Research Papers Simplified - Laramie County Community College

and abilities. For example, I learned much of my selfconfidence
as a young man when I guided whitewater rafting
trips on the Colorado and Roaring Fork Rivers. As a guide, I
was ultimately responsible for quickly training and then
leading a group of paddlers on a whitewater rafting trip. I
developed a degree of self-confidence that helped me to
survive the challenges of college, work, and life in general.
As a guide, I enjoyed witnessing a crew member ’s selfconfidence
grow in a matter of a few hours on the river.
Without a doubt, river running teaches self-confidence,
necessary for success in any career.
River running helps to build one’s problem-solving skills.
Most well-planned river trips involve few real problems;
however, an occasional safety situation arises that needs to be
addressed. For example, I remember a whitewater rafting trip
when I got off line in a major rapid and lost one of two large
oars just seconds before descending into a half-mile stretch of
continuous and intense whitewater on the Colorado River.
Losing an oar before a major rapid is like a bird losing the use
of its wing in mid-air: the problem needs to be solved
quickly! I had to quickly and calmly instruct my crew to use
their much smaller and less effective paddles to help navigate
the first part of the rapid while I unstrapped the spare oar and
slid it into the oarlock and regained control of the boat. This
is just one of many examples where I needed to solve
problems very quickly on a river-running adventure. All of
these experiences have contributed to my development of the
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