I’m not the kind of person to go out of their comfort zone…at all. I was always that little girl that clung to their mom’s leg and wouldn’t talk to anyone. All my friends have been going to Six Flags to ride their favorite rollercoaster, Bizarro and I kept making excuses to not go with them due to my fear of that ride. I had used just about all the excuses I could think of; I had to watch the dog I didn’t have, my great aunt sally was in town (I don’t have a great aunt sally), I had other plans who was I kidding all my four friends would be at Six Flags, and so many more.


Today is the day that changes. I was driving the 40 minutes to Six Flags with my dad and cousin Allie for the sole purpose of conquering my fear of that one ride.


As soon as we got there, we ran straight to the ride as my heart was racing as fast as a cheetah catching it’s pray. Unfortunately the line was an hour wait, great longer I had to sit there waiting in worry. Forget having butterfly’s in my stomach, I had a whole zoo. The line was moving at an incredibly slow pace so after about a half hour I started to panic, and instead of easing my fear a little Allie laughed hysterically and tried to make me more scared.


“ There’s a huge possibility it’s going to break.” She said sounding like she knew everything.
Great I thought, Fantastic. The ride is going to break and then who knows what’s going to happen. Since Allie was older I tried to act cool but man was I freaking out.


“I know your joking, meanie.” I said as I looked at my dad for reassurance.


“Relax honey, she’s just kidding. You’re going to be fine.” He promised.
Okay I thought, everything is going to be fine, my dad said so.
The queasiness in my stomach started to slowly ease, but before I knew it we were next in line and I had the panic level of a little kid losing their mom in a store. The endless possibilities were churning in my head. What if it breaks? What if I throw up? What if I chicken out? What if….” My thoughts were then interrupted.


“Ready?” My dad asked as we got onto the ride.

No I was thinking.


“Yes.” I managed to squeal out.

Before I could even think I was strapped in and off to conquer the 3,985 feet of tracks in front of me.
Straight up we went as I was squeezing my eyes shut and trying to scream with nothing coming out. Once we were at the top, we shot down the 132 foot drop, through a terrifying tunnel full of white mist, down a 114 feet vertical drop, then immediately followed by a dreading loop.


“HOW YOU DOING SWEETIE?” My dad screamed at me.

It’s going too fast, the wind is blowing my hair everywhere, but on the bright side I’m not as scared anymore and we’re not dying I thought.


“Good’’ was all I managed to get out.

I slowly opened my eyes as we shot around a corner at 6o miles per hour and just as I got the hair out of my face, of course the sun was in my eyes. Suddenly I realized just how hard I was holding on to the handle bars as my hands were turning red like my cheeks when I get an answer wrong in class and were starting to sweat. I could hear screams all around me, laughter from what seemed to be miles under me and started to notice the little kids playing games and laughing with friends and family. In that short moment I realized how happy everyone seemed. I started to loosen my grip and relax tremendously when the 3 minutes and 15 second ride came to a halting stop.


“Please exit the ride to your left, and thank you for riding bizarro.”

I had never been so relieved yet sad it was over at the same time.

Once I took a second to breathe I looked over to see both my dad and Allie looking at me waiting for what I had to say.


“Well, I spent the whole time worrying but I did it and it wasn’t that bad!!” I exclaimed excitedly.


“That’s great honey, would you do it again?” my dad asked looking excited for me.


“Yes! Thanks for sharing this experience with me guys.” I thanked my dad and Allie while giving them a hug.


“So proud of you.” Allie smiled at me and said.

I looked up at her and smiled, not only did I conquer my fear of this ride, but I knew I didn’t disappoint my family. It doesn’t seem like a big deal, but knowing I’m usually like a turtle that refuses to come out of its shell, I was so proud of myself. I felt like a little kid on Christmas morning. I couldn’t wait to get home and tell my mom the good news!