Students were asked to write a memoir about an experience that affected them. Here are some samples from Ms. Zubiri's 9th and 10th grade classes.
During
my 2012 summer vacation, I traveled with a group of handbell ringers from Mark Twain Middle School to
London, England. Our handbell choir is a group of seventeen young teenagers
ringing bells to different type of music. For example, church music, rock ‘n
roll, and many more. We were invited to ring at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.
We took 8 chaperones to take care of us in this long trip. We all stayed in the
University of Kent right outside of London, England for 9 days.
We
performed in places and events during the time we were there. Our first performance was at an
Olympic Festival. We rang a little bit of everything. Such as, Taylor Swift, Katy
Perry, Adele, and Beethoven. One of my favorite performances we had was at
the Olympic Park, where the open ceremony was taken at. Although, we got
wet while ringing because it was drizzling and we didn’t have nothing to cover
us. We walked for a long time and we had to carry our equipment, which was
really heavy. It was worth it. But we didn’t just go to work hard and perform. We
had fun spending time with each other like a family.
The bus rides in our tour
bus were the funnest out of the whole trip because all of the kids would talk, sing,
take pictures, and even dance. And because of the tight schedule we had, sometimes
we had to change in the bus or because we didn’t feel comfortable with what
we were suppose to wear that night for a performance. Our tour bus
guy drove us everywhere around the city, took us to different restaurants and
always made it on time to all of our performances.
On
free days, our bus driver would take us out to look at historical cathedrals,
museums, and towers. Some of my favorite parts of this trip in London, was going
to the London Eye, going to the Tower of London, eating the traditional dish
“fish and chips”, which is a fried piece of fish with French fries with lemon,
and going to the Wembley Soccer Stadium. Going to the Wembley Soccer Stadium
was a dream come true. Our whole bell choir and chaperones were invited to go
see the soccer game France vs. Japan. It was woman soccer, but I didn’t mind as
along as I was there. It was amazing and super fun. Being able to hear everyone in the
stadium cheering for their favorite team was the funnest thing besides the bus
rides.
However,
we also went to Paris, France for a day. We took a train from London, England
to Paris, France. The train ride was about 3 hours straight. We had snacks to enjoy while in
the train and a comfortable seat to sit on. While in Paris, we couldn’t do many
things we all wanted to because of a tight schedule.
We didn’t have a tour bus
there but there was a family from Los Angeles living there for the summer, we
knew them because they would also go to Mark Twain Middle School, and they
showed us around. We traveled form place to place by using the subways. We went
to the most important places to visit which were the Eiffel Tower, Arc de
Triomphe, Norte-Dame, and Ave des Champs-Elysées. All these places were amazing
and unforgettable. The Eiffel Tower was huge and really hard to take pictures
with. I couldn’t believe I was right in front of the Eiffel Tower. We went back
to London and kept going out to perform. But our time there was up. We sadly
had to get back home after 9 days in London. This trip was a good experience
and I will always look back at this memory.
