Free Essay

Personal Essay

In:

Submitted By susancotton
Words 1362
Pages 6
The Day My Life Changed
Susan Cotton
Eng 121 English Composition 1
Kristin DeMarr
August 25, 2015

The Day My Life Changed
This story is about a quiet choirgirl, Susan Cotton and a loud bad boy, Travis Cotton. The day these two met was a warm summer day in August 1994. This was my sophomore year in high school and the day I finally came out of my shell. I remember this day as if it was yesterday. I had just got back from a summer trip to Florida and was at the school for orientation. After I took care of my schedule, I decided to see who was hanging around. Outside was my friend Reannan and her friend Travis who invited me over to visit for a few. I went over to visit for a few minutes before I had to be home to finish getting ready for school. That is when Travis asked, “Do you want to sit down?” He then pushed Reannan to his other leg, offering me the lap she was sitting on. It was during our visit I realized this was going to be a memorable day. It was at that moment I was introduced to who would eventually become the love of my life! It took us nearly a year to become a couple even after being told we would not make it a year, we have been each other’s saviors for the last twenty- one years.
In order to understand how my life changed, I am going to take you on a trip down memory lane. I was the quiet choirgirl who did no wrong. Travis was the loud bad boy who did everything wrong. I was raised by a Southern Baptist family and was sheltered from most worldly happenings. This religion is a very God fearing one. I went to church every Wednesday night and twice on Sundays. I was not allowed to curse and if I did, it was an immediate trip to the bathroom and a bar of soap in my mouth. I also was not allowed to date until the ripe age of 16 and if my parents found out I did, I was grounded for at least a week. I was a straight A student who went to class every day. My free time was filled with choir practices for church and school. Travis, on the other hand, was raised by his father who was an atheist. He was allowed to do whatever he pleased, and he did to the fullest. His father worked graveyards and slept during the day, which is in part the reason Travis became a worldly young man. He was an F student and only attended school when he wanted to be social. He used and sold drugs, was able to hang out at all hours of the night, and what I would call a man whore. It was his bad boy personality that attracted me the most. He was able to take me from my sheltered life and open my eyes to a life I never knew existed. I played a part in Travis cleaning his act up as well. Once we got together, he decided to give up all his girls, and drugs and decided to tone down a bit. In the end, we changed each other lives. Travis helped me realize life was not all sugar coated and I was able to help him see life was not always dark.
Considering Travis and I were complete opposites back then, it was amazing we ever got together at all. I guess that is the main reason it took us almost a year to realize we were soulmates. During this year we became close friends. We passed several notes back and forth when Travis was actually at school of course! Travis and I would go to dances and talk on the phone every night about nothing. This allowed us to get to know each other and build a wonderful friendship. Once we became best friends, we realized that both of our personalities were changing for the better. We did attempt to date each other a few times during this time, however, Travis was not yet ready to give up his bad boy tendencies quite yet so we broke up. It was not until my seventeenth birthday party that we realized we were destined to be together and started dating exclusively. After that night, our relationship just got stronger and we grew together over the next year. Then at my junior prom, Travis got up on stage and took the D.J.’s microphone. He called me up to the stage and in front of the entire class asked me to marry him! I was both embarrassed and happy. Not sure what to do, I looked out at the class, who was staring up at us. I then looked back at Travis with a big smile and quietly whispered “yes.” The class screamed “WHAT DID YOU SAY.” So Travis handed me the microphone and I said “YES” into it so everyone else could hear. This was just the beginning of our new journey together. It also started some talk around the school; some good and some bad.
When I returned to school that following Monday the rumors and bets started as they always did in high school. Travis and I were deemed the couple that would not last a year. Right after high school Travis and I moved in to our very own place. We lived together unmarried for over a year, which was of course something that almost gave my mother a heart attack. Once I explained to her that we both wanted to make sure this was the real deal, she was fine. No worries there was no heart attack. Within that years’ time, I got pregnant with our first son oops. He, by the way, is now starting his new chapter in life as an adult. That June, after Harlyn was born, Travis and I decided it was time to tie the knot and finally took the marriage plunge. We continued to grow in love and numbers over the next few years. Then, oops, pregnancy number two. We had another boy who is now a sophomore and in the JROTC at Mitchell High school.
Now I will be honest this last twenty-one years has not been all sugarplums or a piece of cake. One important thing that has helped us through the years is something my parents and grandparents always told me and that is that if something is perfect then it is not real. Everything in life is better if we work hard for it. We have looked at every struggle this way and have always been willing to work through any issue. My husband is also a firm believer in the saying “If mommas not happy then no one is.” It also helps that we are truly soulmates. I guess we lost the prize for not lasting a year, but we did get the last laugh.
That quiet choirgirl at the beginning of the story is now an outspoken, strong, wonderful wife and awesome mother. That loud bad boy is now a soft spoken, wonderful husband and father. Neither of us thought that sunny day in August would forever change our lives. Who knew a simple conversation and an invitation to have a seat would turn into a long lasting love affair. Well it has. That day will always and forever be one of the best days of our lives. That day in August was the day we found out opposite personalities and beliefs can be soulmates. Through our journey together, we have found that if you continue to work at love, it can make it through anything and not end up in the garbage. If one is truly committed to a relationship, one can become a role model for the children and not a statistic. With my story, I hope I am able to show that true love really does exist. I am fortunate enough to have found my one and true love at a very young age.

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Personal Responsibility Essay

...1.1 Personal Response to the Essay Value Total:10 /20 = 50 % Thought and Detail 5 /10 Presenta on 5 /10 Explora on of the topic is insigh ul Voice is convincing Percep ons and/or ideas are confident and discerning Stylis c choices are precise Crea on of tone is adept Precise support aptly reinforces ideas and impressions Unifiying effect is skillfully developed Explora on of the topic is purposeful Voice is dis nct Percep ons and/or ideas are though ul and considered Stylis c choices are though ul and considered Excellent Crea on of tone is competent Specific support strengthens ideas and impressions Unifiying effect is capably developed Explora on of the topic is generalized Voice is apparent Percep ons and/or ideas are straighforward and relevant Stylis c choices are adequate Proficient Crea on of tone is conven onal Adequate support clarifies ideas and impressions Unifiying effect is appropriately developed Sa sfactory Explora on of the topic is vague Voice is indis nct Percep ons and/or ideas are superficial and/or ambiguous Stylis c choices are imprecise Crea on of tone is inconsistent Support is imprecise and/or ineffec vely related to ideas and impressions Unifiying effect is inadequately developed Limited Your a empt to respond is insufficient. Contact your teacher to discuss sugges ons for improvement and resubmission of your work. Resubmission Needed Areas of strength: ...

Words: 308 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Rough Draft Personal Essay

...Rough Draft, Personal Essay: bring hard-copy to class Thursday (Jan. 28) NO CLASS--I am out of town Writing: Final Draft, Personal Essay: submit on Blackboard before the end of the day ​ Note Lessons 5 & 6 of Style will be due on Feb. 2, so you can get a head-start on that if you'd like 0 Comments Personal Essay Prompt 1/14/2016 0 COMMENTS For this personal essay, you will explore an occasion when your view of yourself and/or the world suddenly changed. This is an intentionally broad topic to give you license to choose from a wide variety of experiences. Maybe you want to focus on when you learned a new skill that transformed how you viewed the world (e.g., the musical instrument you were forced to learn suddenly became a tool for creating something beautiful rather than the bane of your existence). Or maybe you discovered something about your parents’...

Words: 373 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Reflective Essay-Personal Narrative

...So, I typed my little fingers off and picked up a few grammatical textbooks along the way. Every essay my grades got a little better, maybe he was going easy on me but I’ll never know. Concluding the year, I had to do my senior research paper, which I chose the topic of “The Brain in Love.” Precisely 15 pages later, I passed in my paper and earned an A. I honestly don’t know who was more surprised, him or me—or my mom. Regardless, I proved that I was capable of producing great pieces of...

Words: 429 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Personal Essay: Living With Asperger

...I will be honest, I intended to write this so much sooner than I did. Procrastination and laziness is a cruel and unavoidable temptation. I had planned to write on the first day of living at college, then I had planned to write after one month of living. Both passed and I was terribly lazy on both days. No more, I said. After hearing my roommate talking about how he loved writing for the online publication Odyssey, I decided it was time to swoop into action. I don't intend for this to be a blog specifically pertaining to living with Asperger's, it's just a more whatever place for me to write. I find myself becoming increasingly opinionated as time goes on, and I'm going to try to categorize my posts accordingly. Posts pertaining to Asperger's will be tagged as such, for example. I want to start just by describing the college experience so far. It's impossible to sugarcoat it: Going to college for the first time is scary. You're on your own, you're meeting new people, and you're often in a place that you know nothing about. I lived in the same town since I was six, and there was one road out of that town that went to a neighboring town where I went to school until graduating high school. Going out of the state for college was, admittedly, something I didn't want to do, and I am very glad I'm here. I've got roommates and friends that are good people, have common interests, and often understand if I say something I don't mean. I'm more than thankful to have them. But of course...

Words: 423 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Personal Essay vs. Research Paper

...difference between personal essays vs. research papers I found that a research paper addresses a specific question. It is based on research and mainly presents and defends an argument with support of relevant findings. A research paper requires gathering information, developing and organizing ideas and finally putting those ideas into a conclusion and is generally on an average between 3-5 pages long A research paper should have some important points. First of all, the purpose of research should be clear and should not have double meaning. Making it simple and original are two important things to have in your paper. It will help readers be able to understand exactly what your paper is about, it is important to keep the research specific. A research paper should discover a new idea and it should be of interest to others. And research papers also should be truthful, relevant, organized, resourceful and complete. A complete research paper must have some basic requirements. A title page with title of research, author's name, date, and school/university is one of the main requirements of a research paper. Some others are: introduction part: the introduction moves from a broad area of interest to the specific idea, method part: it provides a description of the study, result section: a clear description of findings and a discussion part and the reference part. An essay is a piece of writing, usually from a person’s personal point of view. An essay is focused on one question...

Words: 335 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Personal Essay

...University of Phoenix | Personal Responsibility Essay | Rough Draft | Marina Zuluaga 9/10/2012 Gen/200 | Personal Responsibility Essay I. Introduction II. Have well defined goals and commit to them A. Have passion B. Have initiative to commit and give up previous lifestyle III. Stay focused and on track C. Prevent distractions D. Keep motivation alive E. Reassure your goals IV. Practice discipline continuously F. Manage your time G. Maintain stress at low levels V. Conclusion Personal responsibility in its relation to college success means taking charge of one’s own actions. Being responsible takes a lot of effort and will, as it’s a learned behavior. One has to have a well defined goal and strive continuously to achieve it. Staying focus will also keep you on track and motivated to succeed. Having the discipline to manage time, daily activities and stress can lead to accomplishing our goals. To begin with, students must have well defined goals and be willing to commit to them. Having he passion for these goals will make it easier to handle, by having passion – the student will always strive to put all effort towards accomplishing and surpassing all road blocks one can face in daily life, if it is to compromise one’s own personal life, family and other activities. Having the initiative to face these obstacles will demand a lot of responsibility, because no one else will be inclined...

Words: 640 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Personal Essay

...PERSONAL ESSAY Growing up in a third class country, I have always been interested in exploring much about the first class countries like America by acquiring knowledge through their universities since America is well-known to be a leader country when it comes to technologies and since they’ve got what it takes like facilities and infrastructure that will aid and help broaden up my knowledge in the computer science field. We are in the 21st century and most work or tasks are done and completed with the use of computers, it’s so amazing to see someone just at the comfort of his or her home behind the computer communicating with someone across a long distance, making research and exploring the world. I am interested in attending Liberty University for an undergraduate study in the computer science field. Computer science is a field suited to using the computer to develop software. I would like to study computer science and master in that sector to be able to build up software and computer systems that will be of a benefit to my country and the Africa continent as a whole. My long term goals are to enter the computer science field to be able to develop software, operating systems that will make the teaching and learning of computer science will be ease for the future generation. I applying to Liberty University, I recognize America’s strength in computer science and the university’s strength in the computer science field. With my deep rooted interest in studying computer science in...

Words: 291 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Differences Between a Personal Essay and a Research Paper

...Personal essays and research papers are two different styles of writing but, both are important to practice in order to expand upon a students' writing skills. Personal essays allow a student to write about topics that are important on a personal level (Tanemura, 2010). This style of writing has less restrictions than a research paper because in a personal essay it is acceptable to write about opinions, feelings, or thoughts. A research paper must contain facts and information that are backed by external resources and written in a persuasive flow and void of personal opinion. A personal essay may be less restrictive but it is also beneficially so because it allows for exercising a broad range of the student's writing skills. Instead of gathering external information to strengthen an essay, the student must focus and probe their own mind to create the essay. Three key components to any good paper, regardless of the writing style, includes readability, persuasiveness, and honesty. A paper cannot be a success unless the targeted audience is at least able to read and comprehend the purpose of the paper. Any paper can benefit from increasing the reader's comprehension of the content. The next essential component is to not only ensure the reader comprehends your intended meaning but, make them be able to see your perspective. The third key to good writing is honesty. If your information in your paper isn't true or honestly obtained it cuts the integrity and weakens any good...

Words: 272 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

How To Write A Personal Narrative Essay

...Most of my life has been leading up to this moment. One of my biggest dreams in what short- life I have lived out is finally attending college. With my coming of age, my dream is rapidly approaching and I can nearly taste it on the tip of my tongue. However, this essay going to be my first hurdle to cross over. As a child, I have grown to despise essay writing. I have always had the grammar rules memorized, but never had the artistic flow of my classmates. This results in me having lower opinion of my intellectual prowess and value. I can see even the lowest in my class achieving significantly better grades in me. Could this be jealousy or a part of my ego? No. It was me simply not having the writer’s touch. Nonetheless, there was a different touch that I was gifted and that was the tremendous interest and appreciation for technology and computers. As a child in elementary school, I had exactly 0 friends. I was typically the odd one out. The...

Words: 500 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Personal Responsibility Essay

...Name Course Date Instructor Personal Responsibility Essay Draft My opinion, personal responsibility means taking responsibility for my own actions, knowing willingly that, with the responsibility of my own actions, comes the accepting that any action taken has consequences, and with those consequences, could directly or indirectly affect myself and the people around me. Adding personal responsibility into my education will allow my success as a student. Making sacrifices within your personal life will allow the time needed for a better education. Making an outline of your personal responsibility for your education would be a good start for your quest to be a great student. This is a good article from one of the world's leading authorities on personal responsibility. He teaches how a person can take personal responsibility and turn life around to be successful in life, both personal, and business. This is an exceptional resource for accepting personal responsibility. Within this article the reader will find questions answered.   The acceptance of personal responsibility, failing to accept personal responsibility that resulted with negative consequences, beliefs of the people who have not accepted personal responsibility, the behavior traits that need to be developed in order to accept personal responsibility, and the steps accepting personal responsibility.       The consequences you make with personal responsibility will affect you as a person; it could make you...

Words: 1068 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Personal Responsibility Essay

...Personal Responsibility Essay Gen 200 July 28, 2014 Personal Responsibility Essay “Being thoughtful and taking responsibility serves you well, as your accountability is one measure of your success. In our professional and personal lives, most of us typically take responsibility for our actions, words, and attitudes. An occasional “oops” can rapidly put us on a radar that we'd prefer not to be on, irrevocably annoy our student population, or cause a family rift.”  (Zavod, 2014) Personal responsibility is a choice we all have to face when deciding to do the things that will help our future or the lives of those in our care, like my personal responsibility to succeed at college to better support my family. For me, that “oops” could have drastic impacts on our family’s financial well-being. Each person has their own definition of personal responsibility determined by their own background. If one includes financial success in their definition of personal responsibility they need a plan in place for how to achieve financial success. Naturally, there is then a large correlation between personal responsibility, financial success, and the success one has in their education. Each person should have a plan to complete their education and how their own personal responsibility fits in with that goal. Merriam Webster says responsibility is “something that you should do because it is morally right” (Merriam-Webster, 2014). For me going back to school is a personal responsibility...

Words: 948 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Personal Responsibility Essay

... Individual Personal Responsibility Essay. What personal responsibilities mean to me is that personal responsibilities is taking responsibility for our own actions in other words, it’s been able to take care of one’s own well being without expecting or blaming others to do it for you. In school for me it means turning in your work on time, studying for you tests and working effectively with your classmates. Personal responsibility and college success goes hand and hand because it’s up to you as the student to do what is expected to succeed in college. My preliminary plan consist on satisfied the need of my son on my own this plan consist of making the use of all my resources that are available to me and making sure that I have done all the requirement to provide him with what he needs to become self efficient, respectful, and a professional man one day in life. One of the resources that I use to help my is the internet, my other resource is the library doing research using the magazines, books and other information resources. Personal responsibility refers to the act of identifying or recognizing a problem and taking care of it, whether it belongs to themselves to someone else. Some personal problems can be handled at an individual level while others require cooperation as well as agreement. example this proof what it can be personal responsible because I satisfied the need of my son on my own. Personal responsibility also infers correcting...

Words: 750 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Personal Responsibility Essay

...Personal Responsibility Billy D. Davis GEN 200 04/28/2014 Dr. Mary Helen Margene-Rogan Personal Responsibility Personal responsibility is the ability of a person to make a decision, act upon it, and then accept responsibility for the consequences of their actions. No one is responsible for the actions that you have made in your life. I have made several big choices in my life that defines me. They are having a child, getting married, and joining the military. Although I have decided to go back to college, the relationships between my personal responsibilities and school will definitely play a major role in being successful; as a result, I will address two specific areas for improvement and strategies to use in order to establish an advantageous accountability plan for the upcoming months. The decisions to become a father and husband are very similar in the aspect that I chose to take full responsibility for someone besides myself. Joining the military is a choice that was made in order to support the responsibilities that I had taken on. At that time, it was the easiest and smartest thing to do in order to gain adequate income. My options were to stay in school, apply myself, and get a part time job, or enlist. Now years later, I am attempting school again but this time with new goals and ambitions. My family in relation to me going to school is challenging. Because of the added responsibility, it is taking away some of the time spent with them. Even though the military...

Words: 1267 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Personal Narrative Essay

... A Week Have you ever been really passionate about something you really love, and you never want to stop doing it? Well, a 10 year old girl named Jamie really loved dancing. When she was dancing, she felt amazing. The whole world was perfect, except, for one little problem, she had to stop. For 2.567348 weeks to be exact! Actually only 2 and ½. It all started a couple weeks ago when she was dancing. As the beats and rhythms moved her into a heavenly world, she could not focus on anything-even if she had the worst pain in her life, she wouldn’t know- except what beat was coming up next. The music stopped and she quickly returned to the speaker to change it, but soon after stopped. She went and sat down after realizing that a dull pain was slowly getting worse in her right heel. She went upstairs to inform her mom-Angy-about the pain. ”Mo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-om-”Each step getting louder-”my foot hurts!”, Jamie said frustrated because she had to stop dancing. ”What?”, her mother inquired.”My foot hurts.”, she repeated herself ,” and it won’t stop.” each word angrier than the other.”Well then wait a little and if it still hurts, ice it.” Angy used to be a medic in the US Army, so Jamie trusted her. A little after 15 minutes, Jamie’s foot still hurt. She decided to ice it, which of course still hurt because it was so cold. It got a little better but still hurt, so her mom agreed to rub her heel. It started feeling a little better so Jamie immediately went back to dancing until...

Words: 967 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Personal Essay: Why Is My Name Constantly Spelled Wrong?

... Why is my name constantly spelled wrong? Typically a person says their name and it gets spelled correctly, but not for me. Multiple spellings exist for my name, but only one matches me. Britney is one of the spelling variations and it is my favorite. The spelling I use matches my personality traits quite well. Nevertheless, Britney is the perfect fit. According to Kabalarians.com, Britney correlates with the characteristic of a passion for creativity and artistry. Projects are my favorite assignment in school. In 9th grade, my English class had an assignment that included a power point and an art piece. My project was based on the culture of superheroes, for the art piece part of the project, I designed a superhero. My brother was used as the shape of the superhero since he is tall and well built. I used Styrofoam and wood to create the body of the figure. Once the outlines were done, I painted the design of the superhero’s outfit onto the Styrofoam. I drew the outline of the outfit first and then painted the proper areas. Two cutouts were made at the end to showcase the difference between Marvel and DC Comics. The first one I designed was Captain America, and the second was The Flash. Both were six feet tall and painted by hand. The faces I printed off at Meijer and glued them to the board. Both cutouts were complimented on by other classmates and my teacher. Not only do I enjoy being artistic with projects, I turn them into activities by using creativity, which makes school...

Words: 702 - Pages: 3