Man[goes] to Believe

        Learning and truly understanding something while just sitting and processing something displayed in a book or a blackboard has never been my thing. While this meant I always believed in experience and practice, many of the opportunities (like solving math problems with no real word effect) never interested me. The expectation to perform pressured me to take these opportunities, especially for the math contests I started doing. This tired me out really quickly since I had no interest in just memorizing instances and the formulas for them. What I really want is exposure to different real life scenarios that bring up different approaches to problems. For example, currently working at a small Indian grocery store has taught me how different employees put importance to different attributes, be it consumer friendliness, work efficiency, or low wastage. In addition, it also gave me an insight at the logistics of the supply and how it affects wastage and product storage. And not only this, but it also showed the importance of each individual worker in such small scale businesses. As such, I want to study for a semester in the National University of Singapore. Even though problems that arise might be similar, people throughout the world might have different approaches and ideas, and these different solutions and approaches are what causes growth, and I personally think that it is exciting and inspiring.

      As such I will always look to experience new things even if it makes me uncomfortable because new things provide very useful experience and knowledge

I BELIEVE . . .

Man[goes] to Majestic Swiss Alps

         Tempted to slide down the mountain’s steep slope on that sunny yet frigid day, I started to lumber up. This was the first time I had been on top of a mountain, but had been on top of  hills. I was and currently am usually an acrophobia person. So I did have scary thoughts about falling down from the mountain, yet my desire made me start lumbering up to slide down the slope. The other tourists also determined to reach higher up the slope, effortlessly climbed as I struggled for success as if there was a huge load preventing me. While trying TO emulate the other tourists, I was taken aback by the fact that I couldn’t climb up without difficulty.

         The tourists started sliding down, after looking out into the sky and the forests below,  like there were no concerns while I was still trudging lumbering my way up the slope, and through the snow. It was winter and the mountains were covered in snow and ice, the mountains were part of the majestic Swiss Alps. I expected assumed that the other tourists were cold because of the nail biting sensation of the cold snow. The snow would also melt and drench apparel. “How were they not suffering because of the cold?”, I wondered. While the other tourists were wearing water & winter resistant clothes, I was wearing my Jeans. This was the worst decision anyone could have made, except for wearing shorts, since it had pores through which the snow could enter.  I reckoned that I could actually slide down without suffering, so I started to slide down. Wearing Jeans was the worst decision I could have ever made from my apparel choice. It had pores through which the snow could enter and there was melted snow everywhere on me. The freezing slush drenched my clothes sending a shiver up my spines. My shoes were not made for stomping and hiking around in snow, so they started leaking. This was very bad news on the top of a mountain in the Alps. I guess I should have worn the other pair which was in better shape.

        I did not know what to do! My other pair of shoes were at the hotel which was far away. Alas, I had to suffer the pricking pain of the melted, numbing snow in my shoe. Since I noticed the melted snow when we were halfway down the mountain, I carried on the treacherous, long journey, a century on my time scale to the hotel.Now that I look at my actions, it seems pretty insipid of me. But my desire must have taken over me. My actions and the consequences following them, have taught me to take more precautions.