Henry S - personal narrative

Henry Shields
September 4, 2005
English 101

Personal narrative

Hello class, my name is Henry Shields. As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster. But after nineteen years in mobile, those plans failed and I am now a freshman attending “THE” University.
Growing up in mobile deterred my ambitions of being a gangster, so I stuck to the norm and became an “avid outdoorsman”. Avid outdoorsmen were common in mobile. We hunt, fish, smoke, and drink. I looked forward to every weekend when my dad would take my brother and I to our hunting camp. This is where we learned the true values of an “avid outdoorsman”. Values like cheering for “the tide” and talking bad about the government. We learned to respect our elders and always be a good sportsman. With the exception of the occasional night hunt, we followed these rules religiously. When we weren’t learning life lessons my brother and I explored the wilderness, stalking and killing and array of different beasts. These “beasts” were usually deer, pig, or squirrel, but they were beasts nonetheless. I won’t go in to detail about my personal adventures, but just for the record tom sawyer has nothing on me.
When I wasn’t at the hunting camp on the weekends I was more than likely fishing. Fishing was more relaxing than hunting and less exciting. Fishing was usually an all day affair that began at 5:00 in the morning and ended eight to ten hours later with usually only four or five fish in the ice chest. It was not about actually catching fish but more or less listening to my dad tell his life stories. It was also part of being a well rounded outdoorsman.
“Avid outdoorsman” is just a politically correct term for redneck.... So I was a little far from being a gangster. That’s alright, I enjoyed my childhood and know that I will continue to enjoy the rest of my days here in Tuscaloosa.