In one of the most heartfelt moments of The Odyssey, Odysseus meets his mother in Hades on his journey back to Ithaca and discovers of her passing. So she spoke, and my heart yearned To embrace the ghost of my dead mother.
I chose my publishable paper, “Forgiven Sharpie,” as a demonstration of my writing process because I spent the most time developing the piece. My ideas for “Forgiven Sharpie” arose when I was prompted on the midterm to write about an experience when I was required to learn from a mistake. I thought of my 40 stories list, and one of the first stories that crossed my mind was that of writing “slut” on a girl’s locker in middle school. After receiving my midterm grade with the note “Katie, This could be developed into a publishable article.
Mock trial has been a journey for me, marking both my experiences and my growth, as well as helping me choose a path for myself. Becoming an accomplished public speaker allows me to feel confident in my ability to succeed, and in my ability to advocate for myself. Mock trial allowed me to push my boundaries and to strive for something that required significant effort, for the first time letting me experience both success and failure in a higher stakes environment outside of academics. I joined mock trial in my sophomore year. The first year created a sense of community and family, and also helped me become more extroverted.
It took them a whole month before i could go before a judge. I was sitting in my cell waiting for the correctional officer to come get me. I was ready to be outside these damn walls. Being here for over a month was killing me, I was missing out on my money and I haven't been getting no pussy. I mean there was some correctional officers that liked fucking inmates, but I didn’t feel right stepping out on Carmen
When it comes to marking the “moment” you became an adult or when you find your ultimate life’s purpose, usually there isn’t one crucial second where your life shifts in an unforeseen direction, there isn’t a sudden epiphany that immediately hits you, generally it’s an assortment of moments contributing to the gradual progression towards adulthood. However, I can, with relative certainty, recall an event that did alter my entire outlook. Two years ago, I was preparing for a simple, unremarkable interview.
Interviewer: First question and I’m going to go off script a little bit, I always do; I think you get better information that way. So, first off, do you remember using it, do you remember using it all back in – Interviewee: You gave me two case numbers and I remember using one.
The day February 20, 2016 in my personal decision of having five seconds of "fun" almost cost two years in a local jail. I took my 2006 Lexus GS 300 and my friend call me asking me if I did want him to race being so foolish accept. We went to empty road way that is out from the police eye and we start racing. The adrenaline that was running through my blood a sensation that I never have felt.
As the only other person except for my mother who works in our family, I have to support her. Everything I earn goes towards rent payments each month. If there are any leftovers, I try to cover my personal expenses, such as club dues. As a fan of debate and public speaking, I decided to join Mock Trial at the beginning of my junior year.
SURPRISE my cousins said! The baggage handlers were setting each bag I the luggage carrier, but I wanted to put my bag in the luggage carrier by myself. I got seat number sixteen-nine, the cabin crew as telling everybody to take a seat and put their seatbelts on for take off. I was alone sitting with strangers and my mom got different seats. The cabin crew tried to make everybody happy by saying “Who is REady To Go To Mexico¨, but everybody was quiet, all you can hear was the engine roar.
Living during this period, it seemed like the growth of prisons were becoming a new way of life in America. It seemed like more people were being incarcerated for no reason. I know that because, even my own father was incarcerated because he was framed for a crime he didn’t commit. It was hard for me growing up to understand the idea that my father was not going to be in my life until I was about 16 years old. He went to jail when I was about three, so that was a total of 13 years that my father had to miss of my childhood.
Me and my family drove thirty minutes to the airport. We arrived at the airport then we walked to the front of the counter to check-in the baggage and print the boarding pass. Twenty minutes later we board the plane. During the trip I watched movies and eat some snacks. During the flight there was some turbulence.
The interrogation room was silent, and cold. I guess all those cops with their long pants and long sleeved shirt must get hot if it’s not cold. I was wearing jeans and a jacket and I felt as if I was freezing to death. The door opened to the room, Officer Smith walked in. God, I hate that last name, too generic.
I couldn’t breathe. If there was ever a time to quit, this was it. It was an innocent conditioning drill. Two partners raced to a ball at the fifty yard line with incentive to win: the loser ran an extra one hundred yards.
They told me I could only bring three items. At the moment I didn’t have one clue what was going on. It was really hard to think in a short period of time to pick what I needed to bring. I didn’t know where I was going so, I had to be optimistic. I go running around my house and frantically looking.
Jail sucks you know. We have no rights and yet they make us clean a lot. It 's not our fault people don 't know where the junk yard is. It 's hot and muggy but if I complain I have to clean more. Every time we go I see more and more people planting things.
