A Message to Garcia by Elbert Hubbard is story about a man named Rowan who was entrusted

by the Cuban President to deliver a note to the leader of the insurgents. A war had ensued between

Spain and the United States and a letter had to reach General Garcia imperatively. The president chose

Rowan because he had great confidence that he would get the job done. Rowan did not ask numerous

questions about his assignment. His instructions were clear and he knew the task he had to accomplish.

Rowan found a way to deliver the letter despite the difficulty of the assignment. I believe the attributes

Rowan had can influence my career as a future paramedic and my personal life. I can apply those same

characteristics and they can help me as a paramedic student and outside the classroom.

The quote “The fellow by the name of Rowan took the letter, sealed it up in an oil-pouch,

Strapped it over his heart, in four days landed by the night off the coast of Cuba from an open boat,

disappeared into the jungle, and in three weeks came out on the other side of the island having

traversed hostile country on foot and delivered his letter to Garcia” had a big impact of me. I can follow

this same example in my future paramedic career to endure difficult situations presented to me and I

can use it to overcome tough circumstances. There will be times when I am frustrated, tired, over-

worked, or I would like to think of something else rather than EMS. Perhaps I have other issues to attend

to, that sidetrack me from my real goals. Staying determined is a great attribute of a successful

individual and following this example can help me during the paramedic program and afterwards when I

graduate. Striving to find a way is very admirable.

Another lesson I got from the story was about following instructions properly and being

confident when completing an assignment. Rowan was able to deliver the letter because he knew what

he had to do in order to deliver it. This can apply to me in my paramedic career because in the

EMS service we are held to a very high standard. When receiving our education we must trust our

instructors and follow their commands thoroughly. We are learning from experienced teachers who

have been in the service for a long time. They are giving us their wisdom from their experience to

become superb paramedics. We have must not question their lessons and we must be confident when

setting out to complete our instructions. If we don’t follow instructions properly or have silly questions

about the assignment that will give our instructors a notion that you aren’t attentive or that you don’t

listen when they are speaking. Repeating instructions to someone