Matt Willmon Word Comp.

2 September 16, 2012 Personal Narrative My life has been full of lessons learned from e perien!e. " have e perien!ed all #inds of different situations throu$hout my life. "%ve been e posed to many people and " have also !han$ed as a person as most people do &hen they $ro& up. What ma#es my story uni'ue is that it e plains ho& " &as e posed to self(reali)ation of ho& " &ant to live my life. My story be$ins &hen " am at the a$e of 1*, a freshman in +unior hi$h. "t &as the first year that " had been part of a football team that represented a s!hool. Not only a s!hool but a &hole to&n. " &as the se!ond strin$ outside lineba!#er and &as on my &ay to &innin$ out the startin$ spot. ,n a -riday afternoon, my friend .ylan and " &ere han$in$ out at my house &aitin$ to $o &at!h the /i$h S!hool play at home that ni$ht. We de!ided to $o ride four( &heelers about one hour before time to head to the $ame. ,n my property there are t&o open fields separated by one !ree# surrounded by trees. 0he $rass had $otten tall due to la!# of attention and as " drove throu$h the tall $rass .ylan started to !omplain about the debris that the $rass &as #i!#in$ up be!ause of the impa!t of the four(&heeler. " then felt a monstrous bu$ about the si)e of a baby Pteroda!tyl sma!# me ri$ht in the eyeball. " then remember loo#in$ do&n at to&ard the $as !ap, &hi!h &as atta!hed ri$ht above the seat !ushion and vi!iously rubbin$ my eye to $et &hatever it &as that had !aused my temporary blindness. 0hats it. 0hats all " !an remember. 0here%s a bi$ empty $ap from the moment of the !rash to the moment of sudden !onfusion and intense rin$in$. " opened my eyes only to see a blindin$ bri$ht as if " had +ust &al#ed out of a pit!h bla!# room and out into the middle of the desert at noon. " remember

seein$ .ylan standin$ above me &ith a freshly infli!ted s!rat!h $oin$ a!ross his fa!e. /e stood me up and leaned me a$ainst the side of the four(&heeler and told me he &as $oin$ to $et help. 1la!#ness. 0he ne t thin$ " remember is &a#in$ up in a &heel!hair in the 2mer$en!y 3oom &ith a ne!#(bra!e on and s!issors rippin$ throu$h my shirt. 4fter all the !haos settled and they assi$ned me to a room " remember $ettin$ stu!# &ith an ".5. &hi!h made me sleep throu$h the follo&in$ day. " do remember bein$ annoyed at my phone be!ause .ylan, sin!e bein$ s!rat!h on the fa!e &as his only in+ury, had $one on and &ent to the hi$h s!hool $ame &here everyone from s!hool &as at and he had told everyone &hat had happened earlier that afternoon. " had friends and family !ome in out and as " fou$ht to stay a&a#e throu$h the pain med%s. 4fter everythin$, my in+uries &ere a fra!tured s#ull on the ba!# ri$ht of my head and a fra!ture in my shoulder. " &as out of s!hool for a &ee#. 0he Monday " returned and at football pra!ti!e " &as obviously unable to return for the season. My lineba!#er !oa!h seemed to &ant to add salt to the &ound by tellin$ me that he had planned on movin$ me to first strin$. 0he dis!oura$ement &as at its ma after bein$ told " &ould not return to play football and " &as even told that " shouldn%t play football ever. " &as never about to let that idea set in. 4fter bein$ involved as mu!h as " possibly !ould throu$hout the season " then stayed on the team and &as !leared to play my sophomore year of hi$h s!hool. 2ven thou$h " didn%t $et a !han!e to start until my senior year, " still over!ame &hat do!tors told me shouldn%t be done and " evolved as a person alon$ the &ay. 0his event !han$ed my life. My life before the &re!# &as immature and totally revolved around tryin$ to impress my friends and " tried to live a life that &asn%t my o&n and it too# a&ay &hat made me uni'ue. 4fter the &re!# " have a ne& ta#e on thin$s. People don%t understand ho& fra$ile life is and ho& fast thin$s !an !han$e. " believe &e must ta#e advanta$es of adversities by

provin$ that &e !an $et thou$h them. 0heres no reason to limit your potential and be the same as everyone else.