SHlfffffffffffffffffffffffF: Why hello!hh!hhhh This is my first collese essay (not countins the summer ones) and just thousht you should have a copy

Transcription

1 SHlfffffffffffffffffffffffF: Why hello!hh!hhhh This is my first collese essay (not countins the summer ones) and just thousht you should have a copy since you are like the best enslish teacher and all 101. And also blc remember that like on the first day we had you (10 th Srade) you told us to write about ourselves and I remember writins about this. HA HA well anyways It's pretty cool because my teacher sives us the topic and then we have like small Sroup meetinss (like 4-5 ppl) and we all read each others stuff and criticize it. Then she also sives us a few pointers and then we So back filc all our thinss and add what needs to be added and then we turn our final draft in to her. SOOOOO this is my final draft but there misht be mistakes blc like the procrastinator I am I am barely settins it completed and its 12:25pm and its due tomorrow in the mornins. Man this collese thins is Sreat blc I overslept today and I don't set in trouble for it aithoush its not really smart to skip my weakest subject. But oh well! HelCt I have to write about whether I think the new license rule is fair or not I still haven't picked a side 'likesh! My first draft is due on Thursday! Anyway take care and I'll So by and visit A.M.A.'PH "RO"

2 Rosibel Ordonez Freshman Composition ENOL 121 Dr. Laue September 3,2003 Everyone has a fear ofsomething. Some people are afraid ofheights or closed-in spaces, snakes. cabbage, clowns etc... I am sometimes reluctant to tell people what my biggest fear is because it sounds really absurd. I am not what people would call a "pet lover." I have never in my life had a pet other than a fish. Out ofall the animals in the world the animals I am afraid ofthe most are the animals that have wings. I, Rosibel Ordonez, am afraid ofbirds, chickens, turkeys, ducks and anything else that has feathers. This phobia I have cannot be controlled and sometimes makes me act silly in public. I think this fear began way back in the day when I was about four or five. My mom was a Sabbath school teacher and she had a lot ofprops that she used in the children's stories. Amongst those props she had fake birds. My older sister, Sabrina, would get the fake birds and chase me around until I would start to cry. I believe that by scaring me with the fake birds she installed a fear in me that will haunt me for the rest of my life. I also remember one day in our neighbor's house in Nicaragua there were lots and lots ofbirds flying around a nest. I have no idea what they were doing but I remember they were very, very, very loud. Birds terrified me even more after that event. Unlike many fears people have as kids, my fear ofbirds never went away. Maybe it is because my parents never showed me the tender side ofbirds or the beauty in some of them. Nobody ever showed me that these animals are gentle and harmless. The thought ofbeing locked up in a room with a bird or a chicken gives me goose bumps. Chickens are never still and me not knowing what their next move will be makes me uneasy.

3 I am perfectly fme with seeing birds on TV or magazines, but I choose not to. In case you were wondering, I don't freak out at pictures. It's so weird because I am not afraid ofwhat it can physically do to me (which I hear is not much anyway) but I rather just ignore my problem. I don't like their feathers, beak and feet. There is some sort of mystery about birds that scares me. Their black eyes, many feathers and rapid flapping make me stop in my tracks. I go to the duck pond, but I stay away from the ducks. I don't like pet stores because they almost always try to display the exotic birds out on a little tree branch. I realize that they don't want to hurt me; however, I don't want to ever be around them. In my short life I already have so many "embarrassing" moments with bird encounters, and ifi listed all ofthem my essay would become a prequel novel ofthe movie "Birds." Animals with wings not only make me queasy but they also disgust me. In Nicaragua, there are many people that farm. It is not rare to see chickens running around people's yards. I remember that when my family would go to places where there might happen to be a chicken running around, I would sit in the car or go in the person's house and not come out until it was time to go. This fear has held me back from having fun as a kid, and instead ofrunning around freely and playing tag I would be inside bored with the adults or in the car watching the fun. When I was younger my family used to live here in Keene. My mom would take us to the duck pond. Ducks are loud and some are really ugly. I was terrified ofbeing around the ducks and would only feed them from the bridge. Every time I am around ducks, or birds and I have no other escape my toes curl and I walk really fast and try to not look at them. Just last year my boyfriend and I went to the duck pond in Keene and as soon as he parked the car by the curb all these ducks

4 ran up to my side ofthe door thinking we had food for them. So there I was trapped between not wanting to embarrass myself and not wanting to face my fears. So what do you think I did? Sure enough I climbed out through the driver's seat and asked him to scare away the ducks. There have been some occasions where I have had to face my fear. Two years ago I went to Mexico on a mission trip. On one ofthe days, the mission trip team gets to go out to a plaza in Monterrey. It is kind of like an inside flea market and everyone likes to get souvenirs and whatnot. I was walking with my group and on the streets there were pigeons everywhere! I kept telling my friends to go up to the pigeons and scare them away so I wouldn't have to pass by them. Pigeons are not scared ofhumans and when my friends would try to chase them away they would only move like two inches or so. Once we were inside the main place there was this section that had nothing but chickens and birds for sale. I was almost crying because I didn't want to pass by there, but I knew I had no choice. I couldn't make the group take a detour just for what they would have thought to be a silly dread. People were trying to tell me I was going to be okay and to not look and close my eyes etc... I kept thinking to myself that I knew that I wasn't going to get hurt or die but my fears took over my emotions once again. A man named Tom held my hand and covered my eyes the whole time. The whole situation was horrible for me. It reminded me oftimes that I had embarrassed my mom in the exact same way in Nicaragua. Once again I felt uncomfortable and I couldn't relax and have fun shopping. Now I had to watch out for the birds and chickens that might cross my path. I stay away from these creatures as much as possible but I am also very condescending with them. For example, I don't park close to a tree ifbirds are there. So

5 you see, the birds get their own space. I steer clear from their path and let them do as they please. One day I went into a store in Burleson to go get a dye for my hair. When I came out I saw that my car was surrounded by birds on the patch ofgrass next to the driver's side. So I went back into the store and pretended to look for some more things. I had no more money and most importantly I had no time to be dealing with this. I surely wasn't going to go scare the birds myself. Oh no! I was in a dilemma. This problem complicated things for me. I couldn't bring myself to scare the birds away. I kept thinking what ifthey wouldn't get scared and I would have to walk amongst them? What ifwhen I opened the door one ofthem would fly into the car? To make a long story short, I went all the way around the parking lot and climbed in through the passenger's side. I bet you that ifsomebody saw the whole show they probably would have thought I was a lunatic or perhaps taking illegal substances that made me act impractical. What makes me the maddest ofall things is when people try to joke around with me and bring their little bird pets up to my face. It happened one time at a party. My friends little sister thought it would be funny to scare me. I got so mad and said a few things to her and then spent the rest ofmy time outside watching the guys play basketball. I want to solve my problems my own way and I don't want people to try to "help" me get over my fear. Perhaps that is why my parents never insisted on making me see the good side ofthese animals. To my whole family it was all just a ridiculous phase that I would get over. I don't know exactly how my fear ofthese animals began but my best estimate is the one that I told you about. If a bird catches me by surprise I scream (not EVERY time) and I startle people or it makes me switch directions ifi'm walking. My fear of

6 .. birds has sometimes kept things from running smoothly for me. At times I try to ignore the fact that there are birds flying above me, and it has sometimes worked. For now I am grateful that soon it will be winter time because it means that most birds will migrate out ofmy way. A thought that makes me cringe is the fact that when we go up to heaven we will be transformed and God will give us wings, but what soothes me is that I know that I won't be afraid anymore.