In the summer of 2018, I had the terrifying experience of my life. I planned to go out with my friends on a beautiful sunny day. We went on a trip to Michigan's Adventure. I thought it would be an exciting day for me, but everything was out of my control. I had never felt so scared in my life.
After coming back from my extended summer vacation in Vietnam, I was planning to travel to Chicago with my friends. But due to job reasons, we couldn't have a long time for a trip. So, we changed our plans and decided to go to Michigan's Adventure in Muskegon County, Michigan. It is a long-standing entertainment district. It was originally founded in 1956 as a zoo. But until 1988, it was renamed Michigan's Adventure. That shows the amusement park has not stopped and continues to grow until now to attract guests of all ages and to bring joy to them.
Save your time!
We can take care of your essay
- Proper editing and formatting
- Free revision, title page, and bibliography
- Flexible prices and money-back guarantee
It took us about fifty-three minutes to arrive. Although I have been in the United States for almost four years, this is the first time I went to this amusement park. So, I was impressed by its brilliant appearance and flashiness. Its bustle mixed with the airy, making everyone come here feeling refreshed and relaxed. Its area is vast, and it divides into two regions. The games will be arranged in front to make customers when they first enter easily feel the appeal of it by roller coasters, giant wheels and flying games, etc. In the rear is the water games area. I think this layout is ingenious. Because most passengers will start the game that they were impressed by at first glance. They will then look to water games to soothe the heat of the weather and begin to relax. So, we chose a roller coaster game 'Corkscrew' to start the day exploring this place. Everything seemed reasonable until we got on the ship to prepare to play. I began to feel nervous, my heart pounding and chilling. I began to comfort myself because this is not my first time playing roller coaster. But I swear I think I held my breath during that game.
When the roller coaster had just started, I could open my eyes to observe, and my breathing began to get more evenly because the speed at this time was nothing scary. But then after a few seconds, the roller coaster started to go faster with reversals and to whirl in a spiral. My eyes could not open at that moment, they were utterly closed, I began to grit my teeth. I caught my breath, and my body started to freeze as if trying not to fall off the train. I was trying to stay calm and relaxed while being frightened is not easy. While my body was trying to hold on, my mind had a flashback of a movie I had seen. That is the movie 'Final Destination 3', an American horror film directed by James Wong. It's about a high school girl and her friends going to an amusement park. They were playing the roller coaster once she dreamed that the roller coaster would derail and fall; everyone will die. After awakening, she talked about what she saw in her dream, and she advised everyone to leave that roller coaster. Although she helped people escape death, it wasn't long before everyone had to pay for that escape. Fear welled up when I thought of the scene that would happen to me. The roller coaster started to slow down to prepare to enter the stop. At that moment, I could open my eyes but still could not breathe again until the roller coaster completely stopped at the station. When the roller coaster came to a complete stop, the seat belt began to open. I was the one who stood up the fastest and left that game area first. I feel like my mind and body seem to be dead. I just want to get out of there and forget about my personal belongings. My friends had to bring it for me.
It was the first time in my life that I felt so scared to breathe, and my heart seemed to stop. I could not determine what my fear was. If people say I'm afraid of death, that's completely wrong. I still remember when I was little, it was a summer outing. I accidentally slipped into the hotel pool, but no one discovered that. I struggled until my father saved me. After that incident, I was not wholly obsessed and afraid of water. Although up to the present time, I still can't swim, I always enjoyed playing underwater or sailing in the middle of the lake without a life jacket.
To talk about fear, there are many fears in human life. Based on a post by Corinne O'Keefe Osborn, “A phobia is an irrational fear of something that’s unlikely to cause harm. The word itself comes from the Greek word 'phobos', which means fear or horror”. It shows that although what we are afraid of will not be harmful, it can cause obsession and affect the daily activities in our lives. Most phobias are common in adults, but not everyone can identify the causes of that fear. From that article, we can see that for common phobias, we can easily confirm this: for example, hydrophobia - fear of water, acrophobia - fear of heights, hemophobia - fear of blood, etc. Unlike different phobias, we can hardly identify the cause of fear because the factors are too usual, for example, alektorophobia - fear of chickens, cryophobia - fear of ice or cold, etc.
As for what I've felt throughout the game, I can verify that my fear is acrophobia. It comes from my obsession with horror movies I've seen, so I always think they will happen to me. I have thought many times that I would avoid things related to that fear. But it seems that fear is making me miss out on the great things, the exciting things that I should try and feel. To overcome my fears, I have been attempting to look up a lot about how to overcome them and cure my anxiety. And the results were achieved beyond my expectations. There are many ways I can apply them; one of them is a combination of treatment and medicine. According to the research of Antoine Verger et al., “Brain metabolism and related connectivity in patients with acrophobia treated by virtual reality therapy”, they use virtual reality to create a treatment course and rely on the brain's metabolism to determine the effectiveness of the treatment process. Initially, the patients will be treated with medication and psychiatric therapy for about eight weeks so that the patients can stabilize themselves. They then began to combine with exposure to virtual reality called 'VRET'. Background in the virtual world will have a bridge made of colorful wooden planks; it is set between two high hills. The bridge will have no handrails and strikingly colored wooden planks will be considered gaps. The patient must cross the bridge. At the same time, the instructor will use the scanner to observe the metabolism of the patient's brain, as well as the areas affected by fear. Throughout the process, the instructor will assist patients in overcoming their doubts by asking questions and giving advice. This course will take about two months, and of course, the results are valid if cured acrophobia. Patients can overcome the fear they are suffering.
But people will think about whether their fear is necessary to use and spend a lot of time on that treatment. There is still another solution, which is I must overcome fear by myself. Based on the article of MacNeil and Charlotte Haigh, “You might need an action plan to get over your fears so you can achieve the things you readily want to do”. That plan will help me learn to stay away from negative thoughts and stay calm before everything is happening, not try to hold on to negative thoughts, and I will fall into an uncontrollable self. Next, I will write or think in my head about the reasons that scare me and the evidence that these things will happen. I would then realize that it was the absurd phobia that I always thought was true and that it was reality.
Typically, after the fear of roller coaster games, I did not want to participate in any other games. Although my friends advised me a lot, I still refused. But after a long time later, when we arrived at the water play area, I felt the fear begin to pass. So, I decided to join my friends on the water slide. While playing this game, my feeling of dread almost repeated. But I try not to think of other thoughts in my head and try to blend in with my surroundings. But I failed, I still close my eyes, don't scream, and tried to brace myself. But I didn't give up and decided to play it a second time. I have set a goal for myself to open my eyes and be able to scream whenever I feel scared. And the second time I overcame my fear, I started to feel more relaxed and relaxed with the rhythm of the waterfall. The feeling when playing is really refreshing and extremely enjoyable. So, I was able to join and relax with my friends in other games later.
At the end of the day, my friends and I have dinner and take souvenir photos. It was a beautiful trip to Michigan's Adventure, and it was also a day full of memories of what happened, as well as my fear. More specifically, I've gained experience and can overcome my fears by facing them. It also proves that everyone can overcome their fears if they are willing to face challenges to challenge themselves and conquer new experiences.
Works Cited
- Champion, Brandon. Looking Back at Michigan's Adventure Amusement Park, Deer Park Through Photos, 20 Jan.2019, www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/2015/05/looking_back_at_michigans_adve.html
- Osborn, Corinne O. Common and Unique Fears Explained, 3 Jan.2019, www.healthline.com/health/list-of-phobias
- Verger, Antoine, et al. Brain Metabolism and Related Connectivity in Patients with Acrophobia Treated by Virtual Reality Therapy: An 18F-FDG PET Pilot Study Sensitized by Virtual Exposure, 2018, http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13550-018-0446-9#citeas
- MacNeil, Charlotte H. 'OVERCOME Your Fears'. Health & Fitness, 06, 2015, pp. 45. ProQuest, http://grcc.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.grcc.idm.oclc.org/docview/1680664931?accountid=11183
Stuck on your essay?
