Parents have a bigger role in your life than you may think. Last summer, I went on a choir tour with my choir, Princeton Girlchoir. When I signed up to go on this trip, I thought that I would have no trouble taking care of myself. Boy, was I wrong. I never realized that I would have so much fun there and learn things at the same time. I also never realized how hard it would be until I went. Between missing my parents and having to live in the same room as three other girls, it was hard. I learned there that there are many parts to responsibility. One part is spending money; another is being responsible for not only yourself, but also for your group.

The first thing I learned when I travelled to Hawaii was to manage your money well. My parents had given me $300 before I left and when I came back, I barely had a dollar left, in addition to the money that was already in my wallet! I had spent most of my money on my family, because I knew that we were probably not going to be able to go back to the Aloha state anytime soon. I wanted to buy them souvenirs. I didn’t think when I bought and used my freedom of purchasing unwisely.

When we were coming back from Hawaii, we had to purchase our own breakfasts at the airport when we had to switch planes. I scraped up a few dollars to buy snacks for me and a couple of more dollars so I could buy candy and take it back to my brother. Then, I had to borrow money from my friends to buy myself breakfast. What I learned after the trip was that money does not appear anytime you need it. You need to spend wisely.

Another lesson I learned when I went on this trip was that you are responsible for not only your own well-being, but for others. On the trip to Hawaii, we picked out groups and traveled around with them when we went anywhere for sight-seeing. Once, we went to see and play on a beach where Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides was filmed. There was a mini-mountain made of rocks on the side of the beach. Naturally being curious and adventurous, my group and I decided to climb up the rocks only a tiny bit. I went about halfway and then my fear of heights kicked in and I scrambled down. However, one of my friends (who seems to have no fears at all) wanted to climb up the whole thing of rocks. Even though we screamed and yelled and pleaded, nothing would stop her. She clambered up the rest of the way. Although very often she would slip slightly or lose her balance, she pushed stubbornly and made it to the top of the rocks. On the way down, she faced the biggest slip of all the slips she had faced. She slid down about three feet, and then stopped. I then realized that if my friend had fallen off and gotten seriously hurt, I and the rest of my group would’ve been responsible. From then on, I made sure none of my group did anything dangerous, or if they did, we did it all together so we could look out for each other.

My experiences in Hawaii were incredible, but if I had lived by myself for more than two weeks, I would definitely be broke and dead! My parents fed me everyday, gave me allowance, and bought things for me. I still haven’t gotten used to living alone, as it was only fourteen days, but I had definitely gotten the taste of it. Your mom and dad push you along so you can succeed and keep you alive. We are very lucky to have parents, so don’t take them for granted!