Advanced Essay #1 Coin Flip

Coin Flip

I was waiting at the train station on a breezy fall day. I was ready to go to a new place that I’ve only been to 2 or 3 times. My first problem was buying a ticket, seems simple at first but for a young inexperienced lad like myself it was nerve racking.

“Hi can I get a ticket uhhhh please” I said nervously

“Sure what --------” Said the train conductor.

I'm sure everyones had that moment where someone says something and you don't hear what they said but you just ask again, well imagine that happening but 10x worse because there's a two inch thick piece of glass in front of you and the workers mic doesn’t work. I did however manage to get past that hurdle by saying what I thought other people were telling the worker. After the train incident I got on regional rail and began my trip to Center city. A lot of people may look at the trip as boring but the Philadelphia scenery never fails to interest me, all along the tracks there are graffiti signs that make you wonder

“Huh how did they do that?”

In addition to that, the rising sun can be seen pleasantly casting shadows through all sorts of nooks and crannys that you don't see in everyday life. My personal favorite scene I saw along the tracks was the sun perfectly aligning with the windows of an abandoned and dilapidated factory, thus creating a scene anyone could call art. But sadly all good things must  end as I made my way into the tunnels to arrive at my stop of Suburban station and made my way through the concrete to school.

When people think of adventure people think sadness, happiness and anxiousness. In the scene I go through the emotions of excitement and anxiousness. Excitement because of the scenery i'm seeing and anxiousness to meet new people on the first day of school. However  adventure can leave the emotions of anger and regret. Throughout the majority of my scene I talk about the beauty of the scenery, and that scenery I may never see again. Some would say that is a happy feeling, but the fact that the scene is forever lost in the past makes me angry. Throughout life imagery comes and goes, and people come and go. The memories you get to share with others is an adventure as well. When loved ones pass on most people feel sadness, but is there not also anger for not being able to enjoy time with them again?

I was in a new city, I would have had the sense of adventure, if it wasn't for the fact that it was 110 degrees. The heat was so smoldering that day I could see images of water every corner I turned. After spending the whole day in that heat me, my mother, my father, and my sister needed to do something to kill the time. We were tourists in this new Texas city, and because of that we were lost. First we went to a bookstore to avoid the scorching heat. The inside was like being dipped into the arctic seas after a nice hot lava bath. But the bookstore was only one stop for the family and I planned to accomplish my own agenda, luckily something on my list was right across the street.

“Hey Mom can we go across the street for a few minutes.” I calmly said.

Of course because of my convincing tone and nature she agreed. We quickly got into our black Nissan Altima that we rented in the next town over and sped across the street. My destination was a record store that we heard about on a tour we took earlier. While inside I examined all the neatly aligned sections of vinyl records to choose from, mostly sticking to the bargain section with oldies no one's ever heard of. Seeing nothing in that small corner of the store I moved along to the more prominent sections with well known artists, and presented to me under the name of my favorite artist was my favorite album To Pimp a Butterfly.

This scene is a lot different from my first one, in this one I take a more uplifting stance on the view of adventure. The last scene describes the anxiousness and the anxiety of adventure, and this scene describes the fun involved. Adventure is like taking a quarter and flipping it, you’ll either get anxiety or you’ll get fun. But no matter which one you get, there is still a lingering sense of regret. The feeling comes from never being able to have the same experience twice, sure you might be able to revisit the same place, but will the people be the same? As I lived through my life at the end of every adventure there was something that I felt was rubbing me the wrong way, and when I realized it was the emotions of regret, I forever wanted to go on any adventure I saw for the sole reason that one day I won't be able to anymore.