My Life

Hi! My name is Rachel X. Xxxxxxxxx, but you can call me Rachel. I am going to tell you a bit about myself. I was born in Silver Spring, Maryland, 10 weeks premature. This caused me to have a mild form of cerebral palsy called spastic diplegia, but more on that later. As soon as I could fly (in an airplane), my mom and I moved back to Glenview where my grandparents lived. I then attended kindergarten and first grade at OLPH (Our Lady of Perpetual Help), a Catholic school that my mom had also attended. In first grade, I had surgery on my Achilles’ Tendons because of my cerebral palsy. Then, in the summer between first and second grade, I moved here to the loverly town of Aspen. That is a brief history of me. Now, let’s talk a little bit about my lineage. On my mom’s side I am German, Polish, Swedish and a little bit of English and Irish. My dad is African American and my lineage from this side is a little different. On my dad’s side, I am African American, Cherokee Indian and French. I live in Aspen with my mom, Bridget, and step-dad, Steve. My mom’s parents live in Glenview, a suburb of Chicago and my Uncle Tim and his wife and two kids live about an hour from them. My Uncle Brian lives in Chelsea, London, England with his girlfriend, Miriam. My Uncle Bob lives in Houston, TX with his girlfriend, Lisa. My dad, Keith, lives in Gambrills, MD about 45 minutes from BWI with my step-mom and younger half-sister. My dad’s parents are still married, but my grandfather lives in Georgia with another woman and 2 more of my uncles and my grandmother lives in Severn, MD near Fort Meade. My Uncle Kevin lives in Hanover, MD with his wife and child. Don’t you love my family.

Ooooh, fun! We get to talk about my interests and favorite things now. I love to read, watch movies, take pictures, act, dance (with my friends just for fun), and travel. My favorite subject is English and my least favorite is Math. I also enjoy hanging out with my family and playing with my dog. Another thing I enjoy is blogging which is like a journal on the internet. I do not play sports. I like to rock climb, but only on climbing walls. The reason I don’t like sports is because they are really hard for me because of my cerebral palsy. I have bad balance, hand-eye coordination and foot-eye coordination. I have gotten better, but sports still hold that fear for me. My favorite books are Twilight By Stephenie Meyer; The Charlie Bone Series By Jenny Nimmo; I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You by Ally Carter; and the Regarding the..... series by Kate Klise. My favorite movies are Step Up (2006); Superman the Movie (1978); 9 to 5 (1980); Practical Magic (1998); How to Make an American Quilt (1995); The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) and many more. Keep in mind that both the Harry Potter books and movies are givens. My favorite foods are frozen peas, Atomic Shrimp, Dove ice cream, baked sweet potatoes, ramen noodle soup, Giordano’s pizza, and beef and macaroni. And last but not least, here are my favorite TV shows, Charmed, Gilmore Girls, Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, Smallville, Touched By an Angel, Early Edition, West Wing, Desperate Housewives, and Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. Those are my favorite things.

Travel is one of my favorite things to do. I have been to Maryland, Utah, the Grand Canyon, England, Isle Royale, France, Washington D.C., Chicago, and many other places. I am pretty sure that next summer, I’m going to France, Italy and Greece. I want to go to Hawaii, Africa, Japan, China, and tons of other places. I want to go to all these places so that I can observe and take pictures (with permission of course) of other cultures and hopefully grow as a person. I want to be educated about other cultures and the best way to do that is to visit them.

I am a very introverted person so people tend to think they know me and then be completely surprised. Something you wouldn’t know by looking at me is my father is black. Something most people don’t know is I am obsessed with Superman and Charmed (well, they know the Charmed part). Something else most people don’t know is I am a woman’s history buff. My biggest accomplishment in my life so far is taking and doing well on the SATs in 8th grade. The most important things in my life are my family, my best friend, and Charmed; they keep me sane, each performing its own special task. See, I told you, you didn’t know me.

I plan to have a future jam-packed with luxuries. In ten years, I want to be done with college, just beginning to write my second novel, and in the second year of my master’s degree. I want to be a librarian, a well-known author, and an famous actress. My biggest dream is to have a ton of successful books and make a ton of money. Then, with that money, I want to acquire the largest collection of books and Superman comic books in the world. I also want to use the money to rebuild the houses from all my favorite TV shows and movies and build a library that looks just like the Reading Room in the British Museum. And last, but most important, I want to take care of my mom. What inspires me is reading good books and loving books and hearing about child authors. I am also inspired by other people’s stories of travel, because I want to travel.

That is me and my life in three pages.

This is a paper I wrote for World Geography.