Hits and Misses

Water Skiing For the First Time

In June of 2016, my friend’s dad had received a great deal on a new boat for their summer home in Pass Christian, Mississippi. Their home was moderately new and had only been theirs for about two months. They had invited me and my family over to the home over the weekend and wanted me to learn how to water ski. I was very excited to have this opportunity, but also a little nervous. The plan was to leave the next day on a Friday night. That night, my family and I had arrived to their summer home around half past seven. My friend’s family greeted us and dinner was ready for us right when we walked in the door. 

 After dinner, my friend had helped me unpack my clothes for the weekend. He said the boat was parked out in Bay St. Louis close to their house. He said that we were going to have a great time with our families on the water. The next morning we had driven out to the bay to start our day on their new boat. When we arrived I was amazed by the delightful sight. This boat was the prettiest piece of craftsmanship I had ever seen on the water. We had climbed on, and there it was, that new car smell of the leather and the glimmering silver color of the bars on the front end of the boat. The steering wheel and radio were red and a navy blue. 

My family was so elated that we had this opportunity to learn how to water ski and experience the weekend on a boat. The water was rough that day so we could not ski during the 

Capron 2

hours of high tide. That afternoon we went out on the new boat to finally learn how to water ski. My friend and his brother went first just to show me the little things that help you succeed in 

water skiing. My best friend had told me that on the boat they had before, his cousin tried water skiing and he never could get the hang of it. He said that it took him more than ten tries and then he just gave up. The first thing that I asked was if he had hurt himself because that was the main aspect of water skiing that I was afraid of. Luckily my friend and his dad said that he was perfectly fine but just could not get the hang of it. Meanwhile, the feeling of butterflies in my stomach was overwhelming. I was so nervous to try this. The things that made these go away was the vivid color of the sunset, the fish jumping out of the murky water, and the tall marsh grasses blowing in the cool and refreshing wind.

All of these thoughts were running through my head, and it was now time to try and water ski. My parents were cheering me on and telling me to get in the water. So I put my life jacket on and jumped in. The water that afternoon was a very fair and at a comfortable temperature. My friend threw me the skies so that I could put them on. The skis were difficult to put on because I was not used to the feeling fiberglass being attached to my feet in the water. The feeling was like a four page essay floating over my head on a Sunday afternoon. 

My friend’s dad was telling me how to start off by sitting in a chair while holding onto a rope. He said to lean back and let the boat pull me out of the water. The directions were fairly simple, but I was afraid of failure. I kept saying to myself that I was going to be okay and that I was not going to give up under any circumstances. A minute went by and then another just like the countdown for school to let out. Finally, the boat started to drag me around slowly to where I could get the hang and feel for it. After about couple of long drawn out minutes, I was ready to finally water ski. My friend’s dad asked if I was ready and I gave him the thumbs up. He turned 

Capron 3

his head around and gunned the gas. I blinked for half a second, and all I heard was joyful screaming saying that I had done it. I looked down, and I was skiing on the water going pretty fast behind the boat. My parents were taking videos and pictures, and everybody was laughing including me. I was in disbelief because I had gotten up on the first try without even thinking about it. This moment had me think back on the moments when I had quit or never tried something. Could I have at least tried? Would I have succeeded in those tasks that were given to me? These are very important for my future life. 

Description of Personal Narrative: I felt this was a hit because I used a lot of vivid detail so that the audience could feel as if they were there. Also I felt I knew I could write a lot on this story because it is one of my favorite childhood memories.


School is out for good
relaxing can now begin
stress food becomes soul food
Rain storms come and go
while good times are here to stay like playing with clay
And the salty water goes flow flow flow
The time flies by while having fun while the sun shines for long hours at a time
the ice cream truck is just around the corner the best truck on earth
Summer is the best season of all seasons
 but only because of these reasons

Description: This was a hit because I love writing about topics that make me happy. Poetry is fun to write but I thought almost always the lines had to rhyme. I thought this piece flowed well and stayed on topic.

Side Dish for PH
Description: I felt this was a strong piece of writing because I really knew the book and could tell you something about every scene. The character Kambili was easy because she was the main character and I knew what to write down.

Misses:
Research paper- I felt this was a struggle because I did not research as much as I should have. I procrastinated on the notecards and got really behind and I was really repetitive in my essay.

Literary Analysis- This was a miss because the book was a very hard read and there were so many things going on. I did not seek enough help to get a good grade but also my topic was complicated.

Poetry Writing assignment- I did the poems correctly but did not revise them well. I thought revising was the same thing as editing but I found out in this assignment they were not.