Totem Pole Research Paper

Totem poles are symbolic sculptures that originated in some of the native tribes of North America. They can represent stories, someone’s life, they can even be a family tree! Most of them have things such as animals on them. My totem pole is a timeline of my past, present, and future that is represented by animals. I feel that the turtle and the panther best represent who I was in the past. The turtle represents shyness. I actually used to be a really crazy and outgoing kid, but when I got into fourth grade, I became super shy. I think it was because we had just gotten into the intermediate grades and kids had become a bit more gossip-y and sensitive or something like that. I was afraid that if I said something, I would say something that
would make someone upset. I guess my shyness had made me a target for bullying because they knew I wouldn’t stand up for myself or go to tell a teacher. Right before 6th grade, I moved to a new school. The kids there were really nice, but I didn’t get to know them really well until the second half of the year because I had only said about ten words a day. It was just hard for me to talk to new people. The panther represents careful decisions. After many failed friendships and embarrassments, I decided that I had to be really careful of what I said and who I talked to, or they would talk. I didn’t want to answer things out loud or state my opinion on things because I was afraid to be judged. I didn’t want to go out and meet new people because I thought they might turn on me. Some of these are still true about me, but I do think I’ve improved a bit. I believe I am currently like the butterfly and the unicorn because butterflies symbolize hard work and unicorns symbolize being a dreamer. I try my best that I can at everything, even if I don’t feel like working on it at the time. I can work hard for hours if I’m really motivated! I may be a hard worker, but I’m even more so a dreamer. I’ve wasted so many hours of my life just staring into space, asking myself “what-if?” questions. I often get so distracted by ideas, though, that I completely forget to do the thing that I’m fantasizing about. If I can make what I’m