My Personal Odyssey

My Personal Odyssey

Meghan Jerrild
Period 5
Thursday, May 24, 2012

Farewell to Ithaca:   

 In The Odyssey, Odysseus made a difficult decision to leave his home to go fight in Troy. He had to leave his wife and his newborn son, and all of his people in Ithaca. The first time that I was away from home was in fourth grade. That was my first year of choir camp. I was fairly new to the choir and wasn’t really familiar with the other singers, so it was pretty scary for me. Choir camp is a weeklong sleep-away camp for the trebles in my choir from 3^rd grade to 12^th grade. The first year I was there, I barely had any friends in the choir. My mother was a chaperone for a few days and I pretty much clung to her the whole time. As the week progressed, I became closer to a girl who was a grade above me. I loved the older choristers and hugged them, but I didn't really talk to anyone. My camp award was “Camp Teddy Bear,” for hugging everyone I encountered.

The next year at choir camp, I was more advanced in the choir and understood how everything worked much more clearly.  My mom chaperoned for one day and then I was on my own. The year after that, I was completely on my own. It was a little scary being there without my mother as a crutch, and having to trust all the adults around me, but I stopped holding myself back and enjoyed it.

This year I’ll be one of the oldest at choir camp. I’ll run activities, organize events, and take care of the younger kids. I’m going to miss my family, of course, as I do every year, but this year I’ll remember that this is just a week to myself, and I’ll be coming back to my loving family, and I’ll be ready to help out kids who were new, like I was.

 

Defeat of the Suitors:

            In The Odyssey, Odysseus had to face the suitors, who had taken over his home, trashed it, and been rude to his servants. It seemed a near impossible task to take them all on and win back his throne, but Odysseus managed to defeat the suitors and prove to his wife that he was truly home.

            In my life, I’ve been in a situation where the odds were not in my favor. Last week, I went to Catamount, an aerial adventure park. There was zip lining and obstacles that involved climbing, balancing, and a whole lot of upper body strength. There were five levels: yellow, green, blue, black, and double black. At first, I went on a green course. It was extremely challenging, considering I have next to no upper body strength, but nevertheless, I completed it. After the green course, my more than athletic friends and I decided that we would go on the double black diamond course. At first, I was very scared, and once we started, I was even more scared.

            The first obstacle was a line of wooden cylinders strung along a rope with two other ropes about as high as my shoulder to hold on to. Of course we were attached to harnesses, but they were no help to us unless we fell. I was chosen to be the first one to go across, and I was scared out of my mind. As I shifted weight onto my foot on the first wooden cylinder, it wobbled and spun and my foot plunged down past the ropes. I pulled myself back onto the platform and tried again. I developed a strategy of placing my feet in between each of the cylinders, basically doing a tight rope balancing act.

            The most athletic of my friends followed behind me and when we got to the third obstacle, my third friend was nowhere to be found. She must have gone back. We continued through the course, and I arrived at the most difficult of all. It included about eight ropes hanging down with stirrups for our feet. Conquering it involved swinging from rope to rope and keeping ourselves upright with our arms. I attempted to swing across a first time, and ended up dangling by my harness twenty feet above the ground. Did I mention I’m afraid of heights? I used every ounce of strength in me and pulled myself back upright. I hooked on my zip-line and pulled myself back to safety, considering I couldn't get to the other side that way, because it was an uphill slope. My friend was right behind me, ready to take on the obstacle. I let her pass in front of me, and watched her struggle. She couldn’t do it, and was nearly in tears. She hooked her zip line up and tried to use her arms to pull herself uphill to the next obstacle, but was unable to do it. On the verge of a breakdown, she pulled herself back in, and told the man on the staff, who was watching below us, that she needed to be taken down.

            When she was back on the ground, I decided to give it one more shot. I had nothing to lose. I swung myself onto the first foothold, then the second, then the third, untangling my harness as a crossed. Fourth, fifth, sixth, and I was almost done. My muscles screamed for me to quit, but I pushed harder, and before I knew it, I was on the platform. The next few obstacles were as equally challenging as the first, but I managed to get to the last part, the zip line. That was the reward for completing a course, soaring a short distance back to the earth. And I did it. I zip lined to the ground and headed back to where my friends were, bruised, panting, and dirty. It was worth it, to know that I had done something that I had next to no chance of completing

Athena’s Guidance:

Throughout Odysseus’ journey in The Odyssey, Odysseus was helped out by a Goddess, Athena. Athena would guide him in the right direction, give him advice, and keep him in hopes of returning home. In my life, when I had times of misery and trouble, the one who carried me through was my priest, Kristin.

I went through a time in my life when I had lost courage and purpose, and I thought that

no one could help me. I was sent to the hospital to monitor my medication and to help me be safe. I was so helpless. That was until Kristin began to visit me every few days. She would come and ask me how I was doing, and I would tell her. I would tell her how I had no hope, and how I didn’t know what to do.

“God loves you,” she would say, “And he’s watching out for you. There are so many people that are holding you close to their hearts and in their prayers, as am I.”

I would show Kristin my artwork, and tell her of stories that I wrote, and we would pray together, and hold mini church services in that little visiting room. She gave me my own prayer book and hymnal, and at night I would read the prayers that were marked on the calendar for that day, and copy down the verses that made me feel safe, loved, and hopeful.

Author's Note

It's not finished, but it's due Monday, so please edit my spelling, grammar, and other stuff. Thanks <33

Reviews

[Craig2591]

"untangling my harness as a crossed" - I think the 'a' should be 'I'.

I saw no other errors, but I'm not an English teacher, so I might have missed some.

Well written. Clear and easy to follow. Your descriptions were clear. I like how you tied it into The Odyssey. You should get a good grade on this!

Bravo for overcoming your challenges.