Personal Narrative: My Life In White Salmon

Growing up different wasn’t always easy for me. My dad, Anthony Smigelski Jr., worked as an active duty officer in the Coast Guard and my mom, Claudia Smigelski, worked as a registered nurse. In 1976 it was illegal to perform an abortion in New Orleans, Louisiana so my parents, who were unsuccessful having their own children, moved to Louisiana in hopes they would have a better change to adopt a baby. On April 2, 1976 they got their wish; I was delivered to their home in Gretna, LA when I was only 10 days old. It wasn’t long after my parents got me that my father was transferred to Governor’s Island, NY when I was two years old. By this time it seems as if I was my parent’s lucky penny, when I was four years old my sister Christine was born.

Moving houses had always been strenuous for me, especially since my family had moved multiple times. This was my family’s third time moving. We were moving from California to Indiana. Even though it was my third time moving, I still found it arduous to move locations and to say goodbye to the friends I made in California. Although the transition of moving was difficult, I decided to focus on the new experiences I would gain from moving.

I am a creature of habit; big changes scare me. This is something that has really dominated my personality for the past couple of years. When I was going into the eighth grade, I moved from Richmond, Virginia to Phoenix, Arizona, a place where no one knew who I was and very few were willing to try and figure me out. I had lived my entire life in Richmond and was very unwilling to move. I think this is where my personality really began to evolve. I went through a phase where I was very closed off to everything and unwilling to try new things. Three years after this original move, I moved from Phoenix to Columbus, Ohio. Right before this move, I was beginning to come out of my shell and return to the original person I had been for the fourteen

Diversity may mean different things to different people. To me, diversity is exactly that, being different and unique. Diversity makes the world a beautiful place to be, and full of interesting and different people. The beauty of human civilization lies in its diverse groups and cultures.

Every year, my family goes on a snowmobile trip with my friend Aftyn’s family in Spearfish, South Dakota. About two years ago, we drove out for our trip as usual. The first day was super fun. We stopped at Four Corners, a fun hill to climb, and we did lots of racing. The second day was a little more eventful.

My first day here at Job Corps seemed very long. When I first arrived in the front I had to sit in a little room close to the front office I had to sit there with a couple of other kids. After sitting there for a while security came and took all of our bags to the security room to check for anything we couldn’t have. After that, we had to follow some staff who took us to get our uniform which took a minute because everyone took turns to use the bathroom to change. They gave us 3 pairs of polo shirts and 3 pair of regular school slacks. They also told us if we come to school without uniform then we would have to pay 5 dollars which comes out of our check that they give us every two weeks.

I have lived in East Oakland my whole life. To the majority of people, the mention of East Oakland evokes thoughts of violence, shootings, and gangs. I was one of the people who believed in these stereotypes, and for a particularly long time. I was one of the people who saw Oakland as a wasteland, a place with nothing to offer me, and a place I had nothing to offer to.

Finding Fish is a story of a young, unloved boy growing up and overcoming all obstacles and hardships in order to become an amazing man. Antwone Quenton Fisher was born on August 3, 1959, in Cleveland, Ohio. He was born in a prison to Eva Mae Fisher and Eddie Elkins, who was killed before he was born. As a result of this, Antwone grew up in the foster system and he was placed in the unloving home of his foster parents, Mrs. Isabella Pickett and Reverend Ulysses Pickett. Up until he was 16, Antwone had to deal with abuse, verbally, physically, and sexually. This negatively affected Antwone because he had very low self esteem and was exceedingly shy for many years of his life. Although Antwone had a really terrible childhood and upbringing, he didn’t let that define him. Antwone Fisher grew up to serve his country by being in the Navy for 11 years and he continues to make an impact on young foster

Almost my entire life changed after my move, I had a new routine, some new friends, and a new way I had to learn. It took me a while to accept that what I did every day was my life. I didn’t like it, I missed my family in Texas, and I missed my old friends. I had to grow up a little every day. At the end of it all I had dealt with a broken rib, taking care of siblings, and a new school. From that move I learned to accept and adapt to change. I learned that life is going to be messy and different. I changed for the better after the move and I wouldn’t be who I am if I

When I moved to the small town of Luther, Oklahoma I didn 't talk much. I was shy and had trouble making friends. I couldn 't care less about my schoolwork, even though my teachers thought I was very bright. I wasn 't interested in sports. At my old school I was active in Girl Scouts, but I lost interest in that a year or two after moving. The troop in Luther wasn 't as active as I hoped. Then, when I was thirteen my mom introduced me and my younger sister to Job 's Daughters. Job 's Daughters is sponsored by the Free Masons and includes girls 10-20 years old who believe in God. At first, I was skeptical about whether I would fit in with this group, but I soon grew to love this organization for it 's beauty. This Masonic-sponsored, youth

As a child of immigrant parents, my formative years in elementary and middle school were shaped by two important factors: the environment in which I lived and my background. My parents worked hard to settle into a new life in a foreign country to provide better opportunities for our family. This meant that we had to be flexible about where we lived due to relocating for jobs, and fluid about our ideas of culture. I recall the daunting nature of moving to a new city, twice, as a child. The prospect of leaving everything that was familiar to me and forming new friendships in an unfamiliar environment was a challenge. Through each of these moves however, I met people from differing backgrounds and learned to cross cultural barriers. I became accustomed to

Have you ever moved houses? What about cities? Or states? Moving for many people is normal and doesn 't affect them whether they move to a different neighborhood or to a city far away. Some enjoy experiencing new places and new people, basically starting a new life. Those people probably want to branch out and expand farther from their roots. Some people on the other hand would like to just stay where they grew up with friends and family. Me, I was one of those people. I never imagined my life away from the home and the people I grew up with. Moving away from my hometown was one of my biggest challenges in life.

As we walked down to the river, the birds were making a whistling noise, and it was quite annoying because the birds were so loud Will and I could barely hear each other. When we were walking down to the river on a rock that was on the path was a famous quote from Muhammad Ali and it was about the river and it said “Rivers, Ponds, Lakes, and Streams - they all have different names, but they all contain water. Just as religions do - they all contain truths.” While we were getting closer to the river the birds got so loud and if there was mute button to mute the birds I would have the moment I saw that button because they sounded like there was a train coming through the river. So have you ever heard of a river well a

Have you ever felt uncomfortable, nervous, and confused ? These are all the things I felt moving to a new school. I had no idea if I would gain friends or if anyone would like me. Maybe if I had a tour around the new school before my first day I would have not been so disorientated. Going from a one story school to a two story school was hard, having to look down every five seconds to make sure I was on the right hall, or if I was suppose to be upstairs or downstairs. Bumping into people while looking down and asking multiple people for direction even though I was shy. Giving five minutes after each class to get to the other, walking into a classroom on my first day people staring and observing. Moving to a different town is not about the new house, it is about adapting to a new environment.

Today I woke up pretty early for a summer day, around 7am. I walked downstairs and asked my dad if we could go fishing today. He said yes and suggested that we get ready to leave. I got my fishing pole, fishing net, and my extra fishing pole string. While I was getting my stuff my dad called his friend Jimmy and asked if he wanted to come as well. He said yes, but he will be coming later. I brought my fishing stuff to my dad’s car when I realized he brought his old fishing pole out. I asked him, “Why are you bringing that fishing pole?” I only asked this because it was over 15 years old. He said, “This fishing pole is really good for catching bigger fish.” I didn’t argue with him simply because it was his fishing pole. We left our house around