There are many events that transition people into adulthood mine was in my opinion a little unorthodox. When I was a small child about 12 years old I went on a hunting trip with my father, little did I know that it would be a life changing experience that I would remember forever. It all began when my father and I had started packing, it was the first time my father allowed me to pack by myself entrusting that I would pack everything required for a long and treacherous hunt. I was so thrilled that my smile stretched from Hawaii to Maine. As we started to set off my father gave me a reassuring pat on the head. The road was long and I was drowsy I started to fall asleep, it seemed like no time had passed, when I awoke we had arrived.
The cold air brushed against my skin as I stepped out of the heated car, the mountain air was thick and the trees moved with the gentle breeze, we began to unpack and move up the mountain once there we would be hunting, we were determined not to go back until we had caught something. As we climbed up the mountain something caught my eye, an elk standing ominously in the distance its brown fur covered its lengthy body like a wave over an ocean. Its glare seemed to stare directly through my body. I sneaked my way to the ground. My father had already done the same it seemed like the world went quiet as we stared at the elk. “This is your chance take it slow,” my father whispered as we laid motionless. I pulled up the rifle and, bang it echoed through the whole forest it was like my whole body was in disbelief as I saw the elk bolt away. The soul crushing cold began to wash over me as the adrenaline faded.” you can't win them all,” my dad soothingly reassured. We started our way up the mountain again, we set up camp and I ended up doing a lot of the work my father use to do and began to think how odd it was that my father was relaxing so leisurely on the front of a tree. After the camp was made we decide that going fishing would be a relaxing way to end the day. We caught 2 fish but it wasn't very exciting, the next day we set out to see if we couldn't go hunting.
The day was coming to a close and my feet were getting tired, but my father convinced me to continue moving. Just then over a hill we found one, an elk grazing in the open it was too good to be the same one I missed, so I just accepted the one I had in front of me. My father allowed me to take the shot again. I breathed so heavily that it felt like time slowed around me a bead of sweat was dripping down my eye the cross hair was over the elk I slowly squeezed the trigger boom the elk dropped. This was one of the greatest moments of my life another pat on the head and an ecstatic “great job,” from my father.
This adventure taught me many things about life. One of the greatest lessons this has taught me is that if you give up you will never reach your goal, the only reason that I was able to be successful is that my dad didn't let me give up and that taught me that if you just keep trying you will reach your goal eventually. Also that life will put a lot on your shoulders and you have to get up and dust yourself off and keep walking. All this has changed the person I am today for the better.