That Day free essay sample

Throughout my life I have heard people say that when an event of great historical importance occurs, a person remembers every detail for the rest of their life. My parents remember vividly the day President Kennedy was killed. I never really believed that I would experience anything so important that it would change me forever. The events of January 28, 1986 proved me wrong. When I was six, my parents decided they needed a change of scenery, so we moved to Titusville, Florida. Only 15 minutes from the space center, it was an interesting place to live. My mom got a job at the center, and we got free passes to see launches. I learned a lot about the space program and must have viewed 15 take-offs. After a while, the excitement wore off and seeing a launch when walking out to get the morning paper was something everyone took for granted. For this reason, we didnt really think too much when we heard about the Challenger launch. We will write a custom essay sample on That Day or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page It was just like any other day, until I got to my math class. My friends informed me we were going outside to watch because a teacher, ChristaMcAuliff, was going up. Excited to miss class, we ran outside and stood in the playground waiting for the take-off. My school was so close to the space center we could hear the countdown. I remember getting impatient because they continually started counted and then stopped because something was wrong. Then, finally, the real countdown began: 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1- LIFT OFF! The shuttle rocketed up into the sky at a tremendous speed, as usual, and everyone cheered. Then something went wrong. The shuttle seemed to slow down and was suddenly engulfed in a mass of smoke and flames. I was shocked at first and didnt understand what had happened. When I heard teachers around me let out horrified gasps and begin to cry, it began to sink in. I was too shocked to cry. As I stared at the fireball in the sky, I just stood there on the playground enveloped in my own thoughts. It blew up! I cant believe this. How could something like this happen? I thought of the children and families of the astronauts and how they must have felt as they watched their loved ones die. I thought of one of the astronauts I knew. His name was Ron and he was my next door neighbors best friend. I thought of how he used to yell, Hey, Blondie! at me whenever he saw me playing in the yard. I remember him taking my brother and me fishing on Saturdays. He cant be dead. I just saw him two days ago. Then a woman standing behind me yelled, Look! Parachutes! Momentary hope filled me. Then I remembered that the Challenger had not been equipped with parachutes, so that couldnt be possible. My heart was again filled with despair as I realized that what she saw were pieces of debris falling from the sky. Finally a teacher touched my shoulder and motioned me inside. My classmates and I filed into the classroom without saying a word. There was no sound until the principal came on the intercom and told us we were to be dismissed early. I rode my bike home with my friends as usual. The only difference was the deafening silence. Even the crossing guard who normally joked did not speak. When I arrived home, my brother and father were already there. They were watching television, which kept replaying the horrible incident. I went to my room; I didnt want to see it anymore. One time was bad enough. I was waiting for my mother to come home from the space center. I wished she would come in and announce that there had been some kind of miracle and the astronauts had survived, but when she walked in with tears streaming down her face, I knew there wasnt going to be any miracle. The Challenger astronauts were gone. This experience had a great effect on me because I realize I have to live life to the fullest and do my best in everything I do. There may not always be a tomorrow to fix my mistakes. When I thought of the families of the astronauts, it made me appreciate my family and all I have more. I learned not to take things for granted. This experience really changed me as an individual and I know I will never forget anything about that day for as long as I live. That Day free essay sample That day was one of the greatest days I have had in a while, that day I felt accomplished and that all of my hard work had finally paid off, that day is what I wanted all of my days to feel like in the future. That day that I am talking about was on February 16th, 2013, at the forty-third annual Bloomington Tournament, when I won my first medal with the Benilde-St.Margaret’s (BSM) speech team. That day I experienced wonderful feelings of pride, joy and success. I felt so accomplished because this was only my third tournament and my first year participating on BSM speech team. Now I remember every specific aspect and element of February 16th, therefore let me explain to you what happened on that day. I woke up bright and early at five thirty, afterwards I continued with my normal agenda. Next my dad and I drove to BSM, where the speech team loaded on the bus to proceed to the forty-third annual Bloomington Tournament. We will write a custom essay sample on That Day or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page At that moment I remember performing my speech to the window, to make sure that I retained all of my speech and didn’t forget anything. We got to the school in about fifteen minutes, which is when I started to sense butterflies in my stomach. Now my first performance started at nine o’clock, with about six other people and I was third. Therefore this gave me thirty minutes to practice, I went through my speech a few more times, and every time I repeated it I felt more and more confident. When it was my time to perform I remember including lots of expression in my face and my voice, and I nailed all of my gestures at the right time. I had to keep in mind that I shouldn’t become to overconfident because this was only my first performance out of three. Henceforth I performed with all of my heart for the next two performances; I got lots of compliments on my third performance, which I believe was my personal best. Afterwards I headed back to the school’s cafe teria and ate my lunch while we were waiting for the final results. At that time I remember being so anxious, then the judges put the list of finalists on the wall. As I walked up to the novice poetry list, I was ecstatic to see my name on the list. After that I collected my stuff and performed my speech one more time, with one hundred and fifty percent effort. Afterwards we went to the auditorium to accept the awards. As the announcer announced the novice poetry category, and said my name for third place I was so excited and I couldn’t stop smiling. From then on my work ethic has improved immensely, including school, my volunteer work and my life in general. This demonstrates how with one success your inspiration can increase. Therefore this will forever be one of my greatest memories that I will refer to as â€Å"That Day†.