Personal Narrative: My Growing Up In Ohio

Growing up in Ohio, I was always fond of the great outdoors. My love for the outdoors carried me to apply for a seasonal job in Yellowstone National Park over the summer after I completed high school in the year 2000. Little did I know that having a seasonal job in housekeeping would teach me some of the most valuable lessons in life. I had no idea that my time would be cut short, due to one of the most devastating losses that I could experience. Seventeen years later, my family upbringing, strong work ethic, love for the outdoors, and love for my family, have formed me into who I am today. I was the fourth of four children in my family. We lived in a humble middle-class home in central Ohio. We did not have many amenities that families have today; we had no cable, air conditioning, computers, or internet. Summer days were spent playing outside riding bikes or a game of hide-and-seek. Being outside was a natural thing to do as a child; it was after all where some of the best experiments came from. I was eighteen years old and nearing the end of my homeschooling. As I was preparing myself for adulthood, one of my older sisters suggested I consider applying for a seasonal job in Yellowstone National Park. She had worked there seasonally for several years, and thought

Cleaning upwards of fifteen rooms a day was exhausting. I never knew what waited for me on the other side of the hotel room door I was about to enter. It was a humbling experience to clean up hotel rooms where guests trash all over the room, not even remotely attempting to have it land in the trash can. After a long day of work I was ready to go outside, only to be told by my supervisor to go back to one of my rooms I had already cleaned and refold towels that were not perfectly straight. As an eighteen year old, I quickly realized that I was not above anyone or any