During my high school years, I faced various difficult obstacles that, to some extent, prevented me from achieving my goals. This past summer I struggled, but I survived the hardest thing I have ever experienced. I took an environmental study trip to the Hawaiian Islands. Although it was the most memorable and life-changing experience I have ever had, it was still extremely difficult and completely different from my laid-back lifestyle. In order to take this trip, I had to write 5 essays on different topics that are currently popular topics in Hawaii. This was quite a daunting task for me as I never had a strong gift for writing. But there was also a journal that had to be written every day, a notebook full of work for each place we went, and the fifteen-page document that we had to write when we returned. I soon realized that this was only the beginning of many arduous tasks to come, as once I arrived on the islands I was introduced to a lifestyle entirely different from the one I live in....