Memories of My Swampland Home Imagine, a swampland, pale in the dusk. The chuck-wills-widow call echos through the silence. A great blue heron flies majestically overhead, with the ‘gator bellowing in the spring evening. This is my home. My life began in a little hospital in Louisville, Colorado, on January 26, 2000 at 12:59 pm. I grew up quickly, and one day when I was almost four I asked my mom,“What does this mean?" I was holding a book and pointing to the letter “D." She told me, and I repeated it back and soon memorized it. That was the beginning of my love for reading Soon after I turned six, we moved to a large ranch in the middle of Florida. The roads were dirt. On the first day I remember telling myself to be brave and courageously dipped my foot in the dirt. After careful washing, I didn’t take my shoes off for a week. Now I hardly ever put them on. On the ranch, there was a fenced-in pond where we swam. We called it the Swimming Hole. It was fenced in to keep the ‘gators out , but every once in a while I would hear stories. The worst was just told recently. It was a hot, stifling day and throughout it there were many swimmers. When the last swimmers of the day were about to leave, it surfaced. A monstrous alligator, just over ten feet long, mean and hungry. Luckily, a brave man and a shotgun took care of her. ‘Gators like that are nuisance animals because they're big enough to injure someone. The fright is still wearing off and some families won't go back, but no ten foot alligator could scare me away from The Hole, one of the places I love most. One of my favorite things to do is ride horses. I especially love riding in rodeos. There is nothing like the thrill of racing around an arena at breathtaking speeds, going through a drill with twenty horses doing an intricate pattern to the cheering of thousands. I have been in three rodeos recently and my favorite thing to do in one is barrel racing. I will try the best I can to paint a picture of freedom, flight, and wonder with just one word: Horse. Its amazing how with one flick of the smallest finger you can turn a horse in a tight circle literally within milliseconds of the movement. A slight shift of your weight tells the horse to do something. For example, if you lean imperceptibly to the right, a message is sent to the horse that you want it to turn right. I had a horse whose name was One Fire, but we called him Cracker. My sister and I would put snacks and horse brushes in a bucket and tie it to the saddle so we could ride for a while. Sometimes we’d be gone for hours on trail rides. When I moved here I had to sell him. Some nights I would just sit in the middle of a grassy field and listen. The night was never a silent thing; it was always humming with life. As it began to get dark the cicadas burst out with noise like ringing in your ear with a steady buzzing sound. Then came the frogs, the little tree frogs with high, trilling voices. The grand bullfrogs mellow and low, deep and ringing, all sang out in the choir. The big brahma bulls would start lowing with their peculiar song, starting with a wail and ending in a moan. Once I even heard the scream of a panther Now this life is just a memory. But, if I close my eyes I can almost see a young girl, book in hand, resting under the great live oak at dusk, listening to the noises. Her heartbeat matching the heartbeat of nature throbbing around her in the swampland. A Name One of my very first memories I have, happened around the time I was two. I was sitting in my parent’s room with my purple Magna-doodle spread out in front of me. My mom was patiently showing me how to write my name. My small chubby hands struggled to create the curves and lines of this foreign concept she called letters. Now writing my name comes as easy to me as breathing. It’s a symbol of who I am. When I was born my parents took me home to an apartment building in Salt Lake City. Just before I turned one, we moved to our first real home. It was in Magna, Utah. A small little house with a big backyard and an unfinished basement. We lived there until I was just about four. When I was almost five we moved into our real home. A red brick house right beneath “P Mountain” in Payson, Utah. I’ve lived there ever since. My family consists of six people: my mom and dad, my three younger sisters, and me. I can barely go one day without my family. I love them too much to say. I am the oldest. I always say I was the only kid in our family who was the favorite child, even if it was only for three years. I love to sing. By the time I was three I could sing over 30 songs. I’m always humming and singing around my house. Music makes me feel happy, and gets me out of myself and real life. It’s the same with dancing. I started to dance when I was two. I still take lessons and I absolutely love it. The music moves my body in ways that I can’t accomplish otherwise. I hate cold weather. I wish it could be warm all year round. During February I’m always scared that the sun will hide behind those grey clouds forever. Sunshine makes me happy. I love the bright rays that touch my skin and spread warmth throughout my body. The sun is yellow, and that’s why yellow is my favorite color. Lightning scares me horribly. Lightning makes fire, and fire is one of my greatest fears. I also hate spiders. Anything with more than four limbs should not exist. My mom says I’m a perfectionist. And I have to admit it’s true. Whether I’m cleaning or drawing a picture, my work must be impeccable. I retry and redo until I can’t find any more mistakes. When I go to bed at night I always grab the soft blanket my grandma made me when I was nine. I can’t fall to sleep without it. It calms me down and melts my fears and stress right away. Many times I’ve tried to think of one word that could describe me. I’ve wracked my brain and twisted my thoughts until I’ve forgotten what I was trying to think of. But the same question always comes back to me time and time again. So I’ve come to a conclusion; There will never be one word to describe me. Just me, even one person, is too complex to come up with a single word. And that’s why I have a name. My name describes me and who I am. My name is that one word that I’ve been searching for. My Second Home Sometimes I reflect back on those good old days. When, if you start yelling and screaming it means someone’s about to get you in tag. I remember when the simplest wind was the whisper of an imaginary friend talking to you as if they were there. If only we could go back to those days when knowing who you are was simple. I’m originally from Boise, Idaho. I moved to Utah when I was in fifth grade. My dad had gotten a new job as the service manager for a store in Nephi. He had been hired in July and was to start in August. So, my mom and dad began the hunt for the house that would just be the start of, in my mind, a nightmare. The packing had also begun. Objects of “importance” went missing into the endless display of brown cardboard boxes. I said nothing. I hated the fact that we were moving to Utah with all the “utards.” Then, we moved. Everything in my life that I knew was ripped away from me. I barely even had time to process it then, BANG! School started. It was the worst first day ever! I didn’t make any friends, some girl was rude to me on the bus, and I was in a completely new school that I thought was very stupid. Luckily, the next day was pretty good and I made lots of good friends. The girl who was rude to me is now one of my best friends, and it turns out that school wasn’t as stupid as I thought it was. Now comes the date two years later. I step off the bus into a whole new adventure called junior high. This time I was prepared with friends by my side. School was crazy! Through the ups and downs, the stress, the changes, and the new boys, I made even more friends. And for those who don’t know me very well this meant a lot to me. My friends have got to be one of the most important things in my life. They make school seem like a second home, with them being the second family. Now everyone knows that in seventh grade you have to take two class periods of English. Therefore, that is where most of my second family comes from. Everyone in Mrs. Frandsen’s 7th and 8th period classes have to admit that that class was the most fun of the day. We all became fast friends. Okay maybe not all of us, but most of us were. Then, BAM! School was over and we were all saying our goodbyes to our friends. All my friends from Goshen and Genola would be missed the next year as they were going to Mt. Nebo the next year. Now here I am almost to the present. We all agreed this was going to be one of the best years ever! We knew our way around, we weren’t the “little” seveys anymore, and we weren’t even close to being knocked down. Then, something dark crept upon us all. No one expected it. Something that ripped our dreams of it being the perfect year. One of my best friends, Rachel, told us she was moving. Not just some little move across town, but all the way to the great state of Montana. I couldn’t help it, I was silent. Now all there is to do is wait. See what happens with the coming months. Maybe even plan a farewell party. If you can’t understand the way it feels to watch one of your best friends move away, you’re like me. I have always been the one moving away. Now it’s my turn to watch, as one of my own dear friends move away. I can only watch as she slowly moves away becoming one of the family members in the old scrapbook that visits from time to time, until she finally returns. So, what’s the point? What’s the point of remembering who we once were? Remembering those good times with friends, family, and as a little kid, you learn who you are, and what you’ve become. I remember that sometimes going to school is just going to a second home where new memories are formed. I remember that everyday is a day to start afresh. A day to go back to those good days when winds whisper, when tag is as simple as a scream and shout, a day when life is simple and I finally realize who I am. Obsessed Reader Who Loves Music On April 6, 1999 a beautiful baby girl was born. By the time I was five I had figured out my passion--it was reading. I have always loved reading. Whenever I am sad or angry, I get in my bed wrap myself in the blankets and read. My favorite genres are fantasy and science fiction. I love reading about mystical creatures and futuristic worlds. My favorite book in the whole wide world is Hunger Games. Team Peeta! Besides my passion for reading I also love to listen to music. I am always listening to music. Some of my favorite artists are One Direction, Journey, Selena Gomez, and Taylor Swift. My favorite type of music is Rock/Pop. My world is revolved around music. I don't know what I would do if I could not listen to music. Even though I have no desire to play an instrument or sing. I still love to listen to music. But there is one thing I love more than reading and music. Its hanging out with my friends and family . Whenever I hang out with my friends I always have lots of fun. If I didn’t have my friends and family I would probably shrivel up and die. My friends and family are so important to me. They are always there for me . I also love food. I can't really decide what my absolute favorite food is but there are a couple of foods that I absolutely hate like peas, mayo, and sushi. But if I had to pick my all time favorite food it would probably be hoggies or burritos. I absolutely love Mexican food it is so yummy and delicious. Another thing about me is that I am really shy. I used to be more shy than I am today but I am still really shy. But if you get to know me I become really outgoing and most definitely not shy. When I was little people would ask my name and I would just stand there and do nothing. After a while someone else would have to tell them my name because I was too shy to respond. I also love to watch movies and tv shows. Some of my favorite tv shows are Pair of Kings, Wizards of Waverly Place, Shake it up, Good Luck Charlie, and A.N.T. Farm. My favorite movie is probably Hunger games. I especially love to watch movies and tv with my friends. Whenever we watch movies together we always get a big bowl of popcorn and laugh our butts off through the whole movie. My favorite celebrities are Roshon Fegan, Kenton Duty, Zac Efron, and Liam Payne. My all time favorite celebrity is Josh Hutcherson. I can stay up all night and sleep all day. I love to party and watch movies all night then sleep all morning. But even though I love to party all night I do have to have a certain amount of sleep or I get cranky or sometimes delusional. It's the same if I am hungry. My favorite colors are sunset orange, medium purple, neon yellow, bright red and lime green. My all time favorite color is pink. I love food, staying up all night, reading, listening to music, and hanging out with my friends and family. Even though my life is amazing now I still wonder about my future. I think about finding a successful job. I think about raising my family. But for now I am not going to worry about those things. I am just going to have fun and enjoy life while I'm a kid. I Want to Be an STP Before I was born, the doctor told my mom that I was going to be a boy. That was the only ultrasound they did so there wasn’t a chance to correct this mistake. When I was born the doctor was delivering another baby, so the nurse had to deliver me. When I came out I wasn’t crying so they took me away without letting my mom even see me. When my dad first saw me he was in so much shock that he just stood there. Meanwhile my mom was freaking out because nobody would tell her anything and all my dad could say was, “It’s a girl.” They hooked me up to a heart monitor but right before they were going to use it I jumped and got a huge goose egg on my head. To make matters worse the doctor said that it might go away but there was a chance it wouldn’t. My mom didn’t like that, but thankfully the bump went away. After my mom finally saw me, everything was good. I was born in the Provo hospital and I have lived in the same house in Santaquin my whole life. I have two brothers and two sisters. My oldest brother got married about a year ago. My family is very close and we are always doing things together. Whenever we do get together there is usually a ton of food, especially if my Grandma Lloyd is there. However on my dad's side there is hardly any food other than an occasional plate of tomatoes. I do not like sports at all. I can’t play anything even if I practice for a long time, it just isn’t possible for me. I like playing games for fun but not anything competitive. I especially hate it when I play with people that are really good at that specific sport. I have come to learn through experience that when you are playing a game and everybody says that they won’t laugh at you, they are lying. Every single time everybody laughs and it is embarrassing. Now I know better than to listen to them, I know what will happen and I don’t do it. Ever since I was little I have loved reading. I can spend a whole day reading with only stopping for five minute meals. My favorite way to spend my time is to go find a quiet place and read for hours. I also love to feel the sunshine on my face while I am hiking. I love the exhilaration and the adventure of hiking. Some people don’t understand the reason for hiking. They think there’s nothing to see, there isn’t anything at the end. But I do it because I like getting there. Even if there won’t be a reward at the end it doesn’t matter to me. For me, the reward is the hike. I love to feel the mountain breeze and smell trees and plants around me. I love hiking because it is beautiful, and fun. When I grow up I want to get a degree in Child Development and run or work in a day care. I love little kids and babies. They are so cute and I love to be with them. The official name of the job I want to be is a Childcare Worker. I also want to go to college and experience life. I want to make mistakes and learn from them. What better way to learn? I want to do things with my life. I want to make an impact on those around me. My aunt has this thing called STP. It stands for Same Ten People. It is for the people that get called or volunteer for everything. I want to be a STP. I want to help others and be there for them. I hope that when I am old and I think back on my life that I will be satisfied and happy with the things that I have done. |
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