- Published: January 18, 2022
- Updated: January 18, 2022
- Level: Masters
- Language: English
- Downloads: 19
The paper ” Summer Vacation and Lesson Learned” is a great example of an essay on English. My friends and I were heartily looking forward to our summer vacation in London and Paris. There were so many sites we so wanted to see and so many delights we were expecting out of our vacation. Unfortunately, events conspired to limit our enjoyment of our vacation. First and foremost, when we finally landed at the Heathrow Airport in London, we were met by a British Airways strike. We ended up with no luggage and, during our two-week vacation, we had to sleep in couches. We also had no luggage during our entire London and Paris trip. Lessons Learned
I learned during this trip that it is best to expect the unexpected. No amount of preparation can prevent unlikely events from affecting us. We did prepare our luggage and prepare what we would need for the trip, and yet, despite the preparations we made, we still ended up dealing with so many inconveniences during our trip. Unexpected things, especially those beyond our personal control, are often those which cause us the most inconvenience. And during these unexpected occurrences, I learned to cope and I discovered coping skills that I was not even sure I possessed. But, I discovered more about myself as the trip progressed and we continuously met many challenges and further inconveniences. I discovered that I can be a very resourceful person; that when the occasion calls for it, I could resourcefully come up with ways to survive without luggage in a foreign country. I also discovered that I can still manage to enjoy myself despite various conveniences that I have to do away with; that I could still manage to look at the glass half full, instead of half empty.
As a result of this experience, I now feel more comfortable about facing and dealing with unexpected challenges. I know I am bound to face these challenges in the future, however, I know that I do have the strength to deal with these challenges. I know that I can be resourceful in coming up with ways on how to manage these challenges and eventually come out with a better and stronger person in the end. I also feel that this experience gave me more confidence as a person. I faced a tough challenge and I, not only survived it but also gained valuable learning experiences from it. Without the challenges we faced, we would have had just a normal sight-seeing experience of London and Paris – any tourist can have that experience. But, we went about it in another way, and we gained so much more than just being tourists, but about being survivors as well.
This experience also taught me that the present economic crisis is indeed a global phenomenon. Where before, I was thinking about it being an American phenomenon, the trip made me see how the rest of the world is going through hard times as well. I understood the concerns of the BA even if their strike caused us problems during our trip. Their concerns may be so different from ours, but they did affect us. And through this trip, I learned how an event that may be happening at the opposite end of the globe may end up affecting many people as well. It taught me to expand my world a little, about opening my eyes to other people’s concerns and problems because the time may come when their unsolved concerns may end up affecting other people as well. In this case, what was once a small problem can eventually end up being a bigger and more unmanageable problem.
This experience taught me that I have an enormous amount of resilience. Not just me, but my friends as well. When we realized that we were about to face 2 weeks of no luggage and sleeping in couches, we could hardly think where to begin and how to survive the trip. But we did, and we still got to enjoy ourselves in the process. We were also grateful for whatever concession was granted us during our trip. We experienced kindness and consideration from strangers, and we experienced that the qualities of goodness are universal – no translations are needed for favors received and favors given.
The trip caused me and my friends various problems and inconveniences. It did not turn out to be the trip we planned for and anticipated, however, we did learn invaluable lessons about ourselves and about life. Beyond the sights, we wanted to see, and the culture we wanted to experience, we learned to be survivors; we learned about the troubles of the rest of the world, and we learned that human spirit has an enormous capacity for courage and strength.