We had to take two separate cars because of how many people we had to take. The car ride was eccentric and ready to jump out of the car and into the lake at any moment. Finally both of the cars made it to the destination, my parents and my friends parents both rented all of the things we could use for today. Throughout the whole day we used the water bikes, kayaks and paddleboards for how

My story begins on our third day at the camp. This was just one of the several interesting events that had occurred while in Montana. While the day was young, the wonder of what activities might be available trekked our minds. The water seemed just too

Summer of 1994. New York City smelled no different than hot rat piss and looked accordingly. Fresh off my 15th birthday and wandering the Brooklyn streets with Hakeem, we followed the music wherever it played. Our community cherished music through constant airplay. Anyone with loud speakers, either in their car, apartment, or boombox, blared any of the anthems from the future greats. Whether it's Nas, Wu-Tang, Biggie, or Tribe, the list is blissfully endless. Hakeem’s brother, a well-connected music promoter, gave Hakeem two tickets to this secret show he was putting on for Ice Cube, who, despite being the first notable west coast rapper, carries a rage within him that the east coast entirely recognizes.

I was Trick,or treating in spencer and I went to mss. Millers house and she gave me some candy reese’s, hershey’s, butterfinger, and whoppers then she pointed behind me saying there are lights behind you. I turned back, there weren’t any lights all there was, was a shadow what looked like a semi parked on the road then I left then I heard the engine sound follow me and I looked back I saw the semi was closer then before then I was at mrs. Kendalls house and knocked on her door and she comes out and gives me a hug and she gives me candy too! And she hears a honk of the truck and I heard it and I looked back and I saw the truck even closer so I leave mrs. Kendall and goes to to mrs. Fulks house and she gives me a fist bump and some candy and

"More than anything, I just want you to know that there is more than one person you can lean on. You may have someone up their who you are relying on, but you have two incrediably strong sons who would never wish to see their mother in pain like this. Whatever the outcome we finally get your boys will be strong for you and in return I'm sure you will be strong for them."[/b]

One night while we were there we took three four wheelers down to the lake, and sat by the fire. When it started to get late the six of us decided to head back up to our houses. There were two of us on each four wheeler. Connor and Brayden were on one, Nick and Lauren on another, and Frankie and I on the last. Nick and Connor were driving two of the four wheelers and decided to race. Connor didn't know the road very well, missed a turn, and he wrecked. At the time I didn't know the severity of the injuries, but I tried my best to do what I could for the two boys. I used the techniques that I had learned in health class my freshman year, such as, CPR. Brayden was not unconscious so I encouraged him to keep coughing because I could see that he was choking on blood, but I was too scared to move him due to the possibility of back injuries. Later I had learned that Connor's head went into a rock wall, he was killed on impact, and there was nothing that I could have done. Brayden was severely injured and had to be

One day this summer, I was in a white boat with some of my parents’ college friends and their kids on Lake of the Ozarks. There was this tube thing that was basically a couch in the water. It fit four people comfortably, and has Great Big Mabel printed on the side. I was one of the only girls on the boat, so I had to go with the smelly boys. I went with my brother Ryan, and my friends Jedidiah and Aiden.

In the summer before seventh grade, my church had inflatable waterslides out one Wednesday for the children’s department (I wasn’t yet in the youth). My dad was out of town for his work, so my mom, little brother, and I went with two of my friends; they currently attend Bartlett Ninth Grade Academy with me. My friends were also going to spend the night with me. We went down the waterslides, ate snow cones, and had fun.

"You can't keep holding on to stuff like this, James." Natasha sighed, slipping a delicate hand through her hair. "It's not healthy."

My dad was a considerably strong sergeant in his time. During the Vietnam War, his last battle, he was taking cover behind an old abandoned shed when someone came around from behind and shot him four times in the back. Worst news ever, but worst of all was the month after when I received word that my mom was struck in an explosion and that she might not make it. I held out hope till the final word but deep down inside I knew that I wasn’t gonna see her again besides in her grave. After all the pain and anguish I was feeling, I knew I had to come back to reality and find a way to survive as a thirteen year old girl in a cold and bitter war zone.

Around 9th grade, my friend Daniel rang the doorbell to my house. Tears started to pour down his face as he elucidated how he ran up to his room after hearing his father profusely yell at his mother. He listened to the plea of his mother’s voice until the commotion stopped with his mother’s deafening scream and the front door slamming to a close. Trembling, he called the police from his room and proceeded to run downstairs to witness his mother laying on the mahogany hardwood floor; her face and hands were covered in dark red gore. Recalling this situation left his face empty, like that of a soldiers when they remember friends getting killed in action, and his voice quavered with the words that he spoke. He knew how everything in his life was about to change forever.