<p>Could anyone grade this SAT essay out of a 12? Thank u</p>
<p>Is there always another explanation or point of view? </p>
<p>My mother always says Everything is relative, and I must admit that her words are quite true. What may seem to me, as quite ordinary and normal, may be by someone elses standards, very peculiar. It all depends on the way we look at it. Although sometimes, as in my case, the realization of this is not immediate, and for so long I may have expected that all things were seen in one way. It is not until my trip to Africa, that I understood that it was all a question of habit. </p>
<p>As long as I could recall, punctuality was always fundamental in my country, whether it be for a job interview, a friends get-together, or school. Never did I imagine that it would ever be seen differently. But in the African culture, the notion of time is not the same: everything is done at ones own pace. I remember planning dinners with friends and watching the clock tick and even asking myself if they were ever going to appear. A call or message would have been nice, and for quite a while, was exactly what I was expecting, though I didnt receive any. My friends would show, two hours later! And after a while, I felt the need to understand the reason behind such actions. And I did: I learned that there was no need for them to rush, since their lives did not require them to do so. Never was there any form of stress around them, nor any pressure whatsoever to arrive on time, so the concept of punctuality to them different immensely from mine. I learned that, just across the Atlantic Ocean, there is a whole different meaning to punctuality. While I may feel that a half-hour delay is rude, my friends in Africa would consider this quite on time. Nowadays though, I have grown to respect their point of view and accept it. </p>
<p>I remember another time, while taking a stroll on the beach, I saw a local girl, about my age. She was very thin, almost skeletal, and hardly had any clothes on. I decided to ask her if she needed anything, and her response was just some water please. Expecting to get in return a cup of water, the girl was in tears when I handed her two bottles of fresh water. This moment made me think: something that I take so much for granted, meant the world to someone else. Water, a liquid so ordinary to me, and hardly looked upon, was so very precious to this local girl. This did though, teach me a life lesson: I do underestimate the value of the most important natural resource in the world, possibly because it is so plentiful in my country. While in hers, not only does it exist in little amount, but to get a hold of it is very difficult. </p>
<p>After my trip to Africa, not only did I learn that my meaning of punctuality and my idea of the finest natural resource differ from those of others, as I also understood the causes for these differences. Today, I understand that as much as I may think that there is only one view on one specific issue, I may only need to cross the ocean to prove myself wrong.</p>