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Personal Narrative Essay

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Two Weeks in Europe As I grew up in Northern Virginia in the middle class suburbs of Washington, DC, I suppose I had a typical childhood. I played on a girls’ volleyball team and joined the varsity cheerleading squad. I did other “girly” things like hair, nails, makeup, mall shopping and parties. Not so typical was the fact that I lived with my mother, my stepfather and six siblings. We have always been a close knit family who did several things together. Our regular quality time included movies and home entertainment with casual soul food dinners for friends and family. Museums, beaches, resorts, theme parks and other tourist attractions within a five hour driving radius were about the extent of our special group outings. At school, …show more content…

Just imagine my excitement when my high school principal presented the opportunity for me to travel to Europe for two weeks. She personally informed me of the Global Professionals group. These were students from different Fairfax County public schools who were concentrating on business, healthcare and technical career courses. I was to submit an essay on why I should be selected to voyage with them on an educational international excursion. (The educational part was furthest from my mind; I just wanted to fly and to have some fun after graduation.) So, I presented a paper about how tours of London and Paris would give me, as a business major, an edge on my competition in a global economy, blah, blah, blah… Surprisingly, I was chosen among the few lucky students to be awarded free transportation and accommodations for the international journey! With my household size, it would be a big deal for my entire family to go to Disney or for one of us to trek anywhere out of the country. I have never gone abroad or flown on a plane. After getting new clothes, luggage, currency and a passport, I was off to the most memorable experience of my life. I was going to see a part of the globe about which …show more content…

It became part of the East London Tech City technology center. For the healthcare majors, we explored the Wellington Hospital where we attended a lecture on the history of the United Kingdom publicly funded healthcare system that many Americans feared Obamacare was struggling to emulate. For the business majors, we stopped through the headquarters of British Petroleum. So much for that. The week in London would have not been complete without fish (fried cod) and chips (fried potatoes). We dined at a restaurant called Baileys that served them with a green dish that looked like guacamole but turned out to be “mashed peas.” On another day, the Ritz served us an elegant English 4 PM afternoon tea. On my own time, I found my way to The Lockhart for some good old-fashioned American southern soul food cooked like my mother’s fried chicken wings, collards and mac and cheese. After all this and more, including souvenir shopping, we had a few days ahead of us for the Paris tour. We boarded the Eurostar high speed modern train for a two-hour trip that took us along the English Channel through a

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