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First Time I rode a Horse
The first horse I ever rode was named Quincy2. This is a picture of me riding Mary Jane because the website would not let me upload a picture of me riding Quincy. I felt both excited and nervous to ride a horse for the first time. My trainer, Sissy, helped me brush and tack Quincy up. We went out to the horse ring where she showed me how to mount him and how to hold the reins. Then we walked around the ring. It made me realize how much I liked horses. I had never interacted with them before. -
Socializing Puppies for Guiding Eyes for the Blind
My family socialized 6 weeks old, 8 weeks old, and 10 weeks old puppies for Guiding Eyes for the Blind to get them used to being in a home environment. We got them used to loud noises, such as vacuums, dishwashers, and doorbells. We also taught them how to go up and down stairs. We also worked on housebreaking them. It was a lot of fun to have them around the house. My sister and I played with them, and our cat hid from them. We did it once a month for two years. -
First Horse Show
I rode Whisper during my first horse show. I was super nervous before it but I went through with it. It was in front of a lot of people. It was walk, trot, and poles. I competed against three other riders. I got one second place ribbon and two third place ribbons. Even though I was really nervous during it, but when it was over, I felt accomplished. I gave Whisper a lot of treats after to thank him for taking good care of me during the show. My mother, father, and little sister were proud of me. -
Being on Lacrosse Team
I really hated being on the lacrosse team. I hate team sports and do not work well with other people. I had no friends on the team and a lot of people on the team had been doing it for years. I don’t know why I thought it was a good idea. I am not athletic and I feel I wasted time doing it. I was so happy when I got walking pneumonia because I didn’t have to go to practice or games until the final event. I don’t remember any of it because I blocked it from my mind. -
My Favorite Horse of All Time
My favourite horse of all time was named Dude. My mother had been riding him during the last few lessons but one day my trainer asked if I wanted to ride him. When we got to cantering, my trainer turned to my mother and said “That horse loves your daughter.”. From that day forward, I rode him every lesson. He used to be a race horse so he had a lot of anxiety that would make him easily spooked. No matter how spooked he would get, I would always stay calm and this made him more easily relax. -
Space Camp
I won a scholarship for academics to go to Space Camp for a week. I flew by myself to Alabama. It was scary to do that but it was worth it because Space Camp was so fun. We did all sorts of cool things and we learned a lot about space. We did simulated missions and flights. On one of our simulated missions, I was in the control room. We did so bad we got every single error message. It was very funny. We also launched miniature rockets after we built them. -
First Iron Infusion
During eighth grade, I was diagnosed with a chronic iron deficiency. I had to get iron infusions every week for six months. Eating more iron and taking supplements were not options because my body does not store iron correctly, the only way to make it do it right was to inject it directly into my bloodstream. The needle and iv were not scary to me I thought it was interesting. The real problem was how much school I had to miss. Every infusion took four hours, and I had to go during school hours. -
Glacier Visit in Alaska
My family went on a cruise to Alaska and we got to see many glaciers. We got to get really close to one of them. We went to an island and took a bus to the other side of the island. Then we got on canoes and then paddled until we got to water that was deep enough to use the motor. We walked on part of it. I tasted some of the glacier water. I liked being out in nature. There was not any litter around, the area was not polluted. -
First Ice Skating Lesson
For a long time, I refused to take ice skating lessons even though both my mother and sister take lessons. I finally agreed but I said that I didn’t want to learn any “fancy stuff”. I have since changed my mind about that and now I want to learn all of it. I ended up really liking it. When I took my first lesson with Coach Missy, the first thing I learned was how to fall properly on the ice. Now I know how to do one kind of jump. -
Learning to Drive
I got my permit a year ago and I still don’t have my driver’s license. I really hate driving. My parents got me private driving lessons, which somewhat helped, but I still hate it. My mom says I am a very good driver. I practise with my mother and father, only when they force me to. I like to drive our minivan the best because it is the only car we have that comes close to being big enough for my legs. I realize that eventually I will have to get my driver’s license but right now I don’t care.
