Coming of Age essay, final

Big Island Trip

“Ready class, for our first outer island trip?”
Our first outer island trip, going to the Big Island with all of the 4th graders at my elementary school. My teacher wasn’t the only excited one.

I was 10 years old, going on a trip without my parents going with me. Not only did I experience going on a trip without any of my family members, but I experienced working toward it to go on the trip. The day I found out about my trip, made me a very excited, young, little girl, who wanted to go so badly.
I ran home after school that day, rushed into the house, yelling, "Mommy, mommy! We are taking a field trip to Big Island, can I go, PLEASE?" My mom had a smile on her face; and then I gave her the permission slip, her face didn't really look too happy anymore."Jisel, the price is really high and I don't think that you should go on this trip; it's too expensive."I took the paper back from my mother and walked away with a sad look on my face. The next day, I went to school, and I told my teacher, "I'm sorry, Mrs. Fujii, my mom said that the trip is too expensive, so I can't go." I looked at her with a sad frown on my face. She told me, "You know what, Jisel? You are a very bright girl and I think that you deserve to go on this trip. I'll tell you what, if you help me every day after school to move these things from the classroom, I will pay you 5 dollars a week." I turned around and smiled at her, "Thank you so much! I appreciate it." From then on, for two weeks, I would stay after school and help move the things in the classroom; it was being renovated.
Finally, the day had come. The day that I had to wake up three in the morning to catch a bus to the airport. I was so excited, to go on my trip and to hang out with my friends for 3 days. We arrived at the airport in Kona. We had groups, so we had to stay with our group the whole trip. The first thing we did was go straight to the hotel to put our bags down. The hotel that we stayed at was the Kamehameha hotel. We explored the hotel a bit and looked at the pictures of the Kings and Queens of Hawaii.

As we left the hotel, we went to different places and we explored Kona. We went to different beaches, the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nuts Visitor Center, Onizuka Space Center, King’s Trail, Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park, Keahou Bay, Kilauea Volcano, Hulihe’e Palace, the coast of Kailua, Kona, Lapakahi State Historical Park, and many more places. We were on the tour bus travelling to different places and being taught all about these places.
All day, we were just learning all that we can and taking notes because the trip was a part of our grade. We also walked trails, went on lava rocks and took a lot of pictures for remembrance of this trip. After a long day looking around Kona, we went back to the hotel to get a good night’s rest. The best part was spending the night at the hotel. Even though we had to go to sleep at a certain time, we made our time worthwhile, playing around and just making the night fun. But because our day was so long, we had to get a lot of rest because the next day was going to be another long day."Wake up, kids. Get ready, today is going to be a long day," said my group leader. We got up and got ready, packed up our bags and left for the tour bus. Not only did we finish sighting Kona, but we went to Hilo and started there also, on that day. We visited places and learned about King Kamehameha and all the Hawaiian history. But not only did we visit the places that were about Hawaii’s history, but we also went to the Hilo mall, Parker Ranch, and Akaka Falls.

Another long day came passing us by as we explored more of Waimea and Hilo. We went to parker ranch and walked around, looked at the animals, and then ate lunch. That day seemed longer than the day before that because the drive from Kona to Hilo is about 2 hours long. We went to Akaka Falls and Kahuna falls, to just see what it is like. We also visited few other places and then went to the Hilo hotel.

We walked into the hotel and went to our rooms. "I'm tired," I said as we dragged ourselves into the hotel in Hilo. Another day went by as we continued to study about Big Island and the histories. And soon came the day we had to leave.
“Wow, the trip went by so fast,” I said. And my friend Jazmin replied, “Yeah, well, it’s time to go home, I had fun though.”
“Me, too.”

On the last day, we finished up our booklets for school, packed up our things and went to the airport to catch our flights back to school. As we came back to our school, my mom had come and picked me up, even though we only lived right across the street. I seen my mom and I ran up to her. We turned around and started back home.
My mom looked at me and said, “How was your trip? I missed you.”
“It was good, and I missed you, too, Mommy.”

This trip showed that I was coming of age because I brought on responsibilities of taking care of myself without my mom and making sure to be safe. I also had to listen and pay attention so I don't get lost. I learned that you should work hard toward your goals. And just for me to go on the trip, I worked hard toward getting the money and being able to go.
Even though 4th grade might have been a little too young, I still felt like I was growing up because of the responsibilities that I have taken up before, during, and after my first trip without any of my family members.