I Believe in Walking While Watching - Essay Example

Huajun Zhang ENGL102 08/09 This I believe essay Word Count :1750 I Believe in Walking While Watching. When people visit other places orgo sightseeing, the best way to enjoy the view is by walking while watching. This process makes one explore the sights more fully, and every second counts in updating one’s angle of view. In order to find the best view, one should keep walking and adjusting his pace depending on his personal preference. In other aspects of life, the strategy of walking while watching can also be applied. I believe in walking while watching because it helped me achieve an important goal. Compared with how I looked before when I was in primary school, I look totally different now. Back then, I was really big, not in terms of height but of width. I am really not so sure how I got that way and when people ask me, I just tell them in jest, that some people are born to be “more spectacular” than others. During that period, all my friends referred to me as “big”. Sometimes, to avoid hurting me, they will also add the phrase “laugh and grow fat”. This is the closest I can translate the term from Chinese, which actually means that fat people usually have a beautiful heart deep inside. But seriously, even if they tried to soften the blow, I felt they still poked at my weakest spot. So finally, I decided to do some change. I told myself when I looked into the mirror that I can no longer live like this. So, I secretly began a program for myself to slim down. It was probably the first semester of my junior high school when the semester began, that I launched my personal project. I decided to keep it to myself as I started my plan with the most simple and effective way which was dieting. I don’t know how I made up my mind but I was able to skip my breakfast and lunch everyday in the next year. However, the only thing I regret about skipping meals was disappointing my mother who lovingly prepared them for me. Every morning she woke up very early to prepare breakfast for me and my dad and carefully packed them into a meal box for us to take out. But when I opened the box smell the food, I either threw it directly to the trash or give it to my friend to eat. There were actually several times when I felt I wanted to quit, and that I cannot do it anymore. But every day when I looked into the mirror at my reflection and stepped on the weighing scale, I get motivated with the changes I see. This kept me on track. I told myself to keep trying…to keep walking while watching. Six months after my plan started, I found my face thinner and my belt looser and of course, the numbers on the scale were way smaller. All these indicated that my plan was working. I was very proud of myself not only because of the weight I lost but because I was able to follow my plan and stick to my goal. I realized that even if I was thinner and looking better than before, simple dieting may not keep my weight down. I decided to add exercise to the plan and thought of a different path to go along. This time, I’m not only going “thinner”, but I also decided to go “better”. I started with short 30 minute jogging sessions on weekends, for about two months. I increased to four days a week, then finally I jogged every day. At the beginning, it was very difficult to start jogging. I felt it was extremely hard to keep running without pausing in the middle. So I started with half-walking and half running jogs. After two sessions of that, I was able to jog the whole route without stopping. I kept jogging every day in the early morning, and stuck to my plan of getting better every day. Finally, after a whole year since I started my secret program lose weight, the figures on my scale went down from 84 kgs. to 59 kgs. (187 lbs. -131 lbs.). In just a year, I lost 25 kgs. in total! Not only did I become thinner but I also became healthier. Sometimes, I still cant believe this really happened to me. Honestly, I really had no idea if I can achieve that ultimate goal. I didn’t even know if I could even begin the program successfully. It was actually the philosophy of walking while watching that let me start it, adjust to it, stick to it and finally, achieve it. I believe in walking while watching because it led me to right track. Aside from the achievement of my physical fitness goal, walking while watching also led me to adjust well to a new journey in my life, that of studying abroad on my own. Even if to this exact day, I can still clearly remember that on the second day after my high school graduation, after we had a decent dinner at home, my dad told me that I was going to study abroad and got accepted by WVU. I cant forget the serious expression on dad’s face while he was talking to me, and the indescribable feeling of surprise when I heard the news. Before I heard it, I had no idea it would be a reality, even if we talked about me studying abroad after high school. Actually we started talking about it when I was very little. It was my parents who filled out the applications, booked the flight tickets, basically set everything up without my knowledge. They explained it was both of their idea to keep it from me so I can concentrate well on my senior year and enjoy a memorable final year in high school just like other kids. For my parents, this was more important than making me worry about which college to attend. True enough, had I known that I was studying abroad, I would probably have concentrated a lot less on my school life and the National Collage Entrance Examination, which was really kind of a big deal for high school students in China, and poured my efforts in the preparation for my studies abroad. In two months, I finally arrived at Morgantown in the United States of America. Walking down the unfamiliar streets, buildings and people around me, I watched my new world unfold. I had nobody to rely on but myself. I had to familiarize myself with the routines. I missed my student orientation because I missed my bus, not knowing its schedule yet. I was very lonely and homesick. Initially, I began questioning myself if I can overcome all the trials and challenges in my new journey. Was it a mistake coming to the United States and will I ever go back on track? Like the time when I started my fitness program and I wanted to quit in the beginning, my adjustment to my life abroad was the same. Every day, it was tough and I struggled to make myself more comfortable. Looking back, I realize how fortunate I was because even at that lowest point in my life, I did not give up. At night, before I went to sleep, I keep telling myself not to give up.. to keep trying…to keep walking while watching. So I did just that. I carried my dictionary around in my backpack and tried to hone my rusty English so I can communicate with my professors and classmates. I encouraged myself to stay motivated. If my classmates spent an hour studying, I spent two or more hours working on it because I had to understand the language better. I always worked double time to catch up. At the end of the semester, I found myself better adjusted. Things became brighter for me. I felt I was way more capable of school work than when I first started my studies in the States. Thankfully, it seemed everything in my life was getting back on the right track. I learned that most of the time, things may not really look good at first, but if you keep walking while watching, you’ll find out what is waiting for you around the corner, which could be something brighter and clearer. I believe in walking while watching because I learn so many things and meet different kinds of people along the way. In my new life abroad, I started out alone and had to rely on myself for everything because my family was a thousand miles away from me. I had no choice but to try to reach out to other people, to make friends such as my classmates and other people from school. At first, I was shy and just observed them to see how they are and how I could relate to them. I learned so much in doing so and when I was ready, I initiated social interaction with them. Some were snobbish and wanted to stay in their own shells but others were open to accept my friendship. I adjust my pace in establishing new relationships with people according to how they respond to me. “Walking while watching” was in progress again. Soon enough, I had my own circle of friends. Some are Chinese like me, and others come from other cultures but we all managed to enjoy our company together. I guess like me, they were also walking while watching before they approached each other when it was safe enough for them. Now we all click well together and are growing together, facing the challenges that school brings. People from my parents’ generation always advise that we have to be prepared for the challenges that life may throw at us. We have to be ready for possible outcomes of our actions. Personally, I do not agree totally with that. I’m not claiming that preparation is not necessary, after all, opportunities are always for those who are well prepared. However, sometimes, walking while watching can surprise you. Being spontaneous is good. Life is like sightseeing and is best enjoyed walking while watching. Take chances, keep trying, take a different path, change directions when you feel like it so you find the best view for yourself. I believe in walking while watching. I do that in every journey I take. Read More