Advanced Essay #1: Diving In

Posted by Sierra Radford in English 3 · Block/Harmon · B Band on


Dear reader,
Throughout this reading I want you to get a feel of how emotionally involved I was in this moment of my life. Taking these actions molded me into a more optimistic, open-minded person. I am proud of the quality of my paper. I put so much effort into this, being that it is my first advanced essay. I believes it shows. One of the down sides of this essay is my process. I took me an extra day to fully complete my work to the best of my ability. I hope you enjoy.

Sincerely, 
Sierra 
​ Diving In

Jumping off a cliff. Sounds crazy right?  How about jumping off a cliff into a river full of rocks? Even crazier? Well, it was. But sometimes you have to take that leap of faith and like a bird, hope your wings will open and catch you. 
“Ready, set…” 
“Wait!” I screamed in fear as I felt the blood rushing through my body.
Attempting to calm myself down, I concentrated on each and every breath. 
“In and out. In and out.”  
“I don’t think I can do this!”  I thought to myself as I was climbing up to the sharp, slimy boulders. 
They were infested with mosquitoes larvae. There were groups of them neatly tucked into the dents of the boulders. They slipped on the puddles. The puddles on the rocks were strangely heated under my toes. It was slightly awkward to touch since I adapted to the cold water from the river.  
First and foremost I thought we were just going white water rafting. I didn’t know anything about the additional stops. The water was gentle. We floated across. 
“Right back, left forward!” my instructor demanded. 
He spoke fairly good English. Better English than I do Spanish. I presume he gets a lot of practice with all the other North American groups that come down to do white water rafting.  I had the best instructor, I don’t remember his name but I do remember him rapping the theme song of “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” in Spanish. 
“En el Oeste de Filadelfia nació y se crió en el patio de recreo es donde pasé la mayor parte de mis días…” he sang gleefully.
The water grew furious. It slammed into the raft, leaving our clothes clinging to our bodies. The water threw itself into us once more devouring one of the rowers. We quickly extracted from the water onto the raft by his gleamingly yellow life jacket. 
“Left forward, right back!” my instructor asserted repeatedly with anxiety. 
Rowing out of the storm, the rapids started to tranquilize once more. We steered the raft towards the land where a ginormous cliff stood tall and mighty. 
“Whoever wants to jump into the water can get out of the boat now. ” my instructor announced.
Eager to do so, I sprung out of the boat along with six other people. I lifted my eyes towards the strong powerful rocks. I became paralyzed by its elegance. Inhaling the pure aroma, I attempted to climb up the rock. With the powerful ore smirking down at me, my foot slips off of it. I pushed forward with determination to defeat the rock. My impression of jumping off of the rock was the reward of conquering it, but that was the most demanding portion of the exploration. My bare feet on the sharp granite rock standing 10 feet tall above the rushing blue water slamming into the rocks on the sides.
“This is nothing!” one of the rowers howled diving off.
“Ah!” another shrieked. 
“Oh no!” I cried standing still staring ten feet down to my doom.
The water burst out in laughter. Mocking my fear. I stared at it, watching it swallow each and every person that dared it. 
“I can’t do this!” I thought to myself as my eyes studied the bellows of my destruction. 
“You got this.” one of my tour guides José reassured. 
I felt my stomach dance inside of me, my hands clammy, and my knees convulse. 
“Here hold my hand.” He said offering comfort
 I held my tour guides hand and pinched my nostrils with the other.  
“Go!” He screamed. 
And we went. My free body flowed through the air. I connected with the water. I became one with it. I felt it throughout my body. I grew limp allowing the water to appraise me. It pushed me up. It didn’t swallow me. But why not? Was it all in my imagination? How could I think the water was my nemesis? All along it was my friend. I didn’t need to fear it, I just needed to trust it. I needed a support system behind me to guide me through it. And most importantly I needed to be free. I was the bird, José was my wings, and the water caught me. 


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