Personal Narrative: Moving To Downtown Raleigh

When I was nine years old my father went to prison. Since he was a single parent, I was forced to relocate to Washington State to live with my grandparents. Moving to Washington was one of the worst things that I thought could happen at the time, even though it ended up strengthening me as a person. I was forced to leave my friends, school, father and all of my other family members. I was taken from everything I knew and was left very confused and conflicted.

Before I moved to Canton, I lived in Wethersfield CT. One day during late summer when I was around 6 years old there was a bad thunderstorm. It ended up turning into a storm with tornadoes. My dad was in the middle of mowing the lawn and suddenly came inside, which is unusual because he likes to finish what he starts. When he came in he said that the sky didn't look right. My mom stood near the stove making chicken salad sandwiches with a worried look on her face.

It had finally arrived. Moving day. I was finally leaving my home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania after five short years and a sort of gloom lingered in the air. Although many teenagers would be excited to reunite with their family, friends, and childhood home, I, however, was frightened of the future. I woke up that morning and just laid there and listened to the sound of the rain pittering against the roof and windows, pattering against the surrounding forest in which I shared many memories. After what felt like centuries of just listening and reflecting, I got up and looked out the window. I looked at my neighbor's house across the field of grass which separated our houses and at the kids who had become like my siblings. I looked at the ice

My hometown of Eldersburg, Maryland is fairly indistinguishable from the majority of towns in the rest of the United States. Eldersburg closely strattles the line of being the town mentioned in an All Time Low lyric, and that being placed in the crosshairs of somewhere. The main points about Eldersburg probably stem from the influx of supermarkets we have such as Food Lion, Martin’s, and Safeway, to name some of the larger ones, and the location of Liberty High School. However, despite this inability to have any truly positive distinguishing features, I have always found Eldersburg to be quaint enough to learn the lessons of growing up in a safe, community driven environment. Home is a place where you grow as an individual, flourish into what

4,097 people. That was the population of Centralia Missouri in 2011. Moving had never been an issue for me, when your dad is in the military you get used to it. This time it was different than any other time. My parents were divorcing and my mom was forcing me to move to a town with only 4,097 people opposed to my home in Virginia with 225,401 people.

I find myself looking over my shoulder every time I step outside my front door. Violence has opened my eyes and destroyed my dreams of peace. When I first moved to Philadelphia from Puerto Rico, I moved into a neighborhood that was full of gangs and drugs. Philadelphia represented a new start, a chance for me to breathe again. I had experienced a tragic shooting right before my ten year old eyes in Puerto Rico; my mom’s best friend was killed, while the murderer calmly walked away. We escaped to Philadelphia, and I thought my days of witnessing horrific violence were over. However, my dreams were shattered like gunshots in the night. One day, while I was napping, I was awoken by a series of deafening pops. As soon as I heard them, I dropped

During the summer I moved to Houston with expectation of a bigger and better life. In this I met a man, his name was Chase and he was tall and very handsome. We exchanged our information and continued to stay in touch, as we talked we began to develop feelings for one another. The passion grow between us, the good and the bad and I felt as though it was something that I couldn’t get with anyone else. Chase understood me and seemed to know everything that I was thinking before I could even form the words to say my thoughts. We spent endless nights together and I felt completely safe in his presence, but he was poison and I didn’t know it yet. I was warned by my very good friend Jordan that my feelings toward Chase would soon

Among my peculiar obsessions as a child was my ability to read maps. As a nine-year-old, I knew the names of, maybe, three towns in the country, let alone New Jersey. Despite that, interpreting maps and helping my parents navigate on family vacations were my way of learning. This trip wasn't our typical vacation, however: For the first time, I alone had been tasked with leading my mother to a town we had never visited before. During the car ride though, I succumbed to a bout of drowsiness and fell asleep moments after the car ride began. I had lost control of

June sixteenth two thousand and sixteen. There I was in my bed crying uncontrollably. I did not know whether I was crying over the fact that my mom was moving to North Carolina, or the fact that I am being forced to grow up in a matter of twelve hours. For seventeen years my hand has been held, and I have been led through life by my parents; I have never had to worry about the simple things like doing my laundry, making dinner, or driving myself where I needed to be. After all of the sacrifices my mom has made for my family the past eighteen years, it was her turn to put herself first. She was offered a promotion, and it was not my place to tell her to turn it down.

I moved to Connecticut in the September of 2008 because my Dad had a job transfer. This was around the time that I started the second grade. I was introduced to so many people and they were all so nice to me. Six years later, I made countless friends and started to feel like Connecticut was where I wanted to stay forever. But in December of 2014, my Dad got a phone call from a company in South Jersey and they wanted him to work for them. At first, he worked 3 days in Camden, and the rest of the week in Connecticut. That was difficult though because we did not get to see him as often as we wanted to. My parents then sat my brother and I down and asked us if we wanted to move to South Jersey. I did not know what to think. After six years, I loved living in Connecticut and I wanted to stay there. They told us that it would be a lot easier to move down to Jersey instead of my dad traveling every week. My brother and I both agreed that this is what we are going to have to do. I can still remember that day though. It seemed liked the world was going to a scorching end. At least my world was. I started to tell my friends that

Unlike many of my peers, I wasn’t raised in Montgomery County. I was born in Savannah, Georgia on September 10th 1997. After Georgia we lived in Anchorage, Alaska. During that time my now 16 year old sister, Asha was born. After Alaska we packed up and moved to Fairfield, Ohio. My now 11 year old sister, Malea was born there. That’s where I ended up spending almost 12 years there.After moving constantly when I was younger due to my mom being in the Army, it was nice to be stable somewhere. We ended up moving to Gaithersburg after my mom got a promotion in D.C. I started my Junior year at Quince Orchard very scared and nervous. Luckily, I met some amazing people that helped adjust to the move. The move to Gaithersburg made me realize that I

A wise man once said, "Time takes it all, whether you want it to or not." I have always planned for the future then sometimes it's not as I expected it to be. I used to live in Raleigh, North Carolina and thought I would be there forever. I never really thought about moving as a result it didn’t bother me until one day. I was told we are moving to South Carolina, I honestly thought that it was the worst thing ever. Change may not be as bad as you might think it is. Who knows, you may like change better.

So in October of 2014, I made a decision that I wanted more out of life and decided to move to Columbia, S.C. It has been an adventure and decided I could not have been more proud of. I am a country girl from a small town of Newberry County with country fields, historical buildings, apartment complex, and the joys of knowing everyone in the town. I have always wanted to get out of the small town and have desired to see and experience what else life had to offer in another city, even though it is only thirty to forty-five minutes from my hometown, I consider it a new beginning and start in my success of life.

It was June of 2013 and I was in my room cooling, watching “Good Luck Charlie”. My mom came into my room saying that she was ready to move out of New York. Obviously I did not want to move out of the city I was born in. My mom never liked living in New York, so she always thought about moving. So the plan was to move in August. Time went by and I was thinking about what North Carolina would be like. I really wasn’t thinking about the friends I was leaving in Brooklyn, that never crossed my mind.

Through a short path in the woods on a cool evening, I’m riding in a red wagon being pulled by my father. My two sisters little legs are racing down the path to the beach carrying roasting sticks and s’mores supplies. My mom’s concerned voice is yelling out, “Be careful!” as we make our way to the beach, the breeze inviting the smell of salt water to surround me.