Read Tyina Steptoe's "Ode to Country Music from a Black Dixie Chick" in "Presence" and describe a situation in which you took on an identity that was at odds with what others expected of you.
For instance...
I am not a very good singer, but I get a rush from doing the vocals in "Rock Band."
Imagine me screaming the lyrics to "The Middle" by Jimmy Eat World:
"It just takes some time, little girl you're in the middle of the ride, everything, everything will be all right, everything everything will be all right, all right!"
Dude, where's my wheelchair and oxygen tank?
P.S. Can you find music by Blixie?
What do you think of it?
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My story is kind off similar. I was hanging out with my guy friends and we were playing rock band and they wouldn't give me a turn because they said I would suck. I'm not that good but I can play hard on a good day. Anyways, I finally talked them into letting me play and I put it on medium and they all laughed and said I would fail out in the first 60 seconds. I eneded up getting a 100 and they never said a thing ever again.
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ReplyDeleteThe sport that I played in high school was lacrosse. I played all four years and I was captain my senior year. It was great. My sophomore year, my friend Jill told me I should play field hockey. I didn't want to but just to shut her up I tried and I totally SUCKED!! Embarrassed myself in front of a lot of people. I thought it was going to be similar to lacrosse but it is way different. I think next time I will just stick to the sports that I'm good at...
ReplyDeleteI played basketball all through high school and I wasn't the best on the team but i still could compete. My team mates didn't really give me much respect because i was second string varsity and didn't make full time varsity till my senior year (junior year i had played on both varsity and JV). I was always afraid to actually play in varsity games cause i didn't want my team mates to get angry at me if I made a mistake. One game we were playing one of the best teams in Class B west. We were down by at least 20 points and the players my coach usually put in were either tired or didn't feel like trying anymore because we were losing. So he put me in and it ended up being one of my best games. I made a lot of assists and rebounds that helped our score and by the end of the half we were only down by two. We ended up losing but i showed my team mates that i could actually play the game and ended up gaining respect from them.
ReplyDeleteIn highschool I was always know to be the stubborn girl, who was amazing at singing, but refused to join the choir. I hate to toot my own horn but I am a rather talented singer. My problem is I have a terrible fear of crowds and people. At my school on september 11th, the choir got on stage and sang the star spagled banner. Before the ceremony started I was called onto the stage my the instructor and asked to sing the anthem alone. I was mortified. I broke down and ran off stage. I was more embarrassed then I ever have been. Not only were people not confident in my ability to sing, but they thought it was hilarious how I left stage in tears. If I had just faced my fears I would not have embarrassed myself and I would have proved I could sing. Lesson learned the hard way.
ReplyDeleteI remember when I lived back in ohio and i joined the wrestling team. All boys. Well my dad decided "Hey, I think that I going to ruin Mikaila's life and coach the team." Ok, so that is not really how it went. But he did coach. He was a state champion back in the day. He was offered a full ride to Unitversity of Iowa, and recived a letter in the mail to join the Olimpics team, which he did nothing about. So anyways, I get on the mat on my first match and WAPA! I got pinned. I went all season with disapointing my dad until the confernce match came. I ended up getting 3rd place out of 7 guys. Ever since then, I wrestle for fun and havent lost a match.
ReplyDeleteOne way that I may have performed better than expected in life would be in sports. Receiving the offensive MVP award in football, and the Frank Bessette memorial award in baseball along with many other sport achievements. Although these sports were my strong points I found out what sports I was not good at. Like basketball for instance, my father was a basketball fanatic. Who always felt as if I should follow in his footsteps, so I had always played basketball so that I did not disappoint him even though I absolutely hated it. That is until my sophomore year when I realized that it was not my sport, and that it was my life and not his. I started to only concentrate on baseball and football. My father was pissed when I did not go out for the team my junior year in high school but he eventually got over it and supported my decision. Sitting here today i always wonder what it would be like if i continued to play basketball. I feel as if my decision was the right one, but then again there is always that "what if"
ReplyDeleteAll throughout high school, people were easy to judge. I have alway worn black band tees and been part of the music scence. There is no doubt that I love music, and it is a very larger factor in my life.
ReplyDeleteWhen I told friends that I go hunting, they would sort of laugh it off as a joke while in reality hunting has been a really big tradition in my family.
Friends from school were so used to seeing me as the music kid who hated "rednecks" and "wigers" alike, but as soon as I said I hunted, it suddenly seemed impossible.
The truth is, I can hunt and still listen to heavy metal at the same time. Sure, maybe hunting doesnt seem to fit my personality when you first look at me, but I love it just as much as my music.
snowboarding has been a love of mine for aboutten years now. it is all i think about and once one season ends, i am already exited for the next one to start. i would always be doing flips and some of the biggest spins on the mountain. because i was one of the better ones there,the park crew really got to know me and they would always encourage me to join the competitions. i never really wanted to because i dont usually perform to well under pressure, but i figured i will give it a shot. lets just say it didnt go well. i was going to do a trick that i almost always land and when i dont i come close. this is a big air competiton by the way so it was over a 65 foot jump and when you fall off that, it hurts. so i come up to the jump and attempt to do my trick and the next thing i know is that im taken away by the ski patrol. everyone thought i would win and out of every competition i have entered, i have never came in first.
ReplyDeleteThrough my entire high school career I was always a pretty shy and quite kid. I was never very outspoken or agressive, so when I told my friends that I wanted to take Tae Kwon Do for my senior project they just kinda lughed and looked at me strangely. The time came and everybody had to do their senior project presentaions. I did some of the background of Tae Kwon Do, some basic self defense, and did some breaking as well. When I was finish with my presentation there were many suprised faces in the crowd. Not many people pictured me doing something like that. After taking some Tae Kwon Do I feel as if I am a stronger person from it. Not only did I accomplish something that people laughed at, but I learned a lot from it as well.
ReplyDeleteOne time in my life when I did something that others didnt expect I would do is, playing softball my junior year of high school. When i was a junior in high school i joined the softball team. People wouldnt normally associate me with playing sports because i always say that i hate sports and that im really bad at them. i joined because i wanted to play but also because other people didnt think that i could do it. i proved them all wrong...got on varsity and did a pretty good job.
ReplyDeleteA time in my life when many others didn't expect that i would do something was when there was a coffee house at my high school and they wanted bands to play, my band signed up to perform at the show that friday night. That night our whole band got up on stage in front of a bunch of our friends and many other people from the school. There were a lot of people there who knew who i was but never knew i played in a band or anything. We introduced ourselves and played two songs, and rocked out!! It was a lot of fun. Everyone loved us and couldn't believe that we had a band together. I showed everyone that i had some talent and everyone agreed.
ReplyDeleteWhen people look at me they see a skinny white kid that looks like he's about 15 or 16, but when I go to heavy metal concerts I go all out. I get in the mosh-pits and I don't leave them. I went to a concert with my brother and his roommates and a friend of mine back in April. Lacuna Coil, Chimera, Killswitch Engage, and Disturbed were playing. We arrived in the middle of Lacuna Coils set, but I jumped right in the pits with Dave and Cody who are a couple of big kids. I held my own against them and countless other metal heads. At the end of Lacuna Coils set Craig my brothers other roommate came to me and told me how surprised he was to see me in the pits dishing out the hits that I was.
ReplyDeleteI would like to go to Florida, becasue I want to go somewhere that is warm all year around. Flordia has some many beaches, which I love. It also has many theme parks and activities going around. I want to live somewhere warm in the future!
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