We challenge our students to 'be comfortable being uncomfortable'. Georgia Tech Supplement Essay

Question: We challenge our students to 'be comfortable being uncomfortable'. Tell us about a time in high school that you felt outside of your comfort zone and the resolution. max 150 words

Job at a restaurant

At the winter vacation of my junior year, I worked in a busy restaurant in the centre of Beijing. In a completely strange atmosphere, I was not protected as a student or a teenager any more. Sometimes, customers with terrible attitudes even shouted at me. On christmas eve, families were gathered in the restaurant. I saw the happiness on their face but all I felt was loneliness and exhausted. At first two days, I desperately wanted to quit.

At the third day, I attempted to shift my focus. I began to observe everything in the restaurant. I observed customers and thought about how to promote the new dishes. I observed the ordering system in the restaurant and considered how to improve it. I even observed other waitresses to understand their stories. Surprisingly, when my head is occupied with ideas, I was exhausted no more. Afterwards, every day was an adventure to meet new people and learn new things. I felt grateful and satisfied.

163/150

@Crystor
I'm not sure what you meant in your first paragraph when you said, "I was not protected as a student or teenager any more." You should elaborate on this sentence: were you scared because you felt unsafe, or were you trying to convey the fact that you no longer felt like a child and had a heavy responsibility of working at your restaurant?

@kc1099
I changed to this:
In a completely unfamiliar atmosphere, I was not treated as a student or a teenager any more. I have to take heavy responsibility and tolerate some terrible attitudes from customers.

What do you think?

'I want to quit!' I thought after a long day's work in the restaurant. 'I am so exhausted and I can't do anything right! Families are celebrating Christmas in the restaurant but I was blamed because one of my customers left without paying the bill!'

Tossing in bed till 2 a.m., I finally realised I was the one who decided to work during the winter vacation. It is my responsibility to stop focusing on the negative side and serve the costumers with my best condition.

Surprisingly, instead of feeling suffering, I got to enjoy the work, when I began to communicate with my customers, when I started thinking about how to increase efficiency of the ordering system, when I tried to made friends with my colleagues. Every day was like an adventure and the laughters on my customers' faces drove away all my exhaustion.

145/150