Personal Narrative: Hi, I Am

Hi, I’m Guthrie. In the early years of my life, I was stubborn and often didn’t listen to authority. Before I came to Fairhaven I went to Mt Rainier Elementary and got into trouble in class for a range of things like leaving my seat and not doing my worksheets, so I repeatedly got sent to the counselor's office, She tried to use boredom make me behave in class. When I would get sent to her office I would sit there for hours and sometimes the rest of the day. My parents told me the school was going to label me with willful defiance disorder, I’m not sure that is the exact term, but a family friend in the public school system warned them that getting categorized as such would not be good. So I came to Fairhaven for a visiting week. I was initially
I play video games in amateur tournaments and leagues. It’s not an activity that garners much respect outside of the gaming community, and you’re likely not familiar with it, but it’s a growing subculture and industry. I’m discussing it because it’s shaped my personality in important ways and hopefully it will help you understand how my mind works. It’s opened me up to critically analyzing myself and being honest about mistakes. I see it as recreational problem solving in which the opponent is the problem or puzzle you must solve. In order to win, one has to break down the entire game into a series of decisions being made by each player that one must predict, and then exploit in order to win. With a high rate of decisions being made per minute, this creates endless levels of abstract strategy that I’ve found great pleasure thinking about, discussing and learning from smarter and better players. The aspect of this I like the most is how challenging the games are when played against good enough opponents and with Elo ranking systems in place this challenge never goes away. To improve I had to honestly analyze my own play and decision making. Ideas and strategies of how to play are objectively effective at winning or not, so ideas and theories of how to play meet a test of reality in a way many other ideas I have don't. This objectivity of
I’m a fairly laid back kinda guy but being responsible for the safety of children is something I can’t help but take very seriously. Lifeguarding has given me very direct skills to solve problems, like how to save someone who’s drowning, first aid or CPR. Before I was a lifeguard I worked at the front desk of the same pool where I had the experience of being a cashier. Working at the pool helped me gain experience in how to function and behave in a professional