My greatest influences are my parents and my brother. My brother suffered from Guillain- Barre Syndrome when he was eight. He lived in the hospital on an artificial ventilation for 97 days and later he had to continue physical therapy for at least ten years as he was completely paralyzed. My parents and my brother devoted their few years completely for his treatment. Today, my brother is a successful engineer working in the bay area. I learned that with dedication, determination and diligence we can achieve our dream in life…
The narrative, The Driver’s Seat struck home for me because I just received my driver’s license this past May, 2015. I took time for me to actually drive and to become comfortable behind the wheel of a car. This piece of writing spoke to me and allowed me to review some of the identical thinking points that I went through while getting to the point of taking control of my dad’s car. The story effectively walked me through the trials of spirit and mental anguish that preceded me in taking hold of the vehicle with my dad as the co-pilot giving directions. This was the exact thing the driving instructor in The Driver’s Seat‘ taught the author. The routine of how to maneuver and throw caution to the wind- taking risks- to get the author over…
Walking into the locker room about to get ready to go to our last football game of the season. I could smell the sweaty equipment from the kids who never take their pads home. The Hempfield Spartans 7th grade team would be ending their season 0-7 if we didn’t win today. As I was changing into my pads my friend mike walked in the room. I said “you ready for tonight”. “Heck yeah” replied Mike.…
In chapter 12, the key event to me was when Claudia and Finn talked to each other through the keys. I felt many emotions when reading their interaction one of them being happy. I felt happy when they talked to each other because it was a turning point in the story in my opinion. I also felt surprised because at first, I thought by having two keys, there would be a lock that would need both keys to hear and speak to each other. I also felt confused by the way they conversed; How could they now hear each other but not before. I think by having one key being touched, the other key can hear because on page 153 Claudia says she breathed and rubbed on the key making it warm and on page 154 Finn says when he touches the key it's warm.I like the way the author wrote the scene from both perspectives, it gave us the readers a clearer understanding of how both Finn and Claudia felt. I also like how the author described the way both keys affect each other and have a "key" connection.…
“We all stray from time to time….and when you do, OWN IT! If you deny it….you are giving up control again.” This can teach a lesson to people struggling with drugs and alcohol. If you deny that you have a problem, you will continue to let these things control your life, but if you own up to it, you can help yourself or get help from others. The quote, from the “I don’t know the Bible…” paragraph, “‘Well done, my good and faithful servant,”’ reflects what I believe in and what I have learned. Growing up I heard many people tell me, “God first, others second, and yourself last.” First of all, these two quotes are telling me to live a faithful life by putting God first. Also, to put others before me and serve them just like Jesus did.…
The Shared Vision I am currently in the process of crafting includes working for an organization that will challenge me to grow both in knowledge and as a person. Peace Corp is one organization that can give me what I want out of my company and organization and how I am going to get that out of my new organization. At this time I am trying to link my personal vision to the organization’s potential in order to help myself align the organization’s purpose with my own purpose (vision): and to prepare the individual groundwork for creating a shared vision. I am at a crossroads on my career path, where I can either I can decide on my personal vision and try and line up my career with that vision or I can let someone else determine what type of work…
Moving on is easy but what you leave behind is what makes it hard. Once you get to a certain age in your life you know you have to move on sometime. I know times are hard but you have to push yourself toward what you really want in life even if it means moving away from what you love.…
Every human struggles everyone has hardship. When I was young I began to notice that maybe it is hard to understand what other people struggle with. The start of a mundane life began as usual a bus ride to school, but today something else happened a flash of yellow a soundless luxury sports car zoomed bass by a Lamborghini. As the car passed by everyone looked at it with amazement as the never seen a car pass from this part of the street. I began to wonder when will I get one with imaginary job I will live the high life. The bus hits a bump on the road I am begging to rationalize who much work will it take to achieve greatness to struggle to overcome adversity.…
As a young girl, I experienced what at the time I thought was the end of the world. Yes, I was a little bit of a drama queen. At the age of eleven, and on my way to a ballet recital a woman who was careless pulled under an awning in a non-parking zone in front of The Girls Club. I was running to catch up with my group. I looked left and right and proceeded to walk under the awing to the parking lot across from the building. From the corner of my eye’s I saw a white car pull up in front of me very fast. The momentum of the car pulling up that close almost made me roller over the hood. I put both my hands on the car, and pushed my self away. Stepping back on my right foot, my left foot caught under the tire. I screamed in pain, and yelled at the women to move her car.…
I always keep this poem and picture in my wallet. I take it everywhere with me because it means quite a lot to me in two very different ways. One of those ways is because it holds sentimental value. When I was younger I learned to read very late in life and I was always so embarrassed of that. My father knew that I was struggling and bought me the book, Where the Sidewalk Ends. It is a book full of poems and little pictures written by Shel Silverstein. I remember opening the book to ta random page, and it was the page with this poem. I then remember my dad asking me to read it to him. I was so uncomfortable, even thought I was just going to be reading to my dad. He gave me some words of encouragement, and even thought I was not able to read…
As I was sitting on the ground in the street, I heard a belt buckle jingle. I knew then that life was ending right then and there. Little did I know, my dad was already looking for me as I was riding my bike. My teacher had already called, explaining how I acted up in class that day. My dad took a swing and my leg suddenly unbroke and I ran for dear life. Of courses he eventually caught up with me and I sore for about a week straight.…
Football has always been a big part of my life. As a young boy I would day dream of making insane touchdowns, making tackles that would leave man stuck in the ground, and even winning the heisman trophy. In 7th grade I had begged my mother endlessly to sign me up for pee wee football because she would always worry about the risks of football. After finally getting her to sign me up, we went straight into the season. I chose to play running back because as a 12-year-old I was remarkably fast having timed 5.3 in the 40 yard-dash. After a few weeks in the season we approached the playoffs and found out our opponent for the first round of the playoffs were the jaguars who were undefeated. Our team didn’t have the best chemistry on…
Learning from mistakes is a key part of life. I myself have had to learn from my mistakes. Over the summer I cut my foot outside. I spent the whole night in the worst hospital, then I got 18 stitches in the bottom of my foot. It also set back my ability to play football. My mistake was going outside without shoes, now I wear my shoes all the time.…
Traveling into the Indian Territory, we were being angrily chased down by three Indians furiously shouting at us. Dashing through the thick forest, the savage Indians were throwing spears and shooting arrows that narrowly missed us. Although neither Gideon nor I was mortally injured, I did suffer from a nick from an arrow piercing near my ear. Thankfully, a group of burly fur traders approached from the side, which frightened the Indians to run away. Acknowledging that Gideon and I were inexperienced travelers in the west, they offered us protection in exchange for some valuable possessions. As a consequence, knowing that they were our best alternative for survival, we gave them our antique gold pocket watches and assumed the identities of novice fur traders. From that point on, we followed them through the west and adopted their skills for efficiently hunting animals and keeping warm in the harsh, cold weather. During one of our rest points, we approached a large Cherokee settlement located in Park Hill in which our group leader was friends with the Cherokee leader John Ross.…
Most teenagers do not have a clue about what they want to be when they grow up. Most young adults also do not know where their path is in life. Even some full-blown adults are still trying to figure out their purpose. I was lucky. I knew exactly where I belonged from about the time I was seven up until now, at the decently young age of nineteen. I do not see my path changing anytime soon; in fact, I know it will never change. But, I did not just wake up one day as a child and know what my path was, while that would be impressive. Defining moments in one’s life defines who they are. There were lots of things I experienced in my life that made me realize my purpose, my absolute passion. I had four of these defining moments in my short span of…