SAT essay 2

Assignment: Does the success of a community-whether it is a class, a team, a family or any other group-depend upon people’s willingness to limit their personal interests?

If you intend to make a bamboo raft, will you look for those elegant but bent ones? As is known to all, to build a bamboo raft, the bamboos , however beautiful their shapes can be，must be all forged into straight ones with the same length, or they would be dropped. The practice also fits in our human society. Surely, society builds upon every individual’s interests, and every individual’s interests contribute to the communal interests of a society. If a society is to function well and develop in a smooth way, some people are to compromise, coordinate or even sacrifice. As part of a group, we must be willing to see the goals of our group as priorities, in so far as restricting our personal interests for the large benefit of the group.

Examples can be easily arisen from some history facts. Around the year of 400 BC, a most chaotic time in Chinese history, 7 superpowers ruled what is now the mainland of china for over 200 years, using countless conflicts and battles. Zhao, one of the seven, once planned to take revenge on another country. Zhao’s emperor called in Lin, a wise adviser who had offered many practical proposals on diplomacy before, and asked him for some ideas. However, the chief general of zhao, Lian, was disappointed by the emperor’s action, arguing that he was the one who directed the combat with much better suggestions, not someone else that had never seen what a real war is like. Lian felt as if he had been distrusted by the emperor and refused to cooperate with Lin. However, after thinking of his friend’s persuasion that he should put the country’s benefit in the first place as the chief general, he looked into Lin’s strategies carefully and was surprised at that it was a most suitable plan fitting the landscape perfectly. Finally, as the news of winning being sent to the emperor, Lian gave his highest appreciation to Lin as well as his apology, while the strong military strength made for the victory, yet Lin and Lian’s combination contributed so much to the end, which is the reason why the story has, so far, been on everybody’s lips.

While the history fact above indicates my point of view, another movie, Social Network, best shows how personal insistence cracks the “raft”. Mark and Edwardo are two best friends to each other on the Harvard campus, sharing not only a room, but also an aspiration, to achieve a great idea named https://www.360docs.net/doc/0813981035.html,. Mark acts as the programmer and Edwardo is cast as the CFO, a fantastic group in many people’s eyes. However, before the chimera turns into a fact, the best association collapsed, as Mark considers only the rampant clicks on his website while Edwardo keeps convincing him to involve some advertisers who may offer them better financial support. They finally stand for their own choices and end their cooperation with a sad joke. https://www.360docs.net/doc/0813981035.html, seems quite hot today, but the story behind it is such a thought-provoking one. Even if it was only a group of two, it doesn’t mean everything should go on well without any concession. As its customers’ number increasing by thousand everyday, probably so did their sadness inside.

Personal compromises definitely outweigh personal interests in teamwork, and will eventually forge the greatest one. Whatever team you are in, learning to shape yourself to match the spirit of the team is always the best way to fit in.