The Network of Relationship - Essay Example

There was one unforgettable event in my life that had changed my perspectives towards people. It had made me realize that we unconsciously perceive only those things that we want to see and not the reality of the situation.

I was working on a project with a group consisting of five members. It was a science project and each member was assigned a specific work that was to be completed within the given timeframe. While each member’s work required independent research but we were all helping each other to complete the project as early as possible. I remember I was particularly quite abrasive and short-tempered with one of my colleagues because he seemed to be quite distracted and least concerned in completing his part of the project. He was an African American who was more inclined to be gregarious and less focused on his studies. It just confirmed my preconceived ideas about racial differences.

Hence the news about my sister’s accident came as a complete jolt that completely threw me off balance. We were all busy doing our project so for a moment I was unable to accept the news and did not know what to do. Suddenly it was Anthony, the African American colleague who was consoling me and taking control of the situation. She was my only sister and I kept mumbling that I would die if anything happened to her. Anthony accompanied me to the hospital and took charge of the situation. My sister was profusely bleeding and was concussed. Since my parents lived far away, I had to make all the important decisions regarding my sister. Anthony proved to be a brick whose presence gave me immense confidence to deal with the situation with more rationale. He was the one who took initiative and started looking for donors for blood. He offered his own blood when he realized that he had the same rare blood group as that of my sister. I will never forget his timely support and moral backing when I had thought that my world had crashed around me.

Now Anthony and I are best friends. I also realized that what I had thought of as a distracted and unfocused demeanor, was actually the worry and stress. The untimely death of his mother had left him with the huge responsibility of his two younger siblings. His happy carefree attitude actually reflected his optimist nature with a hidden strength.

Indeed, it is the tough situations in life that help to give the right perspective to the situations and help understand people. Assumptions about racial differences within the framework of social structure are largely responsible for misconceived ideas about people at large. Hence, understanding cross-cultural values and mutual respect are important paradigms for developing successful social relationships.