Narrative Essay Example: My First Volunteering Experience

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Lorainne
Oct 2, 2019

If tasked to write about a memorable experience, there is one act that you have to do effectively – narrate. Narrating is the by-product, though. Prerequisite to narrating is a brain dump of all your recollections and organization thereof. For optimum results, there is no better avenue to take than writing a narrative essay. From the root word ‘narrate,’ you will have to narrate a particular event in your life that made a huge impact on you or influenced you to be the person you are today. If you are having a hard time writing a narrative essay , or if this example does not equip you with the knowledge, you should browse various narrative essay examples to see how a narrative essay should be written. Still, we most certainly hope that this narrative essay example gives you insight on how you can write your own narrative essay.  

Sample personal narrative essay

My First Volunteering Experience

   My first volunteer work opportunity was in a rice field. My group and I woke up really early as we had been told that we were going to plant rice and help the farmers. We woke up at 3:00 A.M. because we had to reach the destination by 6:00 A.M. We were warned about the need to be there as early as possible because the sun at noon was almost unbearable. I had a hard time preparing because I was not used to waking up that early. We took the bus; it was a 2 hour ride. The road leading to the rice field was so narrow, so we had to alight from the bus and walk a mile towards the area we were going to work at.

   When we reached the rice field, we were instructed to transfer the rice plants to the machine. We all helped out thinking it was easy enough, and in the process, we actually experienced what the farmers experienced every day in order to make a living—it was very hard, transferring rice plants to the machine in order to obtain rice was more difficult than I thought. All of us had scratches and itchiness up against our arms, we were pouring sweat out of our bodies, and we all were getting thirsty every now and then, to the brink of almost collapsing. That task alone was already hard—what more if we actually harvested the plants ourselves? The longer we stayed, the harder it got. Noontime was the hardest part; it was scorching hot. In that hour, the temperature almost reached 50 °C. We were then instructed to rest.

   Despite all the hardships we experienced, we had fun and acquired significant learning. Seeing the world from their perspective was an unparalleled eye-opener. The hardships and exhaustion that the farmers experienced and still experience every day is unimaginable. To think that this was just a day, nay, a few hours, we already had scratches on our arms and we were already complaining about the heat, yet this is what the workers in the field encounter every single day of their lives. It taught me to be more thankful for that things I currently have, and to not waste any food I eat. The work these farmers do is probably the noblest yet most physically challenging jobs. The things they have to go through is almost unbearable—all of those for a meager amount. We had a hard time, and all we had to do was transfer the plant to the machine. What more if we actually did the whole process? Nonetheless, we actually enjoyed the experience because we got to help out with help our farmers to produce a basic necessity. As Gandhi once said, "Be the change you want to see in the world." Even though we only helped out for a few hours, we felt that we made an impact and we learned a lot from this experience. 

   The volunteering program my school arranged gave us students insight of what the real world is through helping out and reaching out to the country’s farmers. Although I initially thought we were going to plant the rice seeds ourselves, I’m still happy with the whole experience and I felt that we were really able to help the community. Even though it was very hot that day, and we were all extremely exhausted, I loved the feeling of helping this community and serving the people who are in need. I also realized how privileged I am: I don’t have to go through all that hardships everyday just to be able to eat—this experience really humbled me. If I will be given the chance to do it again, I will do it in a heartbeat. 

   I believe that students must be more exposed to volunteering because there is so much to learn beyond the four corners of our classroom. Learning doesn’t stop at listening; sometimes you must engage yourself in activities you don’t usually encounter and sometimes you must try what other people do in order to understand their struggles, to view things from their vantage point. Activities like this are the gateway to developing compassion, a value everyone should have. 

Narrative essay writing help for students

In a narrative essay, you don’t have to use formal words just to beautify the essay. Leave that to descriptive essay writing. What you must do is try to be as detailed as possible, and make sure that the flow of the events is clear. If you are having a hard time narrating an event, you can first try to list everything that happened, then proceed to writing the draft leaving out some information that are not necessary as it could only add confusion to the readers. If it’s your first time writing a narrative essay, you can look for a narrative essay example similar to your experience and follow its flow. If you had written you narrative essay and you still aren’t satisfied with your work, you can always seek professional essay help, like many students do. Online writing services like CustomEssayMeister provides custom writing services to students who are having a hard time writing their academic papers. Let us know your custom paper requirements—our expert writers are waiting.  

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