Personal Narrative: My Summer Service Trip

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It is not unusual for a high school student to go on a summer service trip, unless that student is like me and has a minuscule comfort zone. The difficulty of the trip was never putting on a tool belt and flying across the country; rather, making the decision to spend two weeks doing something I had never done with two hundred people I had never met. Before this trip, I would never have done something without a close friend or family member by my side. After this trip, I realized that stepping outside of my comfort zone taught me more than just how to accept myself; it led me to transition from childhood to adulthood. The trip was strenuous in every sense of the word. The ten hour workdays were scorching, especially in mid-July on a South Carolina roof. However, I have never been one to step down from a challenge, and once I start, I cannot stop until the job is completed. I had to embrace my self-confidence and convince myself that this project was no different. Things did not always go smoothly, like when I stepped on a soft spot and put a hole in the floor. In the past, small obstacles such as this would have thrown me off course because the most efficient way to arrive at a destination is a straight line. Instead, I had to navigate a detour.. I never became an expert at flooring, …show more content…
Just as I needed the physical tools in my tool belt to do the manual labor, I needed to discover the metaphorical internal tools to recognize my qualities and embrace them. That was a monumental step for me in my development and I know I am much more mature because of this trip. Although the shingles I laid were never the straightest, I walked away from this trip with a feeling of satisfaction knowing that by stepping out of my comfort zone, I became cognizant and accepting of who I naturally
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