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myself.
One time I had a big problem. Where someone stole my wallet and I had to get to a job interview.
But I had no money and no ID. This happen in school. So I went to the principles office and
reported it. He called the man I was supposed to interview with. Who rescheduled the interview
for me. So I still had the opportunity to interview and I'm proud to say I got the job. In fact I'm
still working there!
Problems can be opportunities if you just look at them that way. Instead of the other way around.
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SAMPLE ESSAYS, SET 40 (Page 117)
480.
Sample "6" essay
Courage and cowardice seem like absolutes. We are often quick to label other people, or
ourselves, either "brave" or "timid" "courageous'' or "cowardly." However, one bright afternoon
on a river deep in the wilds of the Ozark mountains, I learned that these qualities are as
changeable as mercury.
During a cross-country drive, my friend Nina and I decided to stop at a campsite in Missouri and
spend the afternoon on a float trip down Big Piney River, 14 miles through the wilderness. We
rented a canoe and paddled happily off.
Things went fine for me first seven or eight miles. We gazed at the overhanging bluffs,
commented on the wonderful variety of trees (it was spring, and the dogwood was in bloom), and
marveled at the clarity of the water. Then, in approaching a bend in the river (which we later
learned was called "Devil's Elbow") the current suddenly swept us in toward the bank,
underneath the low-hanging branches of a weeping willow. The canoe tipped over and I was
pulled under, my foot caught for just a few seconds on the submerged roots of the willow. Just as
I surfaced, taking my first frantic gulp of air, I saw the canoe sweeping out, upright again, but
empty, and Nina frantically swimming after it.
I knew I should help but I was petrified and hung my head in shame as I let my friend brave the
treacherous rapids and haul the canoe back onto the gravel bar, while I stood by cravenly.
Then came the scream. Startled, I glanced up to see Nina, both hands over her eyes, dash off the
gravel bar and back into the water. I gazed down into the canoe to see, coiled in the bottom of it,
the unmistakable, black-and-brown, checkerboard-pattered form of a copperhead snake. It had
evidently been sunning itself peacefully on the weeping willow branch when we passed by
underneath.
I don't know exactly why, but the supposedly inborn terror of snakes is something that has passed
me by completely. I actually find them rather charming in a scaly sort of way.
Nina was still screaming, near hysterics: "Kill it!" But I was calm in a way that must have
seemed smug. "We're it its home, it's not in ours," I informed her. And gently I prodded it with
the oar until it reared up, slithered over the side of the canoe, and raced away terrified,
itself into the underbrush.
Later that night, in our cozy, safe motel room, we agreed that we each had cold chills thinking
about what might have happened. Still, I learned something important from the ordeal. I know
that, had we encountered only the rapids, I might have come away ashamed, labeling myself a
coward, and had we encountered only the snake, Nina might have done the same. And I also
know that neither of us will ever again be quite so apt to brand another person as lacking
courage. Because we will always know that, just around the corner, may be the snake or the bend
in the river or the figure in the shadows or something else as yet unanticipated, that will cause
our own blood to freeze.
Sample "4" essay
Courage can be shown in many ways and by many kinds of people. One does not have to be rich,
or educated, or even an adult to show true courage.
For example, a very heartbreaking thing happened in our family. It turned out all right but at the
time it almost made us lose our faith. However, it also taught us a lesson regarding courage. In
spite of his father's and my repeated warnings, my son Matt went ice-fishing with some friends
and fell through the ice
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into the frigid water beneath. He is prone to do things that are dangerous no matter how many
times he's told. Fortunately there were grown-ups near and they were able to throw him a life line
and pull him to safety. However, when they got him onto shore they discovered he was
unconscious. There were vital signs but they were weak, the paramedics pronounced him in
grave danger.
He is his little sisters (Nans) hero. He is 16 and she is 13, just at the age where she admires
everything he does. When they took him to the hospital she insisted on going that night to see
him, and she insisted on staying with me there. My husband thought we should insist she go
home, but it was Christmas vacation for her so there was no real reason. So we talked it over and
she stayed. She stayed every night for the whole week just to be by Matt's side. And when he [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]