Personal Narrative: The Horse Woman

When most people hear my full name , “Joann Botani," they automatically assume I'm Italian, but truth is I am actually Middle Eastern. From what I know my dad does have a little Italian in his blood but the name “Botani” actually comes from a city in Turkey. I come from an upper-middle class house hold and I have two younger siblings, a brother and a sister. Being the oldest has its challenges because there is so much expected from me whether it is school, work or social life. I tend to think my younger siblings have it easier because I am the one who pushes the boundaries with my parents and because of that my siblings usually get to do what ever the want because it is not as extreme as what I do. It has always been easy for my younger sister because she is the “princess” of the house but I am my dad’s favorite while my brother is a momma’s boy. My family is very competitive when it comes to school and grades, my little brother and I were always duking it out

Some people think of them as animals. Some people think of them as objects. Some people think of them as friends. Then there are the few who think of them as family. Horses have always been like family to humans, except sometimes closer. There are many benefits to owning or being around horses. They come in many different colors. There is a multitude of breeds, also. Additionally, they have a long history with humans. Horses have unique behaviors. Showing horses has been the past-time or even career of many people. Furthermore, caring for horses can be a handful, but is definitely rewarding. Finally, riding horses is not just a hobby or a sport, but an action of your heart. Horses are wondrous creatures that have lived with man or

Everybody’s eyes were on me as if I was the only living thing for miles. Silence filled the air of the huge coliseum, so quiet that you could hear breathes of each individual. There were hundreds of people sitting in the stands. Even better there were thousands of people watching on the live web cam. It was a cool October morning, and the sun was shining brightly. I woke up and could hear the birds chirping, like they were sending me a sign that it was going to be a great day. The sun was not strong enough to beat the brisk air which was blowing. I had not slept well that night, nor any night that week actually. After all I was about to be showing at the largest single breed horse show in the world, the Quarter Horse Congress. I had been practicing that entire year for this very moment. I literally suffered through blood, sweat, and tears. Nothing in the entire world could stop me at this point. Even if there was a zombie apocalypse, I would slay them all just to have this very

One of my favorite designers is Kate Spade. Kate Spade was born on December 24, 1962 in Kansas City, Missouri. Spade graduated from Arizona State University in 1986 and then went on to New York City. When she was in New York, she worked for a magazine called Mademoiselle. After five years of working for this magazine, she earned the title of senior fashion editor and head of accessories. Shortly after receiving this title, she left the company to create her own line. In 1993, Kate launched her own line of handbags that turned out to be very successful. After she met her husband, Andy Spade, they went into business together and their business together was even more of a success. The company grew from just handbags to a wide variety of items

On the night of December 19th, 2003, a baby is born. Her mom’s a social worker, her dad’s a nephrologist, and she has one older sister. Her name is Sophia Galoustian, although later she will wish to be called Sophie. After two years of living in Maine, the family moves to California, where Sophie will grow up.I am Sophia Galoustian, and this is part of who I am.

We flew down the bumpy trails with dust in our face. Maria took Rachel and I four-wheeling with some friends. It was two o’clock in the morning and my mom didn't know where we were. Maria Tormanen is my older sister. Maria has a positive influence on me because she is always pushing me out of my comfort zone. She supports me in what i do and she goes after her dreams, I admire that.

Mrs. Sofia is a 46-year-old Hispanic female. Mrs. Sofia moved to the United States six months ago from the Dominican Republic. She moved with her family to Connecticut to better their lives and for greater job opportunities. Mrs. Sofia works at the local high school as a housekeeper. Mrs. Sofia is happily married with two daughters, one son, and she lives with her parents. Mrs. Sofia is very close with her family. Mrs. Sofia stated, “My family is the biggest part of my life and support system”. Mrs. Sofia’s primary language is Spanish, but can speak some English. Mrs. Sofia and her family believe in folk remedies in times of illness. In time of sickness, she uses herbs to help cure the illness. Since Mrs. Sofia is a immigrant from the Dominican Republic she was not able to receive the same type of health care that a typical American would have.

As high school freshmen, most kids do not get very excited about walking into their College Preparatory Biology class, but I sure did! Everyday I looked forward to Mrs. Wilson's 3rd period biology lesson because she never disappointed. Mrs. Wilson was a special kind of teacher, she was the type to turn boring lectures into a captivating learning tale and had the gift of making tests enjoyable with her creative illustrations. Yes, you read that right, I enjoyed her tests. One day, Mrs. Wilson presented us with a demanding project; “Okay class, I am challenging you to create the BEST “Bunnimoose.” she announced. As we sat there with puzzled faces, she went further into explanation.

Have you ever been in a situation where you didn’t think you could do it? Well I have many times and I’m going to write about a time during Rodeo when I didn’t think I was going to be able to do well in goat tying.

Doing something new can be terrifying and freighting. The hardest thing that I’ve had trouble with is doing things in front of people. When onlookers stare at me it makes me feel awkward. The summer of two thousand and eleven, I made the volleyball team at Covington High School so, that meant this would put me in front of a lot of people. My team name was The Lady Lions. The Lady Lions and I have practiced all summer long for our first game. Unfortunately the first Monday of school was my first game. Monday’s arrival at school came fast! The game was at the end of the school day but, the more I thought about it the more nervous it was. This was a new situation for me because I’ve never been in front of a crowd that big.

Jane and I grew up in grade school together. She was in the class ahead of me, but her and I were still friends. My father was into politics and involved himself in whatever he could with Jane's dad. Since our fathers were away quite often, we would spend a lot of time together. Since Jane didn't have a mother, my mother would often include Jane in whatever my sisters and I were doing. We would have great talks together talking about what we wanted to do when we grew up. Even though neither one of us knew what we wanted to do, Jane was someone that always had the biggest heart for helping people. She was always talking about the stories her father told her about President Lincoln, and even though she didn't know how, she knew she wanted to be someone to make change like he did.

My favorite memory with my horse Shadow is when we qualified for state. It was really exciting to go down to the state fair and ride in the coliseum. The first year we went down to the state fair it wasn't the best year since it was our first time. This year we did much better and even got a ribbon. It's fun to do 4-H with my horse because I can ride them and compete. Last year my mom got a new horse named Tanner. Tanner was mom's shooting horse and mom said I couldn't ride him. When I started riding Tanner I wanted him to become my game horse like Shadow. When my mom had her accident at Two Harbours she couldn't ride anymore. Since then, Tanner has become my horse and I am working on training him to become become a game horse. I don't know what I would do without my horses. My mom said that when I got home from China and we got to the house, my mom went out to see one of her horses. I was little when we were there and I reached out and touched the horse. Since then I have had a connection with the

The media is lying to our faces while pushing their own opinions onto the groups that they have influence over. This statement might sound insane but an overwhelming number of Americans believe that the media is not being completely honest with the information that they are reporting. Media bias may not seem like a hard-hitting issue but it can become extremely dangerous in the right circumstances. Media bias becomes a dangerous weapon when politicians use it as a tactic to get the upper hand in a situation. Often, this situation involves the presidential elections and other high ranking official elections. In almost every presidential election there are reports where party officials often accuse certain networks of favoritism towards one party

My mother purchased a saddle for me before I was born. She knew I would be a cowgirl who loved horses, like herself. But what she did not know is that my love of horses would develop into something much greater. My past, present, and future endeavors have all been in pursuance of my goal: to be an equine veterinarian.

The Chinese film Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl was produced by Joan Chen and Alice Chen and directed by Joan Chen, with the screenplay also by her and Yan Geling. This movie is based on the story "Tian Yu" by Yan Geling about a similar topic. In this film, the point of view of a previously innocent teenage girl during the Sent-Down Movement in China is explored. However, over the course of the film, that girl’s, Xiu Xiu’s, innocence is taken away. Xiu Xiu’s loss of innocence was a result of multiple factors: her assailants who used her for their own personal pleasure, the passivity of other characters, Xiu Xiu’s own loss of hope, gender roles ingrained in the cultural norms in China, and the Chinese government’s manipulation of youths during the Sent-Down Movement.