My Fear of Heights

Ever since I was young I had a fear of heights. As a child, I would not go near ledges or cliffs, I would not ride on roller coasters, and I did not participate in any activities that were off the ground. When I was sixteen, I went to the Bahamas for a family/friend vacation. On the beach, there was parasailing. Everyone I was with was enthusiastic about going parasailing and I was terrified. At first, I thought that I would just sit it out and wait until they came back, but that day I was feeling adventurous and decided that I would try it. The anticipation of waiting to go in the air was the worse part. I still see myself huddled against my dad shaking and crying. Once I was in the air, I calmed down. I was taking in the beautiful scenery and the cool breeze. I remember looking out at the ocean that was such a vibrant blue. After I came down, I realized it was not that bad and I had a pleasant time. After this experience, I started to participate in activities that involved heights. I started to go on roller coasters, skiing, mountain climbing etc. I have realized the part I struggle with is waiting. I get myself so worked up just thinking about it, but when I am actually doing it, I realize it is not that bad. I can’t promise you that this fear of heights won’t ever stop me from skydiving or zip-lining in a tropical forest, but I assure you that from now on I’ll always try. I’ll try and I’ll fight if I feel like the experience is worth. I still struggle today with conquering my fear of heights, but I am learning how to cope with it.  

Vocabulary

Fear (noun) – an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that something is dangerous

Parasailing (verb)- glide through the air wearing an open parachute while being towed by a boat.

Enthusiastic (adjective) – showing intense enjoyment/ interest

Terrified (verb)- caused to feel extreme fear

Adventurous (noun)- willing to take risks

Anticipation (noun)- expectation/ predictions

Huddled (verb)- crowd together

Scenery (noun)- the natural features of a landscape

Vibrant (adjective)- bright and striking

Cope (verb)- dealing with something difficult

Vocabulary Activity

Use the vocabulary words above to fill in the sentence. 

1. When we got to the top of the mountain, we paused to look at the ___________.

 2. I do not like to go to the zoo because I have a __________ of the bears.

3. When I was on a beach, my cousin and I went ___________. We were really high off the ground.

4. The hot pink icing on the cupcake was so _______.

5. It was very cold outside so we ________ around the fire.

6. My family and I love Miney and Mickey Mouse. We were all ________ about going to Disney.

7. I was _____________ during the test that I was going to fail.

8. My sister is very_________________. She loves to travel around the world.

9. I had to _______ with the pain when my fish died.

10. The ____________ before this big test is killing me!

Grammar point:

Pronouns

Pronouns are used to replace nouns within sentences, making them less repetitive.

For example: “Mary didn’t go to school because Mary was sick” doesn’t sound very good. Instead, if you say “Mary didn’t go to school because she was sick” it will make the sentence flow better.

Some pronouns: I, me, he, she, herself, you, it, that, they, each, few, many, who, whoever, whose, someone, everybody, etc.

How many pronouns are in the paragraph above?

Grammar activity:
Fill in the blanks with pronouns.

1. John's birthday is tomorrow so _______ wants a cake.

2. Jade wants crayons so _______ can color with her friends.

3. The class went to the park so _______ can look at the different types of birds.