Summary:
Joseph T. O’Connor is a senior high school’s student who talks the experience of climbing Mount Ritter which became a turning point in his life.
Joseph was a stubborn and rebellious teen, drowning in his daydream, refusing anyone’s advices and thinking he can do everything perfect without preparation and without anyone’s help.
During the mountain expedition, the weather became terrible─black sky, hailstone pelting, thunder echoing, and lightning striking. The most risky danger was the suddenly raging stream which made them like to stand in a small island. Therefore, they had to foot in knee-deep water to seek dry place to set up camp. Then, they were as rigor mortis and shiver in the wet sleeping bags.
After the desperation, he saw the glistening sunrise on the top of Mount Ritter. This was a invigorating, fulfilling, and stimulating experience in his life, making him to think about a serious topic of “life after high school.” He found he hadn’t consider what the effects caused by his behaviors and decided to buckle down in the final year in high school.
Such as Jonathan Harker wrote: “No man knows ‘till he has suffered from the night how sweet and how dear to his heart and eye the morning can be.” After the hard experience, Joseph turned to a new person and worked hard.
Reflection:
This is a story which changed the writer’s life and thinking. If the writer never experienced all the hardships and dangers during the way to surmount the top of Mount Ritter in northeastern California, he may still lose in his daydream and never consider of his future. Because of this trip, he understood he must be work hard and success is not so easy to get.
This article reminds me a movie-Monga, talking about a gang’s crazy life of youth and how them growth on the moment their brother was skilled. For me, youth is vigorous, enthusiastic, and aggressive. Therefore, if we use these characteristics on the bright side, we can achieve success easily. However, like Robert Louis Stevenson wrote ”Youth is wholly experimental”, youth must experiences something to force them to grow. Somehow, I feel youth sometimes with kind of folly and they tend to do what they like to do without caring about others’ advice. Until they fall down, they will learn a lesson. Maybe that is the way-falling down and standing up by themselves-how them grow.
From this story and some movies, I know one’s growing up must taste some bitter. As same as worm which transforms to butterfly must during hard metamorphosis. Consequently, sometimes after youth experience something will learn a lesson as Jonathan Harker wrote: ”No man knows till he has suffered from the night how sweet and how dear to his heart and eye the morning can be”. After the hardship, the writer knew the fabulous life he has owned.
It is true that travel can affect people a lot. When we go to travel, we can see the many things that we had never saw or heard. Even though Taiwan is a small island, we should spend more time to explorer our own country. Though small perfectly formed. We have a high mountain like Yushan, and we also have a highest skyscraper, 101, in the world. When I was child, I had an experience to visit town, Jioufen. Jiufen was only an isolated village before, when gold was discovered in the area. The resulting gold rush hastened the village's development into a town. When the gold rush disappeared, the town had became desolate. The building of Jioufen still has an old style. It shocked me because I gad never a building like that. So when went back, I began to explorer the history of the little town. It was an interesting experience that I found how abundant the history is. Travel can expand our vision and knowledge, it may also change our life.
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