My skates glide effortlessly as the ice crunches beneath my feet. Music plays throughout the rink as people laugh with one another. The scent of freshly cleaned ice brings back many memories (imagery). I’ve always been a pretty good figure skater. When I was younger, my mom signed me up for lessons at a nearby rink. I was about 8 years old when I started figure skating. Unlike most kids, I never played soccer when I was younger. Instead, I skated twice a week and developed a passion for the sport. My favorite part of figure skating was learning how to do new tricks and stunts. I was never the best skater in the class. There was a girl who could do so many spins people would get dizzy just watching her. I always aspired to be like the older girls in the class. I wanted to grow up to be an olympic figure skater. After many sessions and practices, figure skating became my joy. I grew eager to learn new stunts from the teachers and older girls.
Fast forward 7 years, I was 14 years old. By this time, I stopped taking lessons and haven’t skated since. I stopped because my passion for skating had faded. I don’t really know what exactly caused this. I knew it was a slow fade. I didn’t lose interest all at once. Nope (short sentences). What happened is I started to think I wasn’t getting any better. I thought that all of my hard work and hours put in were not paying off. This, and the fact that lessons were very expensive, I decided to stop skating. I had my last lesson when I was about 12. I was very upset about ending my potential career and fervor. However, I knew that I wanted to focus on school and my grades more. I also wanted to be able to spend time with my friends. During middle school, I began to hang out with my friends a lot more and develop a close friend group. We hung out all the time and watched movies, went shopping, and did many other activities (parallel structure).  Once we grew older and started high school, my friends and I still tried to find time to see one another on the weekends. I was a freshman in highschool when one of my friends suggested that we go ice skating on a Friday night. We decided to go the following weekend. I was a little nervous because I knew that I hadn’t been on the ice for a couple of years.

As Friday rolled around, my friends and I were very excited. After a long day of school, we walked over to my friend Natalie’s house. It was Olivia, Natalie, and I. We did our homework and then got changed to go ice skating. When we arrived at the arena, I began to feel a little nervous. I don’t recall exactly what made me nervous. Thinking back on it, I think it was that I haven’t been inside of an ice rink in years. I was afraid to mess up. My friends and I laced up our skates and entered the ice. For the first hour, I had so much fun. We danced, raced, and talked (parallel structure).  My friend Olivia asked if I knew how to do any stunts. I almost replied with “no”. However, I thought I remembered how to do sit spin. A sit spin is essentially a spin with one of the legs bent at the knee. Olivia and Natalie began to cheer me on. I gained momentum and speed by skating faster and faster. I remember vividly that as I increased speed, I felt unsure of myself and my skating ability. During mid-spin, I spun out of control and into a nearby skater. My friends immediately rushed to my aid. I wasn’t very hurt (short sentences). My cheeks started to turn bright red from the embarrassment. I knew that what I had attempted to do was too advanced for someone who hasn’t skated in years. As I regained my balance and apologized to the person I hit, Olivia told me that I had split my pants during the act. I was mortified. We slowly skated to the nearest exit and took off our skates.

On the ride home, Olivia and Natalie reassured me that what had happened was not embarrassing. I still didn’t feel any better. Over 30 people saw me trip and fall and split my pants. No kind of reassurance could take away from the embarrassment that I was feeling. However, with the embarrassment came some knowledge and wisdom gained. I learned a couple of lessons from this incident. Most importantly, I learned not to try and do something for the sole reason of impressing others. Also, I learned that I should ease my way into things. I failed at trying to do the stunt because it was too advanced for my skill level. Lastly, I learned that I should take situations more light-heartedly. I became so embarrassed in the moment. Looking back at it, it would have been smarter to laugh it off and move on.

In The Things They Carried, embarrassment was a driving force and theme. It made Tim O’Brien question his values. My story of embarrassment was more of a learning experience than a driving force. From this point forward, I learned to be more careful in what I do and that embarrassment, most of the time, it is nothing to be ashamed of.