AP: To the ever twisting journey of life.
PL: To my Dad.
Created & published on StoryJumper™ ©2025 StoryJumper, Inc.
All rights reserved. Sources: storyjumper.com/attribution
Preview audio:
storyj.mp/ac2awc39se5t
About the Authors
Ashley Pitts was born and raised in Florida. She is currently a Graduate student at the UF, majoring in Elementary Education. Ashley was diagnosed as dyslexic with an auditory learning disability at a young age. Her own past struggles in school have become her motivation to teach and impact children positively. She loves her family, two pets, and friends. In spare time photography, nature walks, and movie binging are her top hobbies.
My name is Pam Little. I live in Gainesville, Florida. I attended the University of Florida, where I earned my Masters Degree in Early Childhood Education. I have been a Kindergarten teacher for 18 of my 20 year teaching career. I have two beautiful daughters. Holland is 11 and Summer is 2. I love the beach and chocolate.
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Table of Contents
Waiting for Paper........................Page 5
No Ordinary Day.........................Page 7
The Box........................................Page10
Rocket..........................................Page 11
Belong.........................................Page 12
Effective Citizenship..................Page 15
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Waiting for Paper
By Ashley Pitts
Beginning in mid-March, I checked the mail daily. Every time the key twisted, suspense built, but any hope was killed with emptiness. Was my essay not good enough? Should I have applied to more than one school? Will I have to take a semester off? I really don’t want to move. I mean, yeah, I’ll already have to make new friends, but a new job too? I really had not planned for this.
On June 3, I opened the front door and began my daily walk to the large group of metal boxes. My palms began to sweat and the key slowly slipped from my fingers. I shakily reached up to box 43 expecting to see darkness and if not that, a stack of currently meaningless papers. Yup, it was bills and coupons galore. As I reached in and began to take it out,
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the sun reached over my left shoulder and struck the corner of the mail. Underneath I saw a glimmering orange and blue crest. My heart began to flutter.
Finally! A sigh of relief exited before I even knew what the letter said. Walking the 30 feet from the mailbox to my front door
felt like 30 miles on this particular trip. I wanted to wait
until I was inside to open it. Happy. Nervous. No,
terrified. Radiating with excitement. I called my
parents to say the letter came and so they could hear
the news with me. The letter began “Dear Ashley Pitts”
and was followed by a congratulation. I am officially a
student at the most prestigious University in the state
Florida; yes, we are home of the Gators.
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No Ordinary Day
By Pam Little
The day started like every other day. There were no signs of the significance of this day. Our morning routine was the same. Dad left early, but that’s not unusual. He would need to leave before the sun rose, to be sure he arrived at his location with plenty of time, before the spectators and news reporters. But this was ordinary, like usual, the same. I got up and got ready for school, so did my sister. My mom got ready for work. You know, it was just ordinary, like usual, the same. And our day began, with nothing out place or different. Just the same, as usual. This was our normal, no big deal for us, something we saw and experienced on a regular basis. Just ordinary, like usual, the same.
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The school day was the same, as usual. Go to class, learn in class, leave from class. I went to lunch, like usual. Sat with my friends, like usual. Had my just ordinary, like usual, the same kind of day. Then the just ordinary, like usual voice came over the intercom. It sounded the same, like it always sounded. Shuttle launch will happen in 2 minutes.
So like usual, in my just, the same, as always way, I walked out of the cafeteria, stood in my usual space and looked to the sky, waiting for it, like usual, it was just ordinary. Something I had seen countless times, thinking there is nothing special about this, actually thinking to myself maybe I should have stayed inside. This is ordinary, something that is the same each time I see it.
I stood there staring up to a perfect cloudless blue sky. Hearing the ordinary, like usual sounds of my normal day. Then that same voice
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echoed again, counting down 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, BLAST-OFF. It was just the same, as always. The rambunctious sounds of my classmates filling the outside were soon taken over by the sonic booms of the rocket blasts, the miniature rocket appears to float through the sky, it looks weightless, soaring into space ready for its next adventure, and I think to myself, yep it’s just the same, as usual.
And then it’s different, very different and everything is different and nothing is ordinary or usual or the same. In a split second, everything is different and changed forever. Nothing is the same. Silence, stillness, shock, now unusual. As I stood there watching The Challenger fall out of sky in pieces, I knew nothing would ever be ordinary, usual or the same again for me and my little town. For my friends and their families. We would all be changed. Watching and experiencing launches would never be ordinary, usual or the same again.
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The Box
By Ashley Pitts
Will the box be empty,
Will the box be full,
Will it have what I want inside,
Or will it be coupons galore,
The box is full,
Nothing catches my eye,
A glimmering light flashes what I want inside
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Rocket
By Pam Little
Staring up at a cloudless blue sky,
Hearing the ordinary sounds of my day
A voice echoes
The countdown begins,
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1,
BLAST-OFF!
Sonic booms,
A rocket appears,
Weightless,
Soaring into space,
Onto its next adventure.
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AP: To the ever twisting journey of life.
PL: To my Dad.
Created & published on StoryJumper™ ©2025 StoryJumper, Inc.
All rights reserved. Sources: storyjumper.com/attribution
Preview audio:
storyj.mp/ac2awc39se5t
About the Authors
Ashley Pitts was born and raised in Florida. She is currently a Graduate student at the UF, majoring in Elementary Education. Ashley was diagnosed as dyslexic with an auditory learning disability at a young age. Her own past struggles in school have become her motivation to teach and impact children positively. She loves her family, two pets, and friends. In spare time photography, nature walks, and movie binging are her top hobbies.
My name is Pam Little. I live in Gainesville, Florida. I attended the University of Florida, where I earned my Masters Degree in Early Childhood Education. I have been a Kindergarten teacher for 18 of my 20 year teaching career. I have two beautiful daughters. Holland is 11 and Summer is 2. I love the beach and chocolate.
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3
Table of Contents
Waiting for Paper........................Page 5
No Ordinary Day.........................Page 7
The Box........................................Page10
Rocket..........................................Page 11
Belong.........................................Page 12
Effective Citizenship..................Page 15
4
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"ADePT Summer Institute Multi-Genre Writing Portfolio"
The book is a collection of stories and reflections by two authors, Ashley Pitts and Pam Little. They share their personal experiences, from waiting for college acceptance letters to witnessing the Challenger disaster.
(19 pages)
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