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Eisenhower's Literary Magazine
June, 2004
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"Take a chance. Maybe you'll have the time of your life." "Trust me, I know myself, I'll hate it, I'll have a terrible time." "Listen, this could be the chance of your lifetime! If you had the courage in you to come this far, you have the courage to go the rest of the way. You have your goal set, now all you have to do is reach it. Martin Luther King had a goal, he worked for it and it came true. Gandhi had a goal, he too worked for it, and it came true. You can set any goal of any size, and make it happen. Never give up."
A goal is a goal, whether it's the size of a big dream or just the tiny size of mine, my first roller coaster, Batman. "Next," the lady said. I hesitated. I've waited on line two hours for something I'm just going to back off. I listened to the crowd behind me, shouting "Hurry up! We want a chance to ride! You're wasting our time!" For a moment, I could read minds. I knew that all my friends were thinking "Take a chance." I took a deep breath and thought to myself, "If now's not the time, then when?" I felt as if I was taking a step off a cliff. I shut my eyes, trembled with fear, and hope for the best.
Bright yellow, shadowy black, the colors of a bumble bee. I looked up and saw the big, colored vest that was about to be strapped around me. My feet dangled loosely, though my body stuck tightly to the safety vest. For miles away, you could hear my heart beat. I was more frightened than I had ever been. Suddenly, my body shook; Batman began. I screamed at the top of my lungs along with the crowd. I squeezed the handle bar so tightly my hands sweat. After a few seconds of being frozen with fear, I cracked up with laughter.My friends on the roller coaster stopped screaming and silently stared at the big smile on my face with laughter spilling out of it. I realized that the reason why I was laughing was that the ride that put me through terror turned out to be not the least bit scary. I whooped and swooped and doodled in the sky. I felt like I was flying freely, 100% worry-free and 100% happy. The one bad thing about Batman was that I was sad when I snapped back to reality and it was over.
I was thrilled that I chose to go on the roller coaster. I had a fabulous and memorable time. To help us remember it forever, pictures were taken of everyone on the ride. In my picture, my hands were thrown in the air while I had a big smile on my face. You could tell I was laughing hysterically. I loved the ride so much that right after it was over, I forced my friends to join me on another upside-down ride. I know that next time I visit Six Flags, Batman will be the first ride I go on.
Remember, dreams can come true and goals can be set. Be spontaneous and take chances. Whenever you're not so sure about doing something, remember my experience and take the chance!
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