Sample Narrative Essay: First Day of Being Away From Home

EssayNarrative Essay

As one of the subtypes of the expository essay, the narrative essay has the main goal of telling a story in a manner that engages with and provides insight to the reader. This paper should be written following the structure of an essay and should feature fundamental elements like a thesis statement that captures the message of the narrative. This sample narrative essay narrates the experiences of the writer being away from home for the very first time.

For most people, being away from home for the first time is a memorable experience, and I am not an exception to this. What varies, however, is the definition of being away. For some, this could be their first day in school as a young child. For others, this could be a time when they went on a field trip or a vacation. In my case, the time I consider I was truly away from home was when I left for college. Of course, I have been away from home before, but in those moments I always had some part of the home with me such as family or friends. And thus I consider the day I drove on my own for 200 miles from my hometown to my college as my first real experience of being away. There was no teacher to guide me, no friends to spend time with, and no parents to take care of my needs. The events of that day set the theme of my life for many years to come and to a great extent shaped the person that I am today.

I can still remember that day. It was in the blistering heat of August and I was on my way to college with my bags. My parents gave me a secondhand car as a gift. I was driving down the freeway listening to some music on the player when I blew a tire. Luckily, an emergency stopping bay was just a couple of hundred meters away. I parked on the bay and got out of the car to inspect the wheel. It was the left rear tire that blew up. The problem was it was my first time changing a flat tire and I was virtually clueless about the whole process. The first thing I did was try my luck with strangers. I tried flagging down passing cars in the hopes that one of them would stop to assist me. But none did and after fifteen minutes I figured that I would have to do it on my own. I whipped out my phone to search for some tutorials. After viewing two or three videos, I proceeded to change my car’s tire. The process was not easy and I was drenched in sweat by the time I finished. But a part of me was also very proud of accomplishing the task. Knowing that there was no one to turn to, I was forced to figure out things for myself and in the process developed what can be considered the beginnings of independence.

I resumed my drive. But after an hour or so I started to feel hungry. I had always been more shy than most people and growing up I always preferred to be with someone when dining out. As I made a right turn towards a row of restaurants by the freeway, I felt anxiety creeping over my body. Questions began racing through my mind. What if I looked strange eating alone? What would people think about me? What would they say behind my back? For a long while, I considered just going through the drive-through, but I promised myself that I would do my best to be more confident and stop caring about what strangers think or say. I parked the car, took a deep breath, and walked over to the restaurant. To my surprise, the experience was not at all unnerving. In fact, I would say that it was rather pleasant. Getting to sit by myself and eat a meal on my own was quite soothing since I could focus on enjoying my meal rather than navigating a conversation or getting distracted by my companions. It was refreshing to realize that being alone from time to time can be a relaxing and even therapeutic experience. All it needs is having a little bit more confidence and caring a little less about what others think or say.

After two more hours of driving, I finally arrived at my campus. The campus itself was nice. There were lots of open spaces with expansive lawns and tall, ancient-looking trees. The dormitory was also housed in a quaint brick building with white-framed windows. But judging by the dust that had settled everywhere I could tell that the room had not been cleaned for months. Because I like my room clean, I immediately went about cleaning my room. It took another couple of hours of sweeping, scrubbing, and wiping before I could finally unpack, take a hot shower, and rest. While I was always available to do some chores at home, it was the first time that I actually did everything. That night, as I was about to sleep, a wave of apprehension came over me. The day had been tough and I was exhausted from all the effort I had to exert. Would I be able to pull through tomorrow? How about the day after tomorrow and all the other days after that? As I reached for the lamp to dim the room, I told myself that, “Today I did a good job. I will do the same tomorrow and all the other days to come. One day at a time.”

My experience of being away from home for the first time was no walk in the park. In just the course of a day, I drove for 200 miles, changed a flat tire without help from anyone else, ate a meal alone, and fixed my dorm room. While this represented a single day in my life, the events set the theme of my college life. In college, I became more independent, more confident, and more decisive. I learned to become a productive person who strives for self-sufficiency and resourcefulness. Leaving home to make our own way through this world is scary. But like young birds, we will never learn how to fly if we do not risk jumping out of the nest. I am thankful that on that day I had the courage to leap and rely on my own wings. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.

A narrative essay is one of many types of expository writing. Other types are cause and effectproblem and solutiondescriptivecompare and contrast essays. If you think that you could use some assistance with all your writing projects, do not hesitate to ask for coursework help from CustomEssayMeister. CustomEssayMeister has hundreds of professional writers who have the expertise to complete your assignment regardless of the topic and the type. With our writers, you never have to worry about your projects again.

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