<p>Prompt: Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud and how does it relate to the person you are?</p>
<p>A Memorable Work Experience That Changed Me</p>
<p>After my family immigrated to America, I realized that my life would be no longer as easy as it was in China. As my family moved into an apartment, the rent became a major problem.</p>
<p>Because my mother was a health care worker with a low income and my father was unemployed, I had to work part-time to help my family. “I have never worked in China; can I work well?” Asked myself. Reluctantly and anxiously, I took a part-time job to make sandwiches in a cafe.</p>
<p>As I had no work experience, I worked slowly and couldn’t finish my work on time. Additionally, I made many sandwiches out of shape and often mixed ingredients mistakenly. For example, I couldn’t discriminate mayonnaise and mustard and used them wrongly. “How can I do better?” Asked myself. Although I tried to improve my work on my own, I still worked badly. Actually, I didn’t understand recipes well and rarely asked my co-workers for help. Also, I could not satisfy the customers because the packs and the shapes of my sandwiches were terrible. So I was usually punished by my co-workers and complained by customers. Because I worked under great pressure, I hated my work. Finally, two weeks later, I was fired.</p>
<p>Suffering this setback, I felt frustrated and disappointed. I asked myself, “How can I help my family; am I a useless person?” After much introspection, I found that I not only worked badly, but also had a negative attitude. When my co-workers taught me how to make sandwiches faster and more nicely, I considered that they were just blaming me and doubting my abilities so I didn’t follow their instruction. In addition, I often complained about my work. So I didn’t make any progress, and so I was fired. In the past, I had usually thought that as I did well in science and loved doing research, I was likely to become a scientist and seldom need to work with others. So I just planed to spend my time alone in laboratories and libraries after I attended college. However, drawing a lesson from this experience, I realized the importance of manners, communication and cooperation. “I should ask not only myself, but also other people who know the ropes.” Said myself.</p>
<p>Since then, I had tried my best to change myself. I became more decorous and communicative. Also, I modestly took advice from other people and willingly cooperated with them. I was pleased to learn a lot from other people, master more useful skills and become more extroverted.</p>
<p>Right now, I work well in a restaurant and earn some money for my family. In fact, just as the proverb goes “a fall into the pit, a gain in your wit.”, I become more mature and independent. I also become more responsible for my family. Without immigration to America and this work experience in the cafe, maybe I will still be gauche and sit around doing nothing.</p>