Many people believe that the biggest lessons come from major events, but the most meaningful ones often arrive in unexpected ways. I learned this one morning when a small disagreement over a phone charger turned into an unexpectedly significant lesson.

On a typical school day at around 7:10 A.M., a loud thud echoed throughout the house. At the source of the noise was a shattered phone, surrounded by numerous pieces of broken glass. The beginning of this whole incident occurred about 20 minutes earlier when my sister and I were downstairs waiting for our breakfast.

I realized that my phone was only at 6 percent battery. Staring at my sister’s phone, which was still charging at a high 70 percent, I asked her if I could take her charger, reminding her that her battery was fine. She responded with a harsh no, and I felt confused about why she wouldn’t let me use it. This small refusal led to an intense argument that escalated to the point where my dad got involved. I thought that my dad’s involvement would finally allow me to claim victory in this ongoing dispute, but I was stopped dead in my tracks when he refused to listen to me, no matter how hard I tried to justify my situation. The next thing I knew, my phone ended up in a ziplock bag, mangled with multiple sharp edges sticking out.

A few minutes before I left for school, after the incident occurred, my dad came to my room to teach me a lesson that I still think about in my daily life: I should learn to find other ways to solve my problems if they are truly important to me, and that preparing my phone the night before would likely have prevented the whole mess I made.

One of the first feelings I had after the incident was regret. I realized that I might not be able to get another phone until I graduated from high school, as my dad had already warned me that I wouldn’t be able to get another one if I wasn’t responsible with it. This regret made me feel the weight of the situation and how it could have been prevented. After hearing what my father had to say, I realized that what he was trying to teach me could have completely avoided this situation in the first place.

Those weeks without a phone made school life difficult, given how dependent schools are on technology these days. Then one afternoon, my dad handed me a new phone-something I truly didn’t expect after everything that had happened. It wasn’t just a replacement; it was a reminder that I could learn from this experience instead of merely regretting it. His willingness to give me another chance motivated me to take his words seriously, and ever since, I’ve tried to approach problems with more responsibility and a calmer mindset.

<Andrew Hwang 서니힐스 고교 11학년>