Personal Narrative Essay: Home Away From Home

Anna Gales

Professor Rose Neal

English Composition I

8 September 2017

Home Away from Home College is seen by many incoming freshmen as a new and unique experience. The transition from high school to college is intimidating enough on its own without the added stress of leaving most of what young adults know to be school. Students often seek familiarities in their surroundings especially if this was their first big move from home. Dr. Mark Gales, my father and a professor of Pharmacy here at SWOSU, has been my reason for visits up to campus in the past. Years of my father’s faculty basketball games and other fall trips to help siblings settle into dorms left me with the memories but nothing concrete to hold on to. Luckily for me, I found my little piece of home on my first day of college in CAM102, and her name is Professor Rose Neal. First day jitters seem to come along with each school year and this year was no exception. I sat in the back row of Professor Cothran’s Biological Concepts class while we went over the syllabus and the typical rundown of the course. After the class ended, my dorm was my next stop before heading to Composition I

I slowly raised my hand, and when I was called upon I asked about the high school she had previously taught at. As I had hoped, she told us how she taught for some number of years at Deer Creek high school. Come to find out, Professor Neal had taught both of my older sisters Erica and Jessica in her time spent at Deer Creek. She remembered my sisters fondly and proceeded to ask about some of the existing English department back at the school. After class had ended that day, I texted both of my sisters about the information that was just revealed to me about my English professor. The events later in the day led me to visit the lake with a small handful of new friends and relaxing for the duration of the