Assignment #5

Ordinary people tend to be risk averse.
Thus,it is difficult to connect things learned from Shackleton's expedition to our daily life. (I'm sure that most of us would not share the same experience of his to sail the most dangerous sea in the world.) However, I believe that every people has potential to experience risks to a greater or a lesser extent. For me, I had never experienced risks as harsh as Shackleton's, but there is one story that I could perhaps share with you relating to this chapter.
When I was in 2nd grade, I went to a trip to New York with my family. Back at that time, I had never learned English before, and so for didn't understand any of the words people were talking. We stayed at a nice hotel in the city, and I got tired playing with my little brother and fall a sleep a little earlier than the usual time. It was almost midnight when I woke up, hearing some shouts at outside. I then found out that my parents were out, and remembered to not to open doors if it's strangers. However, I FELT that something at the hotel was wrong, and I decided to wake my little brother up and opened the door. There, I saw many people running out of their rooms for fire evacuation. I totally didn't understand the situation but I followed the flow of people taking my brother by the hand. When we reached at the lobby, I found my parents crying and asking the staff to go back to their room to pick us up. They told me that they were out for going downstairs to eat dinner, and when they heard the fire alarm rang, they tried to go back immediately, but they weren't allowed for safety reasons.
Thus, it was Risk-taking decision to make, since I had potential that some strangers would kidnap us when I opened the door. Risks might going to happen in the future as well, but I felt it especially important to at least have courage to make decisions, even if I do not understand the circumstances totally.