Learning How to Cook Rice-Personal Narrative
During my Duke of Edinburgh Training weekend spent at Tow Ford
training centre I learned a great many skills that will stay with me
for the rest of my life. I learned how to work effectively in a team;
how to pitch a tent, and how to navigate my way around uninhabitable
and inhospitable terrain (Longformacus) using nothing but a compass
and map. However, the most valuable lesson I learned from this weekend
was how not to cook rice!
It was the first night. Mr Walker had told us all to prepare a storm
cook, which meant cooking inside the tent as if it were raining or
blowing a gale outside. This was to be practice for the real thing as
we may well encounter conditions like that and we would still have to
eat.
The other two `tent groups` had gone for simple, easy-to-prepare meals
like Super Noodles. My group, full of confident (foolish) people,
decided we would have a proper meal. We decided to cook chicken curry
and rice. We had brought with us three cans of chicken curry (each can
serves two people) and a full bag of rice. This was to feed four.
My job was to fill the kettles with water so I marched off to collect
water from the `centre`. I thought to myself, “They’ve got some nerve
calling it a centre. It’s not much bigger than a shed and it’s only
got two toilets and a sink.” I began to fill the kettles, which
couldn’t hold enough water to drown a rat, however, the water seemed a
good colour to poison a rat so maybe it would have some use. The
`water` was a rusty brown colour. We were told it was drinkable but I
wasn’t so sure. Unfortunately, we had to drink it, as that was the
only water available for miles. I showed the `water` to the group and
they reluctantly filled up the pot with the sickening substance. Alex
then emptied most of rice into the pot with the water.
In addition to this, I feel that my Team building class gave me good insight into the inner workings and mechanics of how teams work. More work.
...college years. Aside from developing confidence and leadership skills, I was able to help my fellow students succeed. Time spent educating and helping fellow students locate and apply for scholarships helped shape, change and direct my life to serve humanity. As a recipient of a scholarship myself, I remember the caring feeling when my mentor reached out and aided me through the process.
My achievement of becoming literate in both English and Spanish, after overcoming a myriad of obstacles distinguishes my literacy history. Writing was one of the things I didn’t like to do as a child. I always thought writing was a waste of time and that I wasn’t going to need it in life. Even though I didn’t invest much time writing, I was one of the best writers in all my classes, probably because I was very dedicated in the other subjects and I loved reading adventure books. I learned how to read and write by the age of four, since in my native country “the Dominican Republic”, kids are enrolled in school at the age of three; usually parents start their child’s education at home before that age.
As the dull scent of chalk dust mixes imperceptably with the drone of the teacher's monotone, I doodle in my tablet to stay awake. I notice vaguely that, despite my best efforts in the shower this morning after practice, I still smell like chlorine. I sigh and wonder why the school's administration requires the students to take a class that, if it were on the Internet, would delight Mirsky (creator of Mirsky's Worst of the Web), as yet another addition to his list of worthless sites. Still, there was hope that I would learn something that would make today's first class more than just forty-five wasted minutes... It wouldn't be the first time I learned something new from the least likely place.
They have shaped me into the dedicated team mate I am today. Ever since I could remember I have been swinging a bat, dribbling a basketball or just being involved in some kind of sport. They have taught me teamwork, hard work ethic, perseverance, and humility. I continued to build on theses skills by participating in FFA, National Honor Society,FCCLA, Student Council, Spanish Club, Choir, Band, and Sports.
My Grandmother always advised me to be a responsible boy or else I would be a boy who cried wolf. She reiterated that one day, no one would bother to listen to my cries. I loved scheming on how to avoid going to school most of the time. I loved feigning sickness. I learned the hard way. During my junior high school, I developed a bad habit of avoiding school, something common among my age group or peer. I loved staying home to watch and listen to favorite talk shows. Since these shows were only aired during school hours, I often feign sickness so that I could stay home and watch what I considered, a must watch program. At first, on most occasions, I successfully convinced my
We were standing in line outside of class waiting for our teacher. In front of me was Angel and his best friend.
All I could remember on my journey to literacy was my concern over my brother and sister’s ability to read and write including solving math problems. That did not really motivate not to become literate; I was extremely playful as a child. What I am able to remember is my first day of school, I cried like a baby when my mom dropped me off. I soon began to grow out of my baby stage and school became really interesting. Even though it was not as hard as it is now, the value that pushed me to be literate was how my teacher was able to discipline students if they didn’t give the best to their education.
improved me to over look on my mistakes. Before I would never go back and
As ninth grade approached, I received spontaneous inspiration to join the school orchestra as a violinist. My decision was challenged by critics, my musically talented sister and the media, who concluded the journey to become an adept string musician must begin in childhood, or be pursued by those who held musical experience.
Since the beginning of taking this course, I have certainly reflected more and compared my experiences with drugs with what we have learned in class. Oddly enough, it made me think of something in my group of friends’ back home that just recently happened and made me reflect on our behaviors that are caused by these drugs. Unfortunately, it was a sad reason that I could reflect on this story.
It was just my luck to be seated in a row chair uncomfortably close to the front. The volume grew, along with the temperature, every second as more students crowded into a classroom, which only had enough space for the population of one class. As the teachers tried to squeeze more people through the doorway, I twisted around in my seat to scan the faces in the room. I sighed internally and slouched down into my seat when I spotted my friends far from my location. I was on my own. I glanced up at the impossibly slow minute hand on the clock. This was going to be a long day.
I have lived in my neighborhood for almost eight years. Never have I thought about the amount of trash that filled every corner of the dirt road leading down to my house until recently when one of the trash debris slapped me right in the face—literally. What’s more surprising is that there were kids playing alongside these molded cheeseburgers and rotten newspapers.
There is a point in everyone’s life when they step back and realize “I can’t do this anymore, it’s ruining my life”. Many of my friends have started smoking cigarettes while drinking at a very young age, and continue to use this drug currently and don’t realize the affect it has on their future. While I have been smart enough to avoid smoking, I haven’t been as wise at making decisions when it comes to drinking. The amount of partying I’ve done in college has taken over my life, and has had a huge impact on my grades. Changing my drinking habits and continuing to avoid cigarettes will enable me to be the best I can be for the rest of my college experience.
my hard work ethic. It taught me that to be able to work in a team