PERSONAL NARRATIVE

BY: Amitej Babra

What could possibly happen? I wondered as I finished packing for my first camping trip.
A million thoughts were flowing through my head. I was nervous, excited, and even a little
scared. I thought everything was going to be okay, but who knew that wasn't true. That same
weekend I learned that staying calm is important. Even in the scariest moments of your lives.
I was camping with my Boy Scout troop. My dad dropped me at the campsite and that's
where we met up. The time was nearing midnight and I was extremely exhausted so I decided to
sleep. We were super busy so directly after breakfast, we headed towards the skiing trail. It was
also my first time skiing. For the whole walk, I was on my toes, anxiously waiting to reach the
trail. After a long time, we finally reached the trail. I sprinted to the man and asked for a pair of
skis. As I wore them, I overheard the other boys. One person was explaining how much he liked
to ski.
“I love skiing!” someone exclaimed.
“I know right?” another guy bellowed.
Tension started to slowly build up inside me. I barely knew these guys and What if they
went too fast? What if I got lost? This was my first camping trip and they weren’t as welcoming
as I expected. I slowly skied towards the thin and narrow path. I fell a few times, but I was
determined to continue. I was doing pretty great for my first time skiing. The others slowly
started to catch up to me. The path was super confusing. There were so many twists and turns,
and everyone still knew where they were going! As they started to speed up, I started to slow
down. I got slower and slower. I could barely make out someone in the distance. How could they
leave me? I had to catch up. I zoomed and zoomed through the smooth snow. As I was gliding, I
decided to take a quick turn, but I knew I had failed to do so. My skiis had failed me. I was now
laying on the ground not knowing what to do. As I lifted my head I could see two separate paths.
The path split! What! How can the path split! I was hopeless. Either take the right way, or the
wrong way. I decided to stay there and cry. I was waiting, but no one came. Time ticked. It got
darker. It got colder. I started to get sleepy. I awoke to the sound of crunching snow. I slowly
crawled backwards. A young teenager came out. I excitedly jumped up. Somebody finally came
and saved me! I was relieved as I walked back to the campsite.
The next day we drove home and my mom was extremely excited to see me. She asked
me how the trip was, and I didn’t know what to say. I now know why staying calm is important.