"What does independence mean to you?"
As far as I am concerned, independence indicates that it is me, instead of other people, that should be responsible for myself. What I mean is that when people rely on others, they often tend to escape from responsibilities. Having someone who can always protect and help us, we are inclined to think less, thus evading from difficulties which can actually mature us.
Taking myself as an illustration. Before coming to America for college, I spent eighteen years living with my parents. Living with them, undoubtedly, helped me to grow up, for they could always point out my shortcomings and help me in different situations. Moreover, my parents were great listeners to me because whenever I had problems, I would tell them, and therefore reliving pressure. In a nutshell, it could not be better to live with parents before I came to New York.
After coming to America for almost three months, I gradually began to appreciate the importance of independence. In the first few days, I was not used to cope with all problems by my own and life somewhat disappointed me. Buying milk from convenient stores, getting textbooks and printing out papers all seem to be something my parents should do for granted; however, as time went by, I learned that I should be responsible for those things because this is what independence for. Independence is a stage when I need to take responsibilities rather than throwing them to others. Taking responsibilities will definitely enhance our different abilities, such as critical thinking and problem solving skills. There are times in life when people have no one for help and need to rely on themselves. Independent enough, a person may overcome various setbacks easily; on the contrary, other people may wade through thousands of difficulties before reaching their goal due to lack of independence.
No deep and accurate understanding will we gain if we do not know how independence works. Sometimes independence is a shortcut for people to succeed because the more independent we are, the more responsible we are, and then the better we are. 