Hicinbothem 1

Kristel Hicinbothem
Professor Rebecca Agosta
UWRT 1101-035
1 October 2015
Literacy Narrative
As a young child, I was always very observant. I would constantly just sit in my chair and
examine everything that was going on around me. I wouldnt crawl on my knees, instead I would
roll to get where I wanted to be. My mom said that she would put a toy on one side of the room,
watch me roll to go get it, and would just die of laughter watching me. She was beginning to
worry when I didnt start to speak as early as most children did. My mom brought me to the
doctor because I wasnt talking and the doctor only told her to wait, that some kids take longer to
start talking and that I would talk when I was ready to. It wasnt too long later that I did, but my
mom told me that when I first started talking I spoke sentences, rather than just a word at a time.
I grew up in Florida in a place where hardly anything was around. There were streets
after streets of houses, but everything else was miles away. I became best friends with a girl in
my grade named Caitlyn Kavaky. We were together almost every day and did everything
together. In the second grade we used to find colored pencil led pieces and collect them. We even
competed to see who could have the most. While living in Florida my older brother started
having behavior problems. I remember him screaming and cussing at my parents yet being so
young. My parents tried to keep him away from bad things but nothing would work. The day my
parents decided that we needed to move away was the worse day of my life, or so I thought.

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They wanted to move to hopefully help my brother get away from the people he was around and
to get him better. I was too young to understand why we would just randomly move so far
away one day. I was so scared because I wouldnt know anyone and I knew everything would
just be completely different once we moved. Little did I know that moving to little ole Pilot
Mountain would be the best thing that ever happened to me. Around this time I wrote in a diary,
but I didnt just write. I drew pictures that went along with what I wrote in the diary each day. I
loved drawing and to this day I still love it. When I was told we were moving to North Carolina,
I wrote in my diary about how much I would miss my best friend Caitlyn. I drew a picture of my
family moving away and me crying because I was sad for leaving.
When I moved to North Carolina I was 9 years old. It was the summer before my 4th
grade. I attended Shoals Elementary School where my education immediately began to grow.
This year was when we were taught how to write stories. We wrote them over and over again
until we could easily write an A plus story for the end of the year test. I also was in AIG which
was an advanced placement course program that only certain kids could be in. The education I
received here is far better than any education I would have received back in Florida. The school
systems here are amazing and are nothing like the ones in Florida.
Although we moved here for my brother to start new, it didnt work. My brother started
hanging around people who influenced him badly. He started talking using slang words and cuss
words and his clothes were always baggy. We would get in fights at home which would lead to
him threatening me. One night my brother and I got into an argument and the next thing I knew
my brother pushed me to the ground and screaming I will knock your teeth down your throat!
He never hurt me too bad when we fought but the way he treated me will always be what I think
of him. There were even holes punched into the walls of his room from when he would become

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angry. We lived in an extremely small town so whenever anything bad happened, everyone knew
about it. And thats what happened to our family. My brother started stealing things, breaking
into places, driving without a license, and so forth. Once he got into this stuff, everyone knew
about him which always came up when I introduced myself.
Going into high school everyone knew me as Garys sister, which already started me off
with a bad reputation. It wasnt long though, until everyone realized that I am nothing like him. I
attended East Surry High School in Pilot Mountain where I became very involved in sports and
focused on my school work. I took almost all honors and AP classes and made either an A or B
average in all of them. My little 1A school was very close. Our community came together during
bad times and always supported one another no matter what. There were two major things that
happened that made me realize what an amazing community I lived in.
My 11th grade year this boy named Jacob Pettit got into a really bad car accident. Jacob
was in the 10th grade and played soccer on out JV Boys Soccer Team. After he had just played a
JV soccer game he went to show one of the Varsity playerss mom (Souli) his new car and took
her for a ride. This was happening during the Varsity Soccer game and I can still remember
hearing a loud crash in the distance. Of course at the moment no one realized how important that
sound was and soon forgot about it. It wasnt until later that night everyone found out that the
crash was Jacob Petit. Jacob and Soulis mom were in terrible condition and both were in the
hospital. Everyone at my school was extremely torn up about this. It was so weird considering
that just a couple weeks before this happened, he was literally sitting next to me eating lunch in
the lunch room. Every morning a bunch of would meet at the flagpole in front of the school
before class, and pray for Jacob. We even met after school and got in a huge circle holding hands
and prayed. Red wristbands and shirts were given out to wear for support and we also fundraised

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for Jacobs family. Unfortunately Jacob did not make it and passed away. He will always be
loved and remembered by not only me but my entire community.

The other major tragedy that happened at my school was during my senior year of high
school. Gage Edwards was also in a really bad car wreck. Gage was in the 11th grade, a very
well-known person and was on the Varsity football team. Gage was such an amazing athlete and
really made our football team who they were. He was always so hype and brought the whole
team up when they were down. Not only was he the heart of the team, he was one of the best
players on the team. Gage was on his way to basketball practice when he ran off the road and
wrecked due to texting and driving. He was in extremely bad condition and had to be
hospitalized. Once again everyone in the school came together to support and pray for him. This
time, not only did our school come together, but even schools around us that would be
considered our rivals came together. Gage Edwards passed away and we now have a

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scholarship at our school and a football camp in remembrance of him. He will always be in my
heart and will always represent East Surry High School.

All these events throughout my life have helped shape who I am today and have strongly
influenced my literacy.