<p>Please critique my essay and tell me what you think. </p>
<p>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>The Power of Regret
As humans we encounter multiple feelings; feelings such as hope, love, fear, envy, regret and many others. However, none of these feelings are as powerful as the feeling of regret. If you ever have the chance to ask an adult, what the number one thing us they regret it in their life? You will see the change in their facial appearance, the transition from a normal moment to a serious one. The answer you receive will always be serious and sincere. It is something they have dwelled on time and time again yet know they cannot change it. Now, when I ask myself this question it is a little different, because I am asking, what will I regret the most? This answer is relatively impossible to answer because it would involve predicting the future of my almost always evolving self. As I grow older and mature into a new person my likes and dislikes are open to change so predicting what I would regret becomes a major problem. In order for me to try and predict what I feel I will regret later I use a method called the Rocking Chair Test.
The older I get the more I reflect on what the future holds for me; I do it so much that I question if anyone else feels the same way based on all the mistakes I see people repeatedly make. A way of reflecting on what the future holds for me is by using the Rocking Chair Method. During my senior year of high school my English teacher Mr. French (a teacher who I had an immense amount of respect for because of his excellent teaching methods) proposed a way for all of his students to look at life: a way he called the Rocking Chair Method. Imagine yourself an old man, going through your last couple days alive reminiscing on your past as you sit in your rocking chair rocking back and forth. Reminiscing on everything you have done and everything you wish you could have done. Wishes that cannot be undone or fulfilled, all they do is leave a feeling of regret that nags and nags at you like an unrelenting force. Things like wishing to have traveled the world, gone to more ball games, spent more time with your kid etc… Now with all your regrets in mind that you assume you will have, do everything in your power to change them. After applying this concept to my life I realized that life is not about just achieving your dream it is about the journey to it and living without regret once you achieve it.
I did not pick my dream; I feel that it chose me. Ever since sophomore year I have had my eyes on achieving something far greater than the average person ever could. My eyes have been glued on the military as if it is the only thing I can see. My only problem was that I did not know which branch to go into. It was not until I heard of a unique group called the Navy SEALs that I had made up my mind. The moment I learned of what they do, I knew it was a match made in heaven. The fact that it is the most difficult sector to get into did not create any fear in me; in fact it drives me even more to achieve it. After researching it, I came up with the decision that I wanted to enlist right after high school, and that is when I began to slack in school and not put as much effort into my work as I should have. It was not until senior year when Mr. French introduced the Rocking Chair Method to me that I started to alter my current plan. I began to ask myself, what will I regret the most if I do enlist right off the bat and the number one thing was college. I did not want to miss out on the entire college experience and from talking to my mom and 7 other of my family members who graduated from UCLA it sounded like It was the best time of their life. That is when I began to really regret not trying harder in high school because it would have made my college acceptance process far easier. Knowing that I have a difficult road ahead me, I have been extremely focused in school and am ready to take the next step towards a university.
While I was in High School my overall expectation of what I was learning and would retain was pretty low. However, now that I have graduated and matured far more I realize that the majority of material I did learn and retain during High School is far more important than I had originally assumed. Every so often I rerun the Rocking Chair Method to make sure I am on the right path towards a regret free life. Mr. Frenchs English ended up being the best educational experience I received.</p>