English Essay: Analyzing Adversity's Role in Shaping Life and Lessons

This English essay delves into the multifaceted concept of adversity and its profound influence on personal growth and the acquisition of life lessons. The essay begins by establishing adversity as an inevitable aspect of human existence, highlighting its potential to foster maturity and development when approached constructively. It presents two distinct texts: the first recounts a personal experience of a skydiver facing a life-threatening situation, emphasizing the importance of acknowledging problems and embracing new approaches to overcome challenges. The second text, "Neighbours," explores themes of cultural integration and the development of friendships, illustrating how individuals from different backgrounds can find common ground and support each other. The essay uses these examples to underscore the idea that adversity, whether in the form of life-threatening situations or cultural differences, can be a catalyst for valuable insights and personal transformation. The essay highlights the importance of recognizing and addressing challenges, while also emphasizing the potential for positive outcomes and renewed confidence in the face of adversity.

Running Head: ENGLISH ESSAY
English essay
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ENGLISH ESSAY
INTRODUCTION
Life is brimming with triumphs and exertions, crests and troughs, and enormous energy
shifts. It must be noted that this is exactly how life is, and adversity or misfortune is an
inseparable part of the experience named ‘life’. Adversity is a phase of life that majority of the
humankind would like to skip (Jenkins, Madigan & Arseneault, 2015). Nevertheless, adversity
need not always be a negative experience; properly managing adversity is likely to appear as a
blessing in disguise, providing positive and beneficial knowledge that might further prompt
gigantic maturity and development (Ryff, 2014). The hindrances occur because most of the
people fail to deal with adversities in a positive manner. The present piece provides illustrations,
which evinces the fact that adversity gives people chances to take in some intense lessons that
are likely to enable them to enhance their lives and conditions pushing ahead.
Breaking Through Uncertainty—Welcoming Adversity
1 We all question our ability at times. Uncertainty plagues us. It is even more intense if the
ability we are questioning relates to something we have never tried or not succeeded at in the
past.
2 Setbacks are common, but we rarely welcome them. We are inclined to respond negatively to
adversity. It may be time to revisit that reflexive response.
3 I had an experience recently that caused me to reconsider whether a negative response to
adversity is always justified when I was confronted with a life-threatening situation.
4 It was mid-morning on a warm and pleasant Saturday. I was in the midst of my first skydive of
the day. It was my 2123jump since having taken up the sport fifteen years ago.

2ENGLISH ESSAY
5 After about one minute of freefall and
5000 feet above the ground, I parted ways with my fellow jumpers to get far enough away from
them to open my parachute safely. I initiated opening around 3000 feet above the earth.
6 My parachute opened with some twists in the lines between the parachute and me. This is not
that uncommon. What was different this time was that I was not able to clear the twists.
7 The twists in the lines caused my parachute to take on an asymmetrical shape. Receiving
asymmetrical inputs, the canopy did what it is
feet: 1 foot = approximately 0.3 metre

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Page 6
by Jim McCormick
designed to do and initiated a turn—that’s how it’s steered. The problem occurred when the turn
quickly became a rapid, diving downward spiral that was spinning me a full 360 degrees about
once every second. This was a problem.
8 I looked up to assess my canopy and saw something I don’t often see—the horizon clearly
visible ABOVE the trailing edge of my canopy. This meant my canopy and I were now on
roughly the same horizontal plane. In that I could see the horizon behind it, I was actually above
my parachute and it was leading our fast spinning parade rapidly towards mother earth.
9 My first need was to acknowledge that I was not going to be able to solve this problem. This is
not as easy as it seems. Having successfully completed over 2100 jumps without having to resort
to my second parachute, it was hard for me to believe I had really encountered a problem I could
not solve. I had a natural inclination to assume I could fix this problem as I had all those in the
past.
10 Sound familiar? It’s always easy to lapse into denial when confronted with a problem. Until
we acknowledge the problem and our possible inability to solve it—or to use the methods we
have used in the past—we don’t have a chance of making things better.
11 Fortunately, the urgency of this situation caused my hard-headed nature to yield much more
English 12 – 1308 Form A

4ENGLISH ESSAY
quickly than usual. That decision probably took a second or two. The next step, having accepted
the need to follow a different course than in the past, was to determine the course. Fortunately
fifteen years of training and practice before every day of jumping took hold.
12 I looked straight down at the two handles on either side of my chest—one to release me from
my malfunctioning canopy and one for deploying my reserve parachute—and realized I needed
to get them in my hands quickly. I could not help but notice when I made eye contact with them,
as had been ingrained in me during my First Jump Course way back in 1988, that by now the
rapid spins had turned me back to earth and there beyond my toes was once again the horizon.
This was bad!
13 Time was of the essence at this point not only because I was now rapidly progressing toward
the horse pasture below me, but also because the centrifugal force I was starting to experience
would soon make it impossible to get my hands to those two handles.
14 With my hands now securely on the handles,
I was confronted with a bothersome question, “Now, which one goes first?” The wrong order
could cause my reserve parachute to deploy into my spinning main parachute which would result
in an incurable entanglement.
15 Fortunately, ingrained training once again took over and I pulled them in the right order. First
the handle on the right side which released me from my spinning main parachute followed by the
handle on the left side to deploy my reserve parachute. Thus, it may be stated that handling
adverse situations depends on which aspect of the persona an individual brings forth, in a
particular situation. In any case, an individual occupies the driver’s seat in one’s own life and he
or she must be accountable for the task he or she executes every moment.

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16 This brought on a wonderful experience. My malfunctioning black, teal and magenta canopy
was replaced with a bright, yellow never before used reserve parachute. What a lovely sight!
And all this by 1700 feet— plenty of time to spare.
17 Many years ago, I read a book about the challenges and responsibilities of Secret Service
agents. One of the sad aspects of that profession is that agents who never have the chance to
validate their years of training by responding to a threat sometimes struggle severely in
retirement. They are faced with not knowing—with certainty—how they would respond when
faced with the paramount challenge their career can deliver. For this reason, agents who have
faced such a challenge successfully are admired within the culture of the Service.
18 That Saturday morning, I had the privilege of facing a similar, life-threatening and I now
realize life-defining challenge. I faced what Secret Service agents call “the dragon.”
19 For all of us the greater dragon is not the external threat, whether it be an assassin’s bullet, the
unforgiving and fast approaching earth or another challenge. The real dragon is the self-doubt we
carry within us.
20 For those few splendid moments after landing safely, I was able to put my foot firmly on the
neck of the dragon...and it felt great. Keep this in mind the next time you are confronted with
adversity. On the far side of the experiences the adversity presents, there could be a valuable gift
—a renewed confidence and certainty.
Freefall Speed Versus Altitude (factored for air density)
Altitude (feet) 0 2 000
4
000
6 000 8 000 10 000 12 000 14 000
16
000
18 000
Freefall 100.0 103.0 106. 109.3 112.8 116.3 120.1 124.0 128.1 132.4

6ENGLISH ESSAY
speed
(MPH)
2
1
TEXT 2
Neighbours
1 Sally is not a Canadian, but she hopes one day she will be, because she has begun to like this
country and its people. A notice on the library’s bulletin board says that on Canada Day there
will be an outdoor concert in Eglinton Square. So here comes Sally, wearing a cool white cotton
dress with red birds flying, their wings spread out wide. The colours of Canada Day. In front of
the Grand and Toy store there is a crowd. Rows of chairs in the sun, some seats still waiting
occupancy. Three wheelchairs are parked in the back. Sitting down, Sally smiles at the old
couple next to her.
2 “I’m Elizabeth, and this is my husband, Joe,” smiles the old woman. “Go get yourself a free
drink, Miss.” Elizabeth motions towards the front.
3 “Don’t be shy,” adds Joe encouragingly.

7ENGLISH ESSAY
4 Sally feels inadequate; but after watching others drinking from identical plastic cups, she goes
up to the front and picks up a cup of ginger ale on the table. The Salvation Army Band is here:
middle-aged and senior men and women dressed in out-of-date uniforms, looking both funny and
serious. They play a good selection of music that seems to resonate around the entire
neighbourhood. “Do you want to come to our building tonight? We can watch fireworks on the
roof,” Elizabeth says to Sally at the end of the concert.
5 After dinner Sally rings the buzzer to the old couple’s apartment. She doesn’t know exactly
why she has come to visit them, strangers she has met only today. Perhaps they remind her of her
own parents in China, or the old couple she met in Beijing who collected empty bottles and tin
cans for a living, or perhaps it’s because she wants to buy a vacuum cleaner and she needs
advice. The buzzer rings like the hoarse voice of an old man. Then from the speaker comes a
woman’s soft voice. “Is that Sally?”
6 “Yes, Elizabeth, it’s me,” she answers delightedly.
7 “Come up, 903.” The door hisses, opens slowly.
8 Inside the one-bedroom apartment, Sally feels disoriented, thinks perhaps she’ s having an
illusion that she is inside a country farmhouse. The furniture is old and heavy with carvings on
the back of the chairs and on the legs of the table. It reminds her of the furniture her family
owned before the Cultural Revolution. Later the Red Guards threw it into a bonfire. On the
walls, there are framed photos in light brown or dark gray. There is a large balcony outside the
sitting room, but from where she stands, Sally thinks it looks like a workshop. Cultural
Revolution: a time of political unrest in China. The Red Guards were a force meant to stop any
opposition to Communism.

8ENGLISH ESSAY
by Lien Chao
Page 10
English 12 – 1308 Form A
9 Joe tells Sally to make herself at home, Elizabeth offers a choice of tea or coffee. “Because I
was born on April 21 and have the same birthday as Queen Elizabeth II, my parents gave me my
name,” she smiles, “but my husband is not Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh.” She laughs. “So, would
you like to have a cup of English tea?”
10 “I’d love to have a cup of English tea, Madam,” Sally puts on a mock British accent. They all
laugh.
11 Over a cup of Red Rose tea, Sally takes out the latest flyer from Future Shop, the store a few
blocks north. She asks the couple what kind of vacuum cleaner is more effective and less
expensive.
12 Putting on his reading glasses, Joe starts reading the advertisement. He mumbles and
grumbles to himself, shaking his head. “Too expensive, too much money,” he continues to shake
his head as he speaks.
13 “That’s what I think,” echoes Sally, “but we can do nothing about their prices.”
14 “Yes, of course you can.” Joe puts down the ad on the coffee table.
15 “Like what?” Sally asks suspiciously.
16 “If you don’t mind a refurbished model, I have one for you,” says Joe.

9ENGLISH ESSAY
17 Sally doesn’t understand the word “refurbished,” but she understands the second part of the
sentence. Joe has a vacuum cleaner for her. Is he a salesperson? Her eyes quickly sweep over his
face. She cautions herself that she shouldn’t buy anything before first doing her own research.
Meanwhile Joe has stepped out onto the balcony. Shortly he brings in a red vacuum cleaner.
“Here it is, refurbished, this baby is like new,” he beams at Sally and Elizabeth, patting the body
of the vacuum cleaner affectionately. Plugging it into a power outlet, Joe rolls the roaring
machine on the floor like a dancer.
18 Sally doesn’t know what to say. After Joe has turned the appliance on and off and returned to
the sofa to finish his tea, she asks him timidly, “So, how much is it?” She had no idea that this
old man, a neighbour she met this morning, sells secondhand vacuum cleaners in his apartment.
19 “$200, no taxes,” Joe says seriously. Then he bursts out laughing. “A real deal, young lady.”
20 “No, Joe, please don’t joke with her,” his wife interrupts.
21 “OK.” Joe stops laughing. “Sally, didn’t I make myself understood? You can have it, I mean
have it, take it home, if you don’t mind a refurbished model.”
22 “It’s yours if you need it,” Elizabeth repeats.
23 “Really, free for me?” Sally asks, not quite believing. “Thank you very much, I would be
delighted to take it home. But what are you going to use?”
24 “Oh, don’t worry, we have our own. You see, Joe picks up stuff from the dump behind the
building,” Elizabeth says, “you know, residents throw things away, when they are not working.”
English 12 – 1308 Form A Page 11

10ENGLISH ESSAY
25 “But a lot of the times, there is nothing seriously wrong with the machines,” Joe says, raising
his voice for emphasis. “It’s just dust, dirt, you know. People dispose of just about anything
nowadays.” He starts to shake his head again. His wife nods.
26 “So you repair them?” Sally can figure out what happens next.
27 “Yes, he spends time cleaning them up and making them work again,” Elizabeth says. “Then
he gives them away to people who need them. Over there, on the balcony, go have a look.”
28 Getting up from the sofa, Joe motions to her. “Come, come with me, I’ll show you.”
29 Sally follows him.
30 This is not exactly what a balcony is supposed to be, Sally thinks. It’s a workshop. A large
toolbox, a work bench, and a tabletop. On the shelves, built against one of the walls, Sally
recognizes various objects: a manual sewing machine, a coffee grinder, a food processor, an
electrical wok, a few bicycle wheels and inner tubes.
31 “All the appliances here are refurbished and in good working condition,” says Joe proudly.
Sally smiles, her vocabulary has been enriched today with a new word, “refurbished”; she
doesn’t even have to look it up in the dictionary.
32 When they hear the noise of fireworks, Joe, Elizabeth, and Sally rush to the elevator and up
on to the rooftop. Under the starry summer night sky, a cool breeze clarifies Sally’s mind. Young
children and teenagers have brought their music, drinks, laughter, and noise to the rooftop.
Young mothers scream at their kids every now and then. Suddenly, fireworks shoot up in the
distant sky; everybody exclaims.

11ENGLISH ESSAY
33 Sally asks Joe and Elizabeth why they chose to live in a mixed building instead of one for
seniors. “Wouldn’t that be quieter?”
34 “Oh yes, it would be,” Elizabeth answers, “but Joe and I like to live where things are
happening, we like excitement.”
35 “So do I,” says Sally, feeling closer to the old couple than before.
36 “However, having said that,” Joe inserts, “there are problems. In the last few years, some
single mothers have moved into the building with their kids. What do kids do, eh? So, now you
see graffiti inside the elevator and laundry room, you see empty pop cans in the common areas.”
37 “We pick them up, wherever we see them,” Elizabeth says.
38 “But what about their mothers?” Joe adds. “Do they know it’s their responsibility to educate
their kids? Especially, some of them don’t even go to work, they live on welfare. On taxpayers’
money.” Joe hasn’t stopped shaking his head. Sally regrets having started the topic. Now their
conversation is heading towards a dead end.
39 Another splash of fireworks in the sky. Another interval. Sally decides to take a chance. “So,
I guess you won’t like me either,” she looks at Joe and Elizabeth anxiously.
Page 12 English 12 – 1308 Form A
40 They don’t understand. “Why? What makes you say that?” They look puzzled.
41 “Because, because I’m divorced and I’m a single mother,” Sally says quietly. “But I’m not on
welfare. Back at home, I had wished that the state had some welfare schemes to help single
mothers with kids. And there weren’t any. I went through a very difficult period after my

12ENGLISH ESSAY
divorce. Sometimes, in order to save money for food, I walked three hours to get home instead of
taking a bus.” Sally doesn’t know why she tells this to the old couple. It’s not relevant. This is
Canada. People here don’t understand.
42 But for some reason she wants to share her experiences with them, wants them to understand.
So she continues, “Perhaps the single mothers in your building have circumstances you don’t
know about. Perhaps they are struggling against their personal crises. Perhaps they need advice,
just as I did with the vacuum cleaner.”
43 In the open sky there goes the loudest explosion of the night. Hundreds of rockets shooting
up and exploding, tens and thousands of colourful flowers flashing and glittering in the sky.
Sally, Joe and Elizabeth clap their hands like kids.
44 It’s around midnight when Sally bids good night. Joe and Elizabeth give her big hugs and
kisses on the cheeks.
45 Sally walks down Yonge Street carrying the refurbished red vacuum cleaner in her hands. At
the intersection, waiting for the traffic lights to change, she recognizes familiar faces from the
neighbourhood. Tall Kelly is at the northwest corner, selling Outreach, a newspaper sold by the
unemployed and the homeless. At the southeast corner, George, a self-proclaimed Hollywood
agent, sits on the granite steps outside the CIBC branch. George usually asks people who pass by
if they want to go to Hollywood. On the southwest corner, Dave’s hotdog cart is still surrounded
by a large crowd. Sally smiles broadly at her neighbours.

13ENGLISH ESSAY
CONCLUSION
Thus, it may be concluded from the above discussions that to embrace adversities in a
sporting manner one should recognize a few facts that may at first be somewhat hard to digest.
The fact is frequently stated that it is not the occurrences that matter, but rather how one reacts to
what happens, that has a significant effect. It must be noted, with regards to confronting
misfortune, the above-mentioned statement cannot be further from truth. When meeting with
misfortune, one must realize that he or she generally has the flexibility to select the manner in
which he or she will react to individuals, occasions, and given conditions. One can react in an
extremely negative or constraining way, otherwise an individual may react in a more ideal and
beneficial way that might possibly open entrances of prospects, that he or she did not know, ever
existed.

14ENGLISH ESSAY
REFERENCES:
Jenkins, J., Madigan, S., & Arseneault, L. (2015). Psychosocial adversity. Rutter's child and
adolescent psychiatry, 330.
Ryff, C. D. (2014). Self-realisation and meaning making in the face of adversity: a eudaimonic
approach to human resilience. Journal of psychology in Africa, 24(1), 1-12.