By Gabe Pedraza
Central Stampede
Portage Central HS
1st Place
Division 2, News Writing
Personal Narrative
As I prepare to take on this great big world, my parallel odyssey a long time ago in a galaxy far far away seems to come full circle. My journey begins with my second grade open house, where my destiny was realized.
Walking down the hallway in a sea of posters of doctors, firefighters, and lawyers and other kids’ aspirations. My parents were surprised to find a Luke Skywalker with my face pasted on, light saber upheaved into the sky. It was then and there where I decided that I was to fulfill my destiny to become a jedi, not just like my father.
My young days consisted of adventures with Chewbacca (my 75lb Goldendoodle) and duel-ing with the pure evil sith being named Trevor (my neighbor) who also claimed to be a jedi, but obviously wasn’t because he was the one who always got smacked in the head by a light saber and ran crying home.
I lived and breathed “the force” and thought the universe was mine to explore. I can remember the countless hours spent playing “Star Wars Battlefront” on my PS2 and reenacting the battles and adventures with my friends, whether we were on the snowy planet of hoth at Christmas break or the deserts of Tatooine in the summer, the force guided us.
I don’t know why Star Wars had such an affect on me, but what kid doesn’t want to be one of most elite warriors of the galaxy, flying through space in an X-wing. Theres one thing that I know for sure, that Star Wars transcends time, language, gender, and borders. It is what connects this generation to the past one. Maybe George Lucas had the force writing these movies because there is a timeless aspect that brings imagination to the forefront, and when the saga seemingly ended in 2005, there was a void to be filled.
Over the years I have drifted from my old fascination of another galaxy. Sports, school, a social life and the eventual “growing up,” which might not be complete, has taken its natural course squashing my childhood dream of adventuring as a jedi. However, my long lost past from a long time ago has been reignited, along with a whole generation to the return of the saga that touched so many.
“Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens” comes out in just under one week and the suppressed geeky kid in me has awaken. Just the experience of reliving my childhood makes this movie worth seeing. I’m very tempted to show up to the midnight premiere as Luke Skywalker, but this may result in the loss of my girlfriend.
Either way, my destiny to become a jedi has come full circle and the next generation will be inspired just as I was a decade ago.