Personal Narrative: Life After High School

And with that I hung up and turned my music back up. It was going to be a long ride, at least eight hours. Leaning over my steering wheel I looked up at the sky and found clouds forming. I hoped the snow wasn’t enough to greatly impact my driving. I had passed out of the town and into the next and the next town after that. Eventually I reached a town somewhat in the middle of Illinois. The town was called Mattoon. It wasn’t the most welcoming town I’ve seen. There were a lot of worn down buildings that looked like they had been burned to their last wooden plank. I had been driving for almost three hours, and my stomach was screaming at me to feed it. I decided to stop at the nearest gas station. As I pulled in even the store looked like someone had beaten it with a bat on every wall. The glass windows seemed to appear shattered as several spider legged cracks webbed across the surface making the inside look dark and horrendous. As I hesitantly opened the door that created a creaking noise that sounded like muffled screaming that you would hear while in the middle of abandoned woods where every tree would mold a different unnerving face at you, surrounding you with the sound of its bark screeching at you. The inside was worse than the outside. Every shelf was varnished with dust. The dissatisfying smell of mold and liquor created a feeling of sick eruption in my stomach. Nothing in the gas station looked pleasing to my appetite whatsoever. I never took the time to realize I was the only one standing in the odious gas station. I was the only one in here, but I could sense an eerie presence. I hectically moved to the door trying to get out of the building causing me to choke on the unpleasant smell. Before my hand could reach the handle I felt an excruciating pain spread across the nerves of my skull. And with that my heavy eyelids shut abruptly and I feel to my knees. I woke up in a

“When things looked most discouraging,” he went on, “I came back here once and bought the place from the railroad company. They took my note. I found my willow stake,-it had grown into a tree,-and I planted three more to mark the corners of my house.” (43)

As I stand on the edge, I reminisce about the city view that once calmed my tormented thoughts. The strong, cold wind, urging me to jump, to fall and forget and in unison, the onslaught of tears with the occasional traces of blood race down my face. A defeated cry jumps from my mouth and into the open air. “Neglected and victimized all my life, and I can no longer travel by myself, so let’s just end everything”, my bloodied feet weakly shuffle forward, pulling me closer to the edge of the rough concrete ledge. Hanging my leg limply in front of me, I lean forward, but before gravity pulls me to my death, I’m suddenly yanked back into a warm, unfamiliar chest.

Looking back at my high school years I would say it was not easy. I was not the person I am today, I was careless and dull. I wasn't concerned about my standards or entity. The start of high school is the most critical year that will set your GPA for the future. Raising your GPA will not be an easy thing to do. As for me I had started out with a moderate GPA, but throughout the rest of my high school years I had to work very hard to bring it back up.

Some people fracture a bone in their body; some break the same bone twice. A few rupture a bone from slipping on a rug. I happen to be one of the very few for whom both of these scenarios are true. Between the ages of five and seven, my parents enrolled me in a gymnastics class because I loved to tumble and twirl. I knew how to execute everything a little gymnast aimed for: a cartwheel, a handstand, and splits. I always tested my limits with the dream of getting to the Olympics. So, as any athlete, I practiced outside of the gym. However, a normal practice would turn out to crush my dream of winning the gold. Outside at my aunt's house, my cousins and I decided to practice what we learned in the class that week. I had diligently watched the older kids master a back handspring so I thought that I could tackle the challenge. All I remember is falling backwards, thinking I had stuck the landing. However, lying on the floor, I realized that my arm appeared abnormal and shooting pains came from all angles. I had broken my arm for the first time.

As I walk through the revolving doors at the airport in my hometown, I feel the anxiety begin to spread through my body. I have never been away from my parents for more than a couple days. How am I supposed to go nearly two weeks without them in another country? I greet my classmates, and we check in our luggage at the counter. The agent hands me three boarding passes one for each of the flights I will board today. When I check to make sure they are correct, it finally sinks in, ‘I am on my way to Costa Rica.’ As the final member of our group finishes with the agent, I hug my mother goodbye and step into line to go through security. It is time for me to be responsible for myself.

I was given a life sentence at the age of seventeen. Since I was a freshman in highschool I have had plans to attend college after high school. I realized that I was an average student but I always tried hard in school hoping to one day impress the admissions board of a college I hoped to attend. I took classes in highschool that were completely out of my comfort zone in hopes to figure out what I would do with my life after high school. During junior year I was put into a web design class that submerged me into what seemed like another universe, the cyber world. I even learned a new language, program coding and how to design websites. I was fascinated and I would spend hours on end learning this new language. Soon I decided that I wanted to

I am fortunate enough to have born into a healthy middle class family. I have never had to worry about not having enough food on the table, or getting the electricity cut off. I still have all four of my grandparents and live in a safe neighborhood. My life has, thankfully, been easy so far. I have never had to make huge, life changing decisions. Well, that is until now, with college and my life after high school quickly approaching.

The boy told you what he was going to do- had his plan laid out and all. You took it as a joke, not ever thinking he would have killed three of your best friends along with four other people, and one just so happens to be your brother. What if you could have prevented that? What if you told a trusted adult ahead of time? What if you would have talked to the boy himself? A lot of teens ask these questions whenever it’s already too late. We don’t tend to think about things like that though because we never want to think that we could be involved in the situation. We say, “Oh, no big deal. He probably told someone else the same thing too. They’ll take care of it if they think it’s something serious.” The truth is, according to research within

"Things end, but memories last forever." My weekend was sure to prove that. Even though the seniors of 2016 are in readiness to graduate we will most definitely miss these times consumed together. On top of my roof, we sat chattering about what we are going to do after senior year. We discussed about how May 21, 2016, would arrive way before we wanted it to come upon us; once that day comes, we will realize only then that we might never see everyone out of our class again. As we all were articulating about how college will be contrary, how we will study so much more, and how tough it really might be; we promised to never drift apart from the best friends that we are. Finally, two a.m. crept up on us, and we knew it was time to get some

When I was in middle school, all I could think about was college. I fantasized about going to my dream school, going away really far and being all on my own. At first I thought it would be terrifying, but after a while I soon began to think that it would be extraordinary, living a new life in a new city. My expectations about college would increase every time I thought about it. At the time, I recall that I wanted to attend New York University, to study child development so I can become a pre-school teacher. I enjoyed children very much and thought that, that would be my life after high school. But after a few years, my mindset about college altered. I no longer thought about going to NYU because I expected it to be a very challenging life

“Hey Katie,” the cute boy at lunch whispered to me while drinking his apple juice, “pass this down.”

Walking to the bus stop that morning was difficult, but exciting at the same time. I was soon going to be at the high school for my first day. I knew that it was just an orientation, but I was still nervous. I don’t have any older siblings so taking my first step into the school was like a step in the dark, I had no idea what high school would actually be like. Little did I know that high school would change the way I view life, school, and grades.

The school bell rang as students were eager to leave either to hang out with friends or just go home after a long day at school. Students from every direction rushing to their cars or trying to catch the bus was usually an everyday seeing. Some staying for after school tutorials or even after school clubs. Others not realizing that reality is about to hit us as our final school year is coming.

My life began 14 years ago on September 22, 2000 at about 1:30 pm at Mesquite Medical Center. I weighed 6 pounds 3 ounces and was 19 inches long. I have a sister who is 6 years older than me and is currently attending Stephen F. Austin for her 3rd year. When I was born, I had little blue spots on my body, but the most noticeable one is on my finger, it has grown as I have gotten older. My dad also has these mysterious spots and has been to many dermatologists to try and figure out what they are but no doctor knows exactly what to call them.