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Kyla Banks

Professor Flynn

ENGL 110C 9A

11/19/2022

Narrative Essay

“It Will Be Over Soon”

August 23, 2011, on a normal Tuesday the sky was bright blue, the sun was shining, and

the smell of coffee was strong from the kitchen of my house before I walked out the door. Trying

not to be late for school my mother yells out “ Let’s go you two are gonna be late for school!”.

My brother and I rush out the door and rush to the car. As always we would fight for the front

seat, mainly because it has a seat warmer and just a really good view of the world. My brother

always beat me to the seat so I would be stuck sitting in the back with the view of the front seat,

which was not very interesting.

My brother and I both attended Thomas Jefferson Elementary school at the time, It was

my brother’s last year of elementary school and my third year of elementary school. So when we

approached the school we would have to split up at the end of the red hallway, I’ll never forget

it. I always wondered what it was like down the blue hall aka the fifth-grade hallway, while my

brother walked to class I would watch him and try to imagine what it would be like when I get

the chance to walk down the blue hallway. The third-grade hallway was bright yellow, there

were pretty colors everywhere, pictures of each teacher in each class, and posters for many

upcoming events.

Thomas Jefferson Elementary was built in 1953, first starting off as an African American

high school, therefore, it was already an older school with lots of meaning. But over the years
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they only decided to change little things so the school would still have its special meaning. The

things they would change would be making the hallways a different color for each grade, adding

new projectors for the teachers, and redoing the bathrooms. My parents went to Thomas

Jefferson and even my older brothers went to Thomas Jefferson, generations have been through

this school and that’s how it was for many people who went there. The teachers knew you or

either they knew your cousins, aunts, uncles, or your parents, it was just history going in a circle.

Finally, I make it to my class with all my friends and my favorite teacher Mrs.Boxely,

she began to get everyone settled down and ready for the day. My desk was small and brown but

it fit me perfectly, there was an opening on the bottom where we would keep our crayon boxes,

tissues, and other paperwork we needed to take home or do. My friend Amy sat beside me on

the right while my other friend Charde sat beside me on the left, we would always share secrets,

candy, and imaginary stories with each other. We were a very tight friend group that had done

everything together, ate lunch together, played on the playground together, and went on field

trips together. We just knew we would be friends forever, there was no breaking up the three

musketeers. Mrs. Boxely was now telling us to gather around the reading carpet for story time,

we all moved to the reading carpet to get a good seat for the book.

The book was “ The Very Hungry Caterpillar” a book everyone in third grade knew the

word for word, but yet still loved listening to it like it was the first time we had ever heard it.

After storytime, it was lunchtime, and, Charde, and Amy quickly got out lunch bags and lined up

together with our cheeks filled with air so Mrs.Boxely knew we were ready to be quiet in the

hall. At lunch, the “three musketeers” giggle, share snacks, and tell silly jokes, while the teachers

catch a break and have time to speak to other teachers. Lunch time for us was a time to let out
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some energy before going outside, but lunch for our teachers was their bathroom break, getting

more school supplies to break, or discussing teacher talk with other teachers.

Lunch was now over and it was time to head back to class for a quick thirty-minute break

before we head outside. The thirty-minute breaks always went by fast because everyone was so

anxious to get outside and run freely. Recess was our time to be us, gain friends, make enemies,

swing on the swings, and talk about the little events we thought were big to our friends. “

Everyone line up and bring your water bottles” Charde, Amy, and I quickly line up once again so

we can be the first to touch the green grass, feel the bright sun against our skin, and feel the wind

through our hair. As we walk through the school I remember touching the bright yellow wall as

we walked to the playground, It felt rough, cold, and smooth but I loved running my fingers

across it like it was a maze and my finger was trying to find a way out.

There is a small breeze with a super bright sun, the perfect weather for recess. We were

outside for about twenty minutes when the whole world stopped, the ground was shaking, my

swing flipped me off, my classmates were screaming, and my teachers were in a panic. I quickly

get myself off the ground but feeling very scared and confused, I run towards my teacher not

knowing what was going on but neither did she. The ground finally stopped shaking and all the

teachers began to yell and tell their students to line up and sit down, their goal was to get

everyone away from the equipment and to safety. When you looked at the school you could see

some damage had happened, some of the bricks were fallen and many teachers and students were

running out of the building. My first thought was where was my brother, I was only in third

grade which meant the fifth graders were not outside with us on the playground. He was inside, I

could only imagine being inside while the building shook and fell to pieces. The earthquake was

a magnitude of 5.8 hits ( NBC12), the biggest and only earthquake that hit our small county.
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Everything after the earthquake was just moving at a fast pace, I remember trying to calm

down my friends but really I was panicking inside myself. To calm down my friends and the

ones around me I had to find something to calm their nerves. Looking around I noticed an

airplane above us, I quickly pointed up and told everyone “ Look at the plane, they are going to

help us and figure out what happened” Everyone seemed to take focus on the plane and off the

earthquake for a few. Right after that, my father came in a rush to get me and my brother, he

checked on us and checked us out to make sure we were okay. We rushed back home to check on

the house after seeing the damage that happened to the school, the house was fine only a couple

of things on the ground. Once we made it home and settled back in, the fear hit me. My brave

face was no longer on, I was now scared another earthquake would happen and would be worse

the next time. My father comforted me and told me “ this will all be over soon “ that comment

made me think for a while but soon it left my mind. Now thinking back as I'm older that

comment is way deeper than my third-grade brain could handle. My father telling me “ this will

all be over soon” was preparing me for having to miss school for a good amount of days, doing

school in trailers, and always fearing minor events that may happen to the earth.

The 5.8 earthquakes caused eighty million dollars worth of damage in Louisa County

(NBC29). That day changed everyone’s life, and so many adjustments had to be made for us to

be able to rebuild and create a future for our younger generation. Louisa county now has a brand

new elementary school and new high school from the whole community coming together and

raising money through that hard time. At the time of the earthquake, I didn't think it would ever

stop, it was so aggressive and scary but my father was right “ Soon it will all be over “ and now I

can truly say it’s over, the community is back strong and happy. Everyone is sticking together

and preparing for anything that is thrown our way.

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Works Cited

Hylton, David. “On This Day in 2011: Powerful earthquake rocks Virginia.” NBC12, 23

August 2022, https://www.nbc12.com/2022/08/23/this-day-2011-powerful-earthquake-

rocks-virginia/. Accessed 19 November 2022.

Urbanowicz, Aubrey. “Remembering the Virginia earthquake, 10 years ago.”

NBC29.com, 20 August 2021, https://www.nbc29.com/2021/08/20/remember-virginia-

earthquake-10-years-ago/. Accessed 19 November 2022.