Peter Pan said, “To die will be an awfully big adventure.” He was right, especially when you live to tell the tale. Growing up I was the “just do it” kid. If any friend had an impossible dream, I was there to support it. On Easter Sunday in the early 2000s, that dream was to go sledding. After a long sermon and a southern-style potluck, my cousins and I sat on my grandmother’s couch tired and restless. I asked the three of them what we should do. My cousin Nolan said he wished we could go sledding. I was the girl to make that wish come true. We had no sled, so we built one out of rusty nails and splintering boards. We had no snow, so we tied the sled to a four-wheeler. Our idea was dangerous, so we gave Nolan a pillow to sit on and a helmet. After a while of no accidents or mishaps, I decided to give the sled a go. I sat in the wooden deathtrap, tied the rope around my waist, and began the adventure. Not a moment later, the sled fell apart beneath me, and I, still roped to the four-wheeler, kept going. Without a sled, I was now being dragged on dirt, grass, and rocks. The rope I had tied around my waist began to slip up towards my neck, but with all my strength I pushed it down to my feet where it caught around my ankle. When the four-wheeler finally stopped, I realized the day my savior rose from the dead, I had decided to dig my own grave. Luckily, I was fine, but without a doubt close to death in those brief moments of sledding on Easter.
Perhaps that story is not the best representation of my perseverance. Instead, I could write about growing up with a reading disability and now making literature my career. I could write about my journey of self-publishing my first novella at the age of sixteen, dressing up as a MoonPie for my first commercial, or surviving my first year of college. Although I consider all those stories accomplishments, it is the moments of humility and consequence where I learn most about myself.
Currently, I am a Junior at the University of Tennessee studying Cinema and Creative Writing. With these degrees, I hope to spread and encourage the art of storytelling in all forms. I love to paint oil portraits of my rabbit Bumbles and read romance novels. I enjoy being outside in the mountains with friends and family. I am incredibly thankful for the life I live and my favorite band Vampire Weekend. Most importantly, I still believe I can do anything I set my mind to, except sledding on Easter.
Hannah McInturff is an independent writer studying Cinema and Creative Writing at the University of Tennessee. She enjoys all forms of storytelling and shares her love of reading with her rabbit Bumbles who has inspired many of her works. Apart from writing, Hannah paints portraits and landscapes and participates on her university’s ultimate frisbee team.
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