A View from Mount Ritter

Summary
The article “ A View from Mount Ritter” which was written by Joseph T. O’ Connor when he was just an eighteen-year-old senior high student. This article described how a mountain climbing event changed the way of the life Jo` 1qzseph thought.
In their first week of journey, the weather was nice and there had no cloud in the sky. However, in their second week, the weather changed fast without any prediction. The dark cloud black the bright and blue sky with a bolt of lightning and thunder cracked. The unforgiving downpour lasted long time and they began to seek a place to be their shelter. After having constructed the tents, they found something wrong that they set their shelter on a small island which was around the streams. As a result, they experienced the rain poured down continuous and a small stream made its way through the tent.
During these adventure experiences, the author found that the power of nature was invigorating, fulfilling, and stimulating. This was an important turn for him to change the way of life he thought.
Robert Louis Stevenson said that, “Youth is wholly experimental.” There may be mistakes but also successes in its mean. Joseph chose to ignore the suggestions that parents, teachers gave. He failed to study and addicted in playing soccer. He thought it is unnecessary to do practice and to get good grades. In the first, he didn’t agree with what quoted from Oscar Wilde, “To get back one’s youth one has merely to repeat one’s follies.” But now, he totally agreed with it after he realized the results of his own follies. Joseph changed a lot after experiencing the camping, he become a hard work person and be more responsible for himself.
Response
After reading the article, we can easily find the author used many marvelous words and sentences to describe his journey. The vivid description makes me feel as I was living in the scene that he described. In the article, the author experienced an unforgettable adventure and really learned a big lesson from this chance. The change of the way author thought really affects the entire of his own life. He really turned a new leaf for himself and made some changes in his future. I learned from the story that it is never too late for us to make a change.
Now, I will take my personal experience for example, when I was just a primary school student. I once took a vacation to Yu Shan National Park with my family. This trip really made a big impression on me. I still remember the beautiful scenery in that place, the orange-red sun suddenly appeared from the hill and the spectacular view of sea clouds.
I really believe that nature can cultivate people’s minds. After experiencing the marvelous moment, I told to myself that I should keep an optimistic attitude towards life in the future. I must live as that orange-red sun and with powerful energy all day long. In conclusions, beautiful scenery can relax one’s mind and sometimes it will be an important key to change one’s thoughts from pessimistic to optimistic.