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More handpicked essays just for you.
An essay on the experience of overcoming fear
Coping with stress
Coping with stress
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About 3 months ago I was sitting in my car thinking why am I here and how did I get here. I was all the way in Lake Charles, LA, about 6 hours from home. Earlier that day I had gotten so upset with everyone I got in the car and just started driving. I'm not one to let my emotions get to me or others but this had built up to the point where I was feeling tears rolling down my face uncontrollably and plunging down to my phone in my lap, I was having a breakdown. I pulled off the highway to get gas at this old dingy gas station where I saw two sheriffs searching this women's car. I dried my tears got out and tried to pay for my gas but the pump wasn’t reading my card and it started to irritate me. One of the sheriffs standing by the car noticed
me getting agitated because it pump wasn’t working and came over to see what was wrong. She was a fairly young woman with long blonde hair. She noticed my bright red face and remains of tears I had forgot to wipe off my face. She proceeded to ask what was wrong.
What episode or even seems to be the one that precipitates the action? (In other words, what is the trigger point?) What was the state of affairs before this?
Nature has a powerful way of portraying good vs. bad, which parallels to the same concept intertwined with human nature. In the story “Greasy Lake” by T. Coraghessan Boyle, the author portrays this through the use of a lake by demonstrating its significance and relationship to the characters. At one time, the Greasy Lake was something of beauty and cleanliness, but then came to be the exact opposite. Through his writing, Boyle demonstrates how the setting can be a direct reflection of the characters and the experiences they encounter.
It was September 19 around 3 o’ clock and I was arriving to the Fontana Police Department on Upland Street. I was dressed in all black with my ironed dress shirt and pants, and my shiny polished black shoes following the dress code they had given me. It seemed like wearing all black was a bad choice because the weather outside was very hot. That day it was 96° Fahrenheit. When I got out of my car to go into the police station I realized that my whole back was full of sweat. It looked like I had just done the ice bucket challenge, but without the ice cold refreshing water. I walked into the main entrance of the
In Coraghessan Boyle “Greasy Lake” the narrator goes through some wild adventures. He considers himself as a tough guy. Not knowing the obstacles he’s about to take will change the way he thinks of himself. In the story three teenage boys who think as themselves as bad boys, make a number of mistakes and at the end suffer the consequences.
It took a lot of self-convincing, but I finally mustered up all the courage I had left within me and went off to seek my family. I hesitantly got off the bench that I had been hogging for the last 20 minutes or so of grieving and started walking towards the source of which everything had begun with in the first place: the bathrooms. I checked every stall and corner of both genders’ bathrooms, which I was desperately anticipating to catch one of my family members in, only to find them either empty or people with apologetic faces once they would see the state I was in. This, however, didn’t stop me from continuing my chase. I ran out of the bathrooms and stalked towards the bench where I had been sobbing uncontrollably. As I had expected, it was empty with no luggage or other signs to indicate that my family was there when I had been gone so my anxiety kicked in and told me to figure something out before I have another breakdown. Subsequently, I went out of my comfort zone and went in pursuit for them
“Where are you from?” The question for me, has always been conflicting. You would ask my mom and dad the question and they would not hesitate for a second before letting “Beledweyne,” or “Somalia.” fall from their mouths. All my other siblings who were born in America would probably answer the question with “Mankato,” or “Eagle Lake,” maybe even “Minnesota.” and not put any thought into it. I however have put plenty of thought into in. Maybe too much thought.
The setting for most of the story would have to be Camp Green lake which is actually a juvenile correctional facility(page 4). So there is really not another setting besides from Stanley house(page 4). Were his father is trying to make recycled sneakers or shoes(page 4).Then it could also be the party at the end of the story on so the place where the party was held (page 102).
As I was driving down the road I saw red, and blue lights going off behind me, so I turn on my turn single and turned to the side of the street and parked my car. I saw the police officer getting out of his car and started to walks towards me, my hands were getting all sweaty and clammy, my stomach was in complete knots and I couldn’t figure out if I was going to vomit, or just pass out. I heard a knock on my window, and I rolled it down.
Kneeling on my apartment floor, I held the phone up against my ear and frantically cried for help. She laid in a puddle of blood with one of her wrists slit open. I screamed her name and begged her to stay awake. The paramedics barged through the door and lifted her on the gurney, while I remained on the floor in a complete state of shock. My roommate had just tried to end her life. Police officers bombarded me with questions, but I struggled to answer them because all I could do was continuously replay the event in my head. After I finally managed to explain my side of the story to the authorities, one of the officers accompanied me to the hospital where I sat by my roommate’s side awaiting her parents’ arrival.
On July 10th, my family and I were on our way to Charleston, West Virginia when we got hit by a heavily intoxicated driver on I-77 and became involved in a multi-vehicle car collision. The fatal accident has given me a different input on life in general. The moment we crawled out of the car, and nearby drivers stopped to tell us the driver who initially hit us was driving at over 100 mph and weaving in and outside lanes, I felt angry. I was confused and felt helpless. A witness rushed to me and said “I have no compassion for people like that…no compassion.” Still in shock, I had seen my mother lying on the floor with a bleeding wound on her face. My sadness and anger built. You can’t help but ask questions like “Why us?” and “What did I do to deserve this?” There was a moment when I thought I would lose my family, and it would all be at the fault of a reckless criminal who had no mercy for others. Thankfully, we are all blessed to be alive and well. However, in the moment of my loss of hope, I was becoming like the witness who had no
My friend’s mom worked for the sheriffs department, so she called and I filed a report. Guess what they made me go back home. Yes, they sent me back home, because I was consider a run away. Therefore, for a week I was brutally beat for telling the secret of our family. That week was the week I wish I was dead. I prayed every night for God to take me away. I was grab by my neck and slammed up against the wall and released as I slid down the wall. A nail caught my back and ripped my skin ...
It had come to the attention of my family that I had some sort of psychological problem and something had to be done. I was always labeled as a shy and quiet kid, and like my family I had thought nothing more of my behavior. However, now it had become something more obvious. I had told my parents the kinds of problems I was having. Basically I didn't want to talk to anyone or to be anywhere near anyone I didn't know. I didn't really want to leave my house for any reason for fear that I might have to talk to someone. I was so critical and scrutinizing in relation to myself that I couldn't even enter into a conversation. Everyone seems to have a part of themselves that lends itself to thoughts of pessimism and failure, but mine was something that was in the forefront of my mind at all times. Something telling me that everything I did was a failure, and that anything I ever did would not succeed. Through discussion with my family it was decided that I should move out of my parents house to a place where I could find treatment and get a job. I was to reside with my sister Lisa, her partner Brynn, and their Saint Bernard in Greensboro.
My life began in Stockton, California on March 29, 1988 at Dameron Hospital. In 1991, I was placed into the system as a foster child still unclear as to if this was voluntary or involuntary. Between the years of 1991 and 1992 I basically lived in a hospital due to my profound injuries. I was stabbed six times, suffered a spinal injury and had to endure several medical procedures to fix the damage. By 1993 at the age of five I was released to the care of my grandmother who cared for me until September 12, 1996 when she died from natural causes. At this point I was shuffled around from group homes to orphanage, from orphanage to foster homes, and from foster homes back to group homes. From 1996 to 2000 I lived in six group homes, four different states, three orphanage and 16 different foster homes. Every awful thing possible that could happen did happen. I was molested, beaten, starved, abandon, homeless, raped, degraded, verbally abused, ……etc. All of the emotional, physical and spiritually abuse I received caused me to be a very confused, resentful, and extremely depressed child. Whose only wish was for this life to end or for things to somehow improve overnight. Although I did have a few good families and some wonderful times but they were so few and far between that they felt more like dreams rather than actual
I was very excited to make a new step in my life, college. I came with high hopes and aspirations. My hometown is not near Arizona, It is Lake Tahoe, Nevada, so going home for the weekend was simply out of the question. I had a great time for the first month, enjoying freedom. However, I was sitting in my room one night writing a paper with my roommate, and one of my friends from home called me. She said that one of our good friends from high school had just committed suicide earlier that day. I didn’t know how to react to this; I was scared, and confused. Why did he do it? Why didn’t anyone know that he was unhappy? Was he unhappy? I felt regret, thinking I should have been there for him. Once the crying commenced, my mother called me telling me that my last grandma had gone into the hospital. She had collapsed in her apartment and was rushed to the emergency center. I had no idea what to do. I felt like God was just condemning me and attacking me for some reason. I went into this deep depression and I didn’t want anyone to talk to me, if they did, I would simply start crying. I was alone, and no one knew who I was. I was too far away from home to go to my friend’s ceremony.
My stomach weakens with a thought that something is wrong, what would be the answer I could have never been ready for. I call my best friend late one night, for some reason she is the only person’s voice I wanted to hear, the only person who I wanted to tell me that everything will be okay. She answer’s the phone and tells me she loves me, as I hear the tears leak through, I ask her what is wrong. The flood gates open with only the horrid words “I can’t do this anymore”. My heart races as I tell her that I am on my way, what I was about to see will never leave my thoughts.