My parents have always taught me the value of hard work. They told me that I can never achieve any goal in life without working hard. Last year, my friends and I entered a national cooking competition where we had to make dinner for fifty people. The competition was in Jeddah, and was going to be shown on television. I had never cooked for people before, and I was very nervous. My friends and I prepared for weeks before the competition. We practiced making different foods such as Arab, Chinese, and Italian meals every night. When the food we cooked was not delicious, we changed the recipe and tried again until it was perfect. Finally, on the day of the competition we were ready. That day, we cooked delicious Italian baked chicken, spaghetti, and dessert. Everyone loved our food! We won first place in the competition. I learned that if my friends and I didn't work hard, we would have never gotten first prize.