5a) Write about a time when you taught someone a skill. Describe what you gained in the exchange, and how that affected your relationship with them.
Until about last year, I had been able to draw very few similarities between my brother and myself. Ever since he was 4 years old, his likes and dislikes were very different from mine. He liked red, I liked black. We enjoyed different sports. There was a ‘rivalry’ in almost everything we did. This made our relationship slightly strained, though still as strong as any other brother-to-brother relationship. However, there was also a bridge between us that we never managed to cross. It made me sometimes think, during my meaner moods, that the two of us were not related at all. I, as the elder sibling by two years, naturally tried to find things that we had in common. Still, I kept turning up blanks. Then, one day, an opening emerged.
I was sitting on my bed, plucking my guitar strings and playing random tunes that came to my head. I was so engrossed in what I was doing, that I did not realise that my brother had been standing at the doorway for about 5 minutes. I continued playing, indifferent to the world around me. Then, my brother gave a slight cough.
The sound brought me back to reality. I turned my head and looked at him. His eyes were occasionally glancing at the direction of my guitar. I asked him, in a slightly exasperated tone, what the matter was. I had originally thought that my mother was asking me to run an errand for her. I was hoping it was not. What my brother then said completely took me by surprise.
He pointed at my guitar and asked, “Could I have a go?”
The question took me aback so much, I sat there with my mouth slightly open, and did not reply. When he asked me again, I became slightly annoyed. For a while, I considered not letting him try. After all, I had been playing, and I had no intention of stopping. However, other emotions repressed my selfishness, and a rush of excitement ran through me. There finally seemed to be a way to connect with him, find something in common between the two of us. I did not waste the opportunity.
I wholeheartedly agreed, and helped him hold the guitar properly, and taught him how to play a few chords. As he played each new chord, I saw a slight grin on his face, and I sensed the fascination in him. Finally, there was something that we both had an interest in, something we shared in common. I could hardly suppress my joy, at having finally connected with my brother, who had always been slightly distant from me. I could feel the bilateral brotherly affection flowing through the bond between us, and the closer relationship brought about in me great satisfaction. The river between us had been crossed, and soon enough, both of us became closer to each other than anyone else. My brother would become my best friend in the world.
We were definitely related. (500 words)
