Personal Narratives by 6th Grade Students
by Jana Young
January 02, 2008
The sixth grade English classes wrote personal narratives at the end of the second quarter. Over the next couple of weeks, I will be sharing several of the stories that were written. Read and enjoy!
Covering G-5
by Allen
I could feel my hands shaking. Everyone seemed to be shouting at me. Three days earlier I had pulled into the dusty Putnam County Fairgrounds for the RBC (Rodeo Bible Camp). I was one of 48 kids, here to be in the rodeo.
It all started when I shut the red truck door and turned around to see a tall skinny man standing behind me. As we shook hands, I felt his rough calluses. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a glare; I looked down to see an NPR Finals buckle. He told me that his name was John Adrian and he had been a pro bull rider for over 15 years. He asked me what my event was. I told him bull riding and I saw him light up. He gave me a gray T-shirt and handkerchief so other people would know what my event was. Next I followed him to the sign-up booth and met my opponents.
Then we unloaded the equipment and checked it to make sure everything was okay. To warm up, we rode a mechanical bull. At first I thought it was hard, but the hard stuff was still to come. My first bull ride was the longest two seconds of my life! Cole, Nathan, and Jason, all friends I had made at the camp, told me that most of that two seconds was me in the air. A few hard falls later, I was starting to get on a roll. But tomorrow was the rodeo.
That night, I could not sleep at all. I was just too nervous. It seemed like I had just laid down when we got up for chores. The morning air was cool and I could not eat anything. Trucks full of anxious rodeo lovers started to come. I was seeing family, friends, and community people coming to see us.
After the grand opening, my friends and I began rosining our ropes. I was third to ride the same bull that had bucked off two of my friends during the week. His tag was G-5 and he was 1,200 pounds of rock solid muscle. I rosined up my rope and got in the chute. I got my rope around him and carefully climbed out of the chute. I was breathing hard and I heard the announcer starting introducing my name and town. My buddy Cole tightened my rope and gave me a pat on the back.
I was ready. I took a deep breath and nodded. The bull shot out of the chute and everything I had learned that week flashed in my head. He started to spin into my hand. I thought it was perfect until he reversed his spin. But I got centered again, and the eight-second buzzer sounded.
An hour later, I was holding the buckle. I thought people would never stop shaking my hand.
As you can see, I got through G-5 by relaxing and concentrating. I had such a great feeling when I rode G-5. The bruises I had gotten through the week were worth it all!
