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Question: Describe an experience in which you overcame a challenge. What did you learn from the experience?
Written by: Kat Webber
Arriving in Dublin Airport at 5:30 a.m. on a Sunday, my three companions and I were determined to make our way to the hostel we would be staying in for the first week of the semester. We retrieved our luggage and passed through customs just fine, and were even able to find taxis due to the early hour.
As there was not enough room for us and all of our luggage in just one taxi, I got into a taxi with one of the boys while the other two claimed a separate taxi. I told the driver the name of our hostel, but to our deep dismay and worry he had never heard of it. He asked us where it was located and we told him the street, but he didn’t know where that was either.
By now, our anxiety was high, and as we hurtled towards the city on the wrong side of the road, the driver asked if we had a number for the hostel. Fortunately, I remembered that I had written it down on one of my many sheets of paper containing information vital to this trip, so I pulled out the folder and began rifling through it to find the correct page.
Luck was with me, and I found the number for the driver who called the hostel and managed to figure out where it was (apparently not everyone refers to the street by its full name, so the driver was confused). After that, we were able to get there with no trouble, chatting pleasantly with the driver and learning as much as we could during the drive.
From this experience I learned that it is always best to be prepared and to take the proper steps to ensure that everything will go smoothly. If I had not written the hostel telephone number down, it might have taken us a lot longer to find it. Though with the taxi drivers being so nice, I doubt it would have been unpleasant, but it definitely would have cost more.
When traveling, it’s always best to plan for the worst and expect the unexpected because you never know what’s going to happen. You can plan all you want, but there are circumstances out of your control. For instance, the taxi driving the other two guys that had arrived on the same plane with me managed to find the hostel without any trouble. Most of the time, it’s just luck, so make sure to plan when you can.
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