My Subject Chooses Me- Rachel Hart

Fears: Failure, bees (or any other insect that could sting me), passing out

Annoyances: people who stop suddenly in front of me when I’m walking, people who let their dog’s poop on my yard, BBC Mundo, and my brother

Accomplishments: State Senior Animal Science Demo champion, State Senior Consumer and Financial Education Champion, Judy Ellis Lawless Award Winner

Confusions: the future (even as early as tomorrow), what to put for these lists

Sorrows: not enough time in the day, accident proneness

Dreams: Travel outside of the United States, Travel to every state before I’m fifty, Get a NOC title with my dog

Idiosyncrasies: Sticking my tongue out when I’m deep in thought

Risks: Repelling a building, skydiving

Beloved Possessions, Now and Then: Now- My dog; Then- my toy rabbit

Problems: Procrastination, memory, getting enough sleep, over thinking things

Melissophobia is the fear of bees or bee stings. Bees. A common fear among people is a fear that I too possess. When I was eight years old I would brag that I had never been stung by a bee. I would constantly watch my step and be paralyzed in fear whenever one would come near. Then one day when playing in my grandmother’s yard I decided to walk across the yard barefoot. HUGE mistake. I stepped on a honey bee. With tears welling up in my eyes and the bee still securely stuck in my foot I ran as fast as I could back to the house. It hurt worse than anything my eight year old self had ever felt. Then in the coming days as it turned purple, then green, and finally black, my fear grew even stronger.

Three years later, hiking at girl’s week, it all happened again. Four of us got stung as we hiked up the trail. The annoying little thing got me in the side of the hand. My first instinct was to turn and smack the hand into the girl behind me. Had I been thinking straight I would have never hit the poor girl but I was overcome with pain. To this day, I’m still afraid of bees. I still stand as still as I can when a bee comes near or move out the way. I hate bees. I don’t think that it’s a fear I will ever out grow.