I had not once learned valuable lessons in life.

One of the life lessons that I learned is to be thankful and appreciate for those that around me. Maybe it is true that we do not appreciate what we had until we lost them and there are moments in life that when you miss someone so much that you just want to pick them out from your dream and hug them for real. I did not experience these until my grandmother passed away. My grandmother was the one that watches me grow up and takes care of me when I was a little girl because my parents had to work and were away from home. She loved me so much that she would do anything for me but I did not realize this until she passed away. Since she was the only adult at home she had to do all the household chores and takes care of me at the same time. Everyday after school, she would wait for me at the doorway and asks me what I wanted to eat for lunch and she would cook the food for me immediately. Every times when I go out to play with my friends she would asks me where I was going and when I'm going to be home, so that she knows when to prepare the dinner for me. As I grow older, I started to hate the way that she waits for me everyday at the doorway and asks me where I was going. I told her that I am older now and that she doesn't have to treat me like a little girl anymore. However, she continued to act the same way as usual. One day when I came home from school and saw her standing there waiting for me, which I did not expected, I was very angry and had a big argument with her. I yelled at her and told her that I am older now and that I do not need her anymore. She did not say anything to me and I ran out the house. I came home very late that night and walk up to my room quietly. I was surprised to find a bow of rice and two plates of dishes on the table in my room. I did not eat the food and dump the whole thing into the trash can. The next morning I woke up early and went to school without saying anything to her. Two months later my parents decided to immigrate to America. My mother told me that my grandmother said that she did not wanted to go with us to America because she felt that she is too old and would just be an encumbrance for the family. I was depressed that I had to leave the place where I grew up but at the same time I was glad that my grandmother is not leaving with us. In the airport on the day that I was leaving, she told me to take care of myself when I get there and it is the first time that I saw her cried. I wanted to cry too when I saw the tears rolling down from her face, but I turn my head away and did not even say good bye to her. After arrived in America, I was occupied with learning English and did not call home to her even though I heard from my parents that she became really sick after we left. I remember that it was on a cold December day when I heard the news from my parents that my grandmother had passed away. After hearing the news, I can not help it and the tears continue to roll down from my face. In my heart, I felt that something that is always there is suddenly gone and I can not stop crying. Four years had passed since my grandmother passed away. Every time when I look at her pictures, the tears just begin to roll down from my face. I felt very regret for never apologize to her for the argument that we had and all the strong words that I had said to her. I felt very regret for never thank her for all the things that she had done for me. If, I had another chance, I would tell her that "I love you grandma."

One of the life lessons that I learned is to always be thankful and appreciate for the people that around me and not take them for granted. Unfortunately, many people, including myself, tend to Maybe it is true that we do not appreciate what we have until we lose them entirely. Then later, there might come moments in our livesand there are moments in life that when you miss someone so much that you just want to pick them out from your dream and hug them for real. Only then, it'll be too late to go back. I did not experience these until my grandmother passed away. <-- rewrite this and make it sound a bit more stronger Be consistent with the use of pronouns. Don't alternate between using "we" then "you" or may be just don't use them at all and keepe it third person My grandmother was the one that watched me grow up and took care of me when I was a little girl because my parents had to work and were frequently away from home at work. She loved me so much that she would do anything for me, but I did not realize this until she passed away. Being the only adult at home, she had to do all the household chores and take care of me at the same time. Every day after school, she would wait for me at the doorway and ask me what I wanted to eat for lunch, and immediately she would cook the food for me. Every time I went out to play with my friends, she would ask me where I was going and when I would return going to be home, so that she knows would know when to prepare the dinner for me. As I grew older, however, I started to hate the way that she waited for me everyday at the doorway and asked me where I was going. I told her that I was now old enough older now and that she didn't have to treat me like a little girl anymore. However, she continued to act the same way as usual . One day when I came home from school and saw her standing there waiting for me as always, which I did not expected, I simply burst out in anger very angry and had a big argument with her. I yelled at her and told her that I was older now and that I did not need her anymore. She did not say anything to me and I ran stormed out the house. I came home very late that night and slipped in to my room quietly. I was surprised to find a bowl of rice and two plates of dishes on the table in my room. I did not eat the food and dumped the whole thing into the trash can. The next morning I woke up early and went to school without saying anything to her. Two months later my parents decided told me we were to immigrating to America. My mother told me that my grandmother said that she did not wanted to go with us to America because she felt saying she was too old and would just be an encumbrance (burden?) for to the family. I was depressed that I had to leave the place where I grew up, but at the same time I was secretly glad that my grandmother iswas not leaving coming with us. On the day of the departure that I was leavingat the airport, my grandma told me to take care of myself when I get there and, for the first time, I saw her cry. I wanted to cry too when I saw the tears rolling down from her face, but I turned my head away and did not even say good-bye to her. For the first several months after arriveding in America, I was occupied with learning English and did not call my grandma even though I had heard from my parents that she became really sick ill after we left. I remember that it was on a cold December day when I heard the news from my parents that my grandmother had passed away. After Upon receiving the news, I could not help it and my tears stream down from my face. In my heart, it finally hit me that something that had always been always there was now gone. I can not could not stop crying as I became fully aware of the terrible truth that I would never see my grandma again waiting at the doorway, however hard I wished for it. Four years have passed since my grandmother passed away. Every time when I look at her pictures, the tears just begin to roll down from my face. Every day I regret for never having apologized to her for the argument that we had and all the strong words that I had said to her in the feat of anger. Above all else I very much regret never having thanked her for all the things that she had done for me. If only I had a second chance I would tell her that "I love you grandma." Except that now it's too late.

When I was young, I used to ask myself, why did God create ants? I wanted to know why God created these tiny, annoying, wanna be cute creatures. But most importantly why did he give them the ultimate power to bite? That was what made me detest ants, their bites which I long suffered from, for playing in the dirtiest of places. It was after one of such bites, that I experienced an excruciating pain- a pain I had never felt before. I then decided to end it all and save the world by killing an ANT. How I took my revenge? I could remember so vividly, I killed them with my bare hands, destroyed their newly built territories from the queens to the labourers, red to black, to the harmless. I know it had to be away from home (I did not want my mother to know I had committed such a crime). I identified a place at our back terrace with a big, old, almond tree. My initial plan was to capture the ant amongst its friends {ha! this will teach it a lesson!}, so that when I bring its dead body back, the ants will feel a great loss. I decided to kill it slowly. I decided to cut off one of its legs with a pin and enjoy my vengeance. But, I was surprised! After cutting one of its legs it started struggling to stand on its other remaining legs. From the way the ant was struggling, I could see that it was suffering from much pain (a pain which I thought then was excruciating than any bite). I was starting to feel guilty. The ant was so determined to fight for its life. It performed a miracle there and then by standing up on its remaining legs and slowly limping away from methe killer. It was then that I learnt my first lesson from the teacher ant that, never give up even in the most uncompromising situations. I was totally ashamed of myself for trying to kill such a hero. Oh my God!, it was dead. After watching the ant for few minutes, to my surprise it was being carried away by two other ants. That did it. Just watching that little ceremony of the two caring ants, carrying a fellow ant was enough to teach me a lifelong lesson, Care for one another. That day, I walked back home very slowly, thinking about my experience with the ant. Later, I saw another strange thing happen again, that sent shivers down my spine. In daddys old chair, I figured an ant carrying a flower stalk as load. I cant believe it myself, but I wasted nearly an hour watching the tiny ant carry the huge load across our back terrace. I was confused about where it was carrying the load to and for what purpose. Several times it was confronted by obstacles and after a momentary pause, it would make the necessary move. Staggering with the load, it came to a crack in the concrete about 0.8 mm wide, at this point my inquisitive eyes were widely opened. Breathless anticipations, the ant stood contemplating for a while; suddenly it laid its load gently across the crack and walked over it, picked it up on the other side and continued strenuously. Can you imagine! I was so fascinated by the ingenuity of the ant and immediately shouted out for my siblings and dad. Daddy was the first to appear but returned on his old tired legs. Alex never showed up, but I gazed at the ant until it finally disappeared with the load. This experience yet gave me another great lesson that we should explore, discover and overcome every obstacle or challenge . Can you imagine God telling us to learn from the ant? So what can we learn? So I say to anyone reading this, I entreat you all to show love and compassion towards one another. For with love, many battles can be conquered. We should also develop a determined attitude to achieve our goal and work as a team and above all never give up. For even the ant, which is more than a million times smaller than we are, has managed to prove its worth. Big blessings really come in small packages. I now understand why God created the ant. I am not so ignorant to think only my intellectual superiors can teach me. If such were the case, then the teacher would learn nothing from its students, the parents nothing from their children and I nothing from the ant.

I have learned a great many things from participating in varsity football. It has changed my entire outlook on and attitude toward life. Before my freshman year at [high-school], I was shy, had low selfesteem and turned away from seemingly impossible challenges. Football has altered all of these qualities. On the first day of freshman practice, the team warmed up with a game of touch football. The players were split up and the game began. However, during the game, I noticed that I didn't run as hard as I could, nor did I try to evade my defender and get open. The fact of the matter is that I really did not want to be thrown the ball. I didn't want to be the one at fault if I dropped the ball and the play didn't succeed. I did not want the responsibility of helping the team because I was too afraid of making a mistake. That aspect of my character led the first years of my high school life. I refrained from asking questions in class, afraid they might be considered too stupid or dumb by my classmates. All the while, I went to practice and everyday, I went home physically and mentally exhausted. Yet my apprehension prevailed as I continued to fear getting put in the game in case another player was injured. I was still afraid of making mistakes and getting blamed by screaming coaches and angry teammates. Sometimes these fears came true. During my sophomore season, my position at backup guard led me to play in the varsity games on many occasions. On such occasions, I often made mistakes. Most of the time the mistakes were not significant; they rarely changed the outcome of a play. Yet I received a thorough verbal lashing at practice for the mistakes I had made. These occurrences only compounded my fears of playing. However, I did not always make mistakes. Sometimes I made great plays, for which I was congratulated. Now, as I dawn on my senior year of football and am faced with two starting positions, I feel like a changed person. Over the years, playing football has taught me what it takes to succeed. From months of tough practices, I have gained a hard work ethic. From my coaches and fellow teammates, I have learned to work well with others in a group, as it is necessary to cooperate with teammates on the playing field. But most important, I have also gained self-confidence. If I fail, it doesn't matter if they mock or ridicule me; I'll just try again and do it better. I realize that it is necessary to risk failure in order to gain success. The coaches have always said before games that nothing is impossible; I know that now. Now, I welcome the challenge. Whether I succeed or fail is irrelevant; it is only important that I have tried and tested myself.