allieg
Nov 13, 2011
Undergraduate / 'this job was going to be harder than I thought' - significant experience [2]
Can someone just look my essay over? It's supposed to be 250-500 words with the topic 'Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.' Also, mine is 508 words, do you think that's okay or do I need to trim it down a little bit more?
I spent two weeks of my summer in a stuffy kitchen scrubbing pans caked with last nights meal, while five of my closest friends were selling snacks to a bunch of campers. My friends and I had decided to volunteer at a Christian camp in Wisconsin. Unfortunately my application got lost in the mail and by the time they received it, the only job opening left was in the kitchen. Although I was upset to be working apart from my friends, I decided that working in the kitchen would not be that bad.
While my friends went to the snack bar with huge smiles on their faces, I went into my first day of work with a sour attitude. Upon tying my apron I realized this job was going to be harder than I thought. We were supposed to serve meals, wait for the campers to finish, clean their dishes, wipe down all twenty-five tables, mop and vacuum the floors and put away all the clean dishes. We had to do all that with only seven people. More like six, because my dish crew boss chatted with the cooks instead of actually helping. Breakfast dragged on because four of the volunteers were girls that already knew each other and were too busy gossiping to talk to me and the other guy never, ever talked.
After working my first meal, I went to the cabin and cried. I had never felt this sad or this alone and I did not know how I was going to get through the rest of the meals. After a grueling three hours of lunch clean up, I ran back to the cabin to spend about five minutes with my friends before they had to go work. I was then left alone with our adult leader. She proceeded to ask me why I seemed so down, I explained to her that this trip was not turning out the way I had planned and I was unhappy with my job in the kitchen. She told me that things are only as good as I made them, that I can either make the best of the situation I was given or make the worst of it. It was up to me to make kitchen duty enjoyable.
I took her advice to heart and walked into dinner with a smile and a much better attitude. I made conversation with the quiet boy, and he turned out to be an amazing guy, I just had to give him a chance to realize it. When my dish crew boss came over to say that I was doing a great job, he told me that I seemed much happier and that he appreciated my attitude adjustment. All I had to do was give this job a chance and suddenly, things turned around for the better. Although, I did not get to spend much time with my friends from home during those two weeks, I ended up learning a valuable lesson instead. Life is only as enjoyable as I make it.
Can someone just look my essay over? It's supposed to be 250-500 words with the topic 'Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.' Also, mine is 508 words, do you think that's okay or do I need to trim it down a little bit more?
I spent two weeks of my summer in a stuffy kitchen scrubbing pans caked with last nights meal, while five of my closest friends were selling snacks to a bunch of campers. My friends and I had decided to volunteer at a Christian camp in Wisconsin. Unfortunately my application got lost in the mail and by the time they received it, the only job opening left was in the kitchen. Although I was upset to be working apart from my friends, I decided that working in the kitchen would not be that bad.
While my friends went to the snack bar with huge smiles on their faces, I went into my first day of work with a sour attitude. Upon tying my apron I realized this job was going to be harder than I thought. We were supposed to serve meals, wait for the campers to finish, clean their dishes, wipe down all twenty-five tables, mop and vacuum the floors and put away all the clean dishes. We had to do all that with only seven people. More like six, because my dish crew boss chatted with the cooks instead of actually helping. Breakfast dragged on because four of the volunteers were girls that already knew each other and were too busy gossiping to talk to me and the other guy never, ever talked.
After working my first meal, I went to the cabin and cried. I had never felt this sad or this alone and I did not know how I was going to get through the rest of the meals. After a grueling three hours of lunch clean up, I ran back to the cabin to spend about five minutes with my friends before they had to go work. I was then left alone with our adult leader. She proceeded to ask me why I seemed so down, I explained to her that this trip was not turning out the way I had planned and I was unhappy with my job in the kitchen. She told me that things are only as good as I made them, that I can either make the best of the situation I was given or make the worst of it. It was up to me to make kitchen duty enjoyable.
I took her advice to heart and walked into dinner with a smile and a much better attitude. I made conversation with the quiet boy, and he turned out to be an amazing guy, I just had to give him a chance to realize it. When my dish crew boss came over to say that I was doing a great job, he told me that I seemed much happier and that he appreciated my attitude adjustment. All I had to do was give this job a chance and suddenly, things turned around for the better. Although, I did not get to spend much time with my friends from home during those two weeks, I ended up learning a valuable lesson instead. Life is only as enjoyable as I make it.