I feel good about my topic choice for the personal narrative, especially because the event I’m writing about occurred quite recently. Instead of writing about the time I was cut from the volleyball team, I decided to write about a season when I wasn’t on the team I wanted to be on, but it ended up being one of the best seasons. I am not having any reservations, but I am having a little trouble about organizing. It has been a little difficult to balance everything I want to include. Currently, I have a lot of background information, but I want to include more about my growth.

Spending time with friends and family at the fair is always something to look forward to. I always like going on the fun rides and playing games with my friends, but also fundraising and giving back to our school. My favorite memory is from a couple of years ago. One of my friends lives close to the school, so we slept over at her house. It was fun for us to spend time with each other before, during, and after both days of the fair. We also worked at a less popular booth, so it wasn’t too busy. Although fair can be a little crazy, we felt relaxed because we would walk over to my friend’s house, sleep for a little bit, and then go back to the fair after. I was upset when fair was cancelled this year, but I’m happy I’ve had lots of memories from past years to remember.

Personally, finding periods of growth has been easy for me. I associate these times by remembering the difficulties in my life. Rather than feeling bad for myself, I like to look at how those obstacles challenged me and changed me into a different person. I think it has been easy for me to see how I was before, during, and after the event, and why that moment has been significant in my life. However, it has been difficult for me to avoid cliches. The majority of difficulties I have experienced are fairly common, so I am unsure if that would be good to write about in a college essay.

My most vivid events from my timeline arise from my journey playing volleyball. Throughout lower school, I would play just for fun, but when I started upper school, I wanted to play for the school team. Although I thought that I would be able to play at the higher level, I realized this was not true when I tried out for the team. When I compared myself to everyone else, I didn’t feel like I belonged. The coaches reinforced that idea when I was cut from the team. This even stands out to me because I remember thinking that I could give up completely or try to improve before that next year. I can also remember how badly I felt about myself and that I didn’t want to feel like that again. This event pushed me to work harder, in order to achieve something that I really wanted. Now, volleyball has become my main sport, but it always surprises me to remember where it all started.

If I could meet anyone in the world, I would want to meet Zendaya. She seems like a very interesting person to meet because she’s achieved a lot of success over a short amount of time. I’ve always liked her personality because she’s respectable, but also down-to-Earth. I would ask her which show or movie was her favorite to act in because she’s played completely different types of characters. I would also ask her what project she is most proud of, since she has supported different movements empowering various audiences.

Today, my Internet was not the best, so I was unable to hear a full version of everyone’s book talks. However, from what I was able to understand, everyone’s introductions stuck out to me the most. I thought everyone had a good hook that could catch my attention. Then, they followed with an explanation of their hook and a short summary, so I could have a good idea of what their book was about, even with my Internet cutting out. The books that sounded the most interesting were Unbroken and The Invisible Thread. I liked how Sam and Jack emphasized how incredible the story is, while being completely nonfiction. I also liked how Kellie explained the significance of the title of her book, The Invisible Thread, in her passage. The story of an unlikely, but long-lasting friendship seemed very interesting to me, so I think I will choose that book for this quarter.

What stuck out to me the most today was the ratings and recommendations in everyone’s book talks. I thought it was good to know how everyone felt about their book and what kind of person it would be suited for. This gave me a better idea about which books I would be interested in reading fo this quarter. The books that sounded the most interesting to me were This I Believe and In Cold Blood. I think they appealed to me because Sage and Vanessa did a good job explaining the plot and the structure. Since This I Believe is a series of short stories, that book seemed interesting because I could read a little each day, like Vanessa suggested. In Cold Blood appealed to me because it is very different from normal books we read in school.

Reflecting on myself, I think I could have included more about what actually happened in the book, instead of how I felt about it. I think I made my book talk too much like my book review, so It was more of an analysis instead of a summary. I should have a little more casual, but I wanted to make sure I included all the necessary information. I’ll be sure to remember this for next time, so I can improve my book talk.

I would rather only be able to eat what I can carry in my arms out of the grocery store. I’m not very good at caring for plants, so I don’t think I would be able to grow my own food for the rest of my life. There’s also lots of things I could buy in the grocery store that I wouldn’t be able to grow at all, but I would have to make lots of trips there.

After a couple days with distance learning, I have become somewhat used to online school, but I’m not especially liking it. I think it’s great that we’ve prepared for this scenario and we were able to work with zoom before we went to distance learning. However, it’s been a little difficult for me to focus at home. I haven’t really felt like I went back to school after break, but I just have something to do instead. Even though I’ve tried to make a schedule just like school, it’s not the same and I don’t think I’ve been able to work as well. I’m a little worried for the day we go back to regular school because I feel like I’ve lost my studying habits and productivity already. However, I have learned that online college won’t work for me as well and I should make the most of regular school when we go back.

For the book review, I need to write the conclusion and proofread the whole paper. Although I have done the majority of it, I need to make sure it is less of a summary, and I include all of the requirements. Honestly, I have not started the book talk, so I need to complete that for next week.