Reflection Essay

Jane Sherman
John Slack
Freshman English 1101-02
September 6, 2013
The Big Race As a kid I did and said a lot of things. My famous quote as a kid was, “Momma I want to go fast.” I thought going fast was just the coolest thing in the world. Watching airplanes and seeing how they just zipped right through the sky. I loved it. My brother was my hero. Everything he did I wanted to do. It all started when I was five-years-old. It was Christmas Eve and my whole family gathers at my house. My mom has always let us open one present on Christmas Eve. That night everyone else opened their own gifts. My brother Zach got a remote control car and my sister Hannah got a new Barbie doll. My mother looked at me and said, “Ruthie, why aren’t you opening a gift?” I replied, “I don’t see the gift I want.” My mother didn’t really like that answer, but I knew I was getting a bike. I had outgrown my old bike. It was very tiny and still had training wheels. There was just that feeling inside of me and I knew I was getting a new bike. I went off to bed forcing myself to fall asleep so it would be morning faster. When I woke up, I was the first one up like every year. I ran down the steps and there it was; my brand new blue Huffy bike with no training wheels. I had a smile on me from ear to ear. I started riding it around the house and rang the bell it had on it. Everyone woke up and came downstairs. We all opened the rest of our gifts and I just couldn’t wait until all the snow melted so I could ride my bike. My brother has always been my hero. He was my first best friend. He never really got mad at me as a child when I broke his toys or played with them. He would take the time to show me how to play with them and what not to do with them. He has always been there for me and that is why to this day he is still my hero. He was there when my father taught me how to ride a bike. I will always treasure that moment. My brother was the one who encouraged me to take off my training wheels. Best decision of my life.
Spring came and I was outside all the time riding my new bike. I only had to go to school in the morning since I was only in kindergarten at the time. I had so much time to ride my bike and practice for the race. My brother and his friends had these little bike races around the block. With my brother being my hero, so I would tag along with him and his friends all the time. They never me let race with them because I was just a little girl. They didn’t want me to get hurt, or anything. “Those fools”, I always thought. I could beat any one of them if they would just let me race. So, everyday I was outside riding around my block faster and faster. I always just kept pushing myself a little harder everyday. I would watch them to see how fast they would go and see if I was faster. I knew I was faster than at least half of them. One day, I finally said something. I went up to my brother and said, “ Zach, I want to race with you guys.” They all looked at me and laughed. But I knew I could do it. I challenged Jimmy to the race. He was last on the list. They all had rankings that we wrote on my sidewalk with chalk. So I figured I would just work my way to the top. My brother is two years older than me so you have to keep in mind that I’m just a little girl trying to be with the big boys. Anyway, Jimmy had a scared look on his face. I looked back at him with a smile. My brother looked around at all his friends and said, “If you want to race you have to beat Jarrod.” Jarrod was ranked number one, and he was pretty fast, but I said I would do it. So we all got lined up and my brother stood in the middle of us and said, “ready, set, go!” I remember taking off so quickly. Going around the first corner, I almost fell. I remember the rush I had in my body. The wind was just rushing through my hair and I kept thinking, “Yes, yes I’m going so fast.” All the practice I had done was finally going to pay off. When we got back to the last corner, I thought, “This was it I’m going to do it. I really am.” Jarrod beat me. Not by a lot, but he beat me. I was mad and frustrated I threw my bike to the ground. Then Jarrod came up to me and said, “ Wow Ruthie you are pretty fast. You can race with us anytime.” I was happy then. I finally got what I wanted, and then I didn’t want it. I thought it was more fun riding around the block by myself. That way nobody would laugh at me if I fell down. The feeling of going fast was all I really wanted anyway. After that race my brother and his friends never really complained that I hung around them too much and needed to go play Barbie’s with girls. It was always fun watching them race. The best feeling was knowing that I fit in with them and my brother not thinking it was lame that his little sister was hanging around him.