A DIY Journey: Giving Myself a Chance

(Introduction: When my washing machine broke down, I embarked on an unexpected DIY washer repair journey. What started as an impulse turned into an empowering experience, proving that growth starts with giving yourself a chance)

Good evening, fellow Toastmasters and honorable guests!

My name is Wendy. I’m originally from China, and my husband is too. Earlier this year, my husband went back to China to visit family, planning to stay for at least two months. To help you understand my story better, here’s something you should know: in our household, I’m the cooking person, and my husband is the maintenance guy. I rely on him for anything involving tools. Yes, I consider him a handyman—although a bit bossy at times—while labeling myself as someone “not good with hands.”

An unexpected problem

At first, I enjoyed myself. “A little break from him!” I thought, was actually nice—until something unexpected happened. My always-dedicated washing machine suddenly started slacking off. It refused to move forward whenever it reached the drying cycle. Maybe it wanted a break too!

Naturally, my first instinct was to call my handyman husband, who was not very handy at the moment.

“Get a new one,” he simply said. “It’s too old to fix.”

“But,” I protested, “everything else works fine. Don’t you think it’s worth a try?” After some back and forth, he snapped, “Okay, go ahead and try if you want.”

Great—so much help from the handyman!

Diving into DIY

Annoyed by his attitude, I decided I would give it a try,  not feeling very confident though. Fortunately, the omnipotent internet is always there to help. Soon, I found tutorials addressing the issue. Fantastic! I immediately cheered up. “You think you always know better? I’m going to prove you wrong!” I started working right away, visualizing my husband’s expression when I told him I had fixed the machine.

The tutorials suggested that a clogged filter was often the culprit, but its location—front or back—varied by model. Based on my research, I determined ours should be in the back. I asked my son to help me remove the back cover. To our disappointment, the filter wasn’t there.

It took us more than an hour to put the cover back on. Aligning all the screws with their assigned spots was a nerve-wracking process. When we aligned the top ones first, the bottom ones wouldn’t fit; when we started with the bottom, the top ones were off. While we felt frustrated, the message was clear: things aren’t as simple as they look. Practice and experience surely make a difference.

Challenges along the way

After some further searching, we managed to locate the filter at the front. Before removing it, I carefully tied some plastic bags around it to catch the water, as the tutorials advised. Sure enough, the filter was clogged with dirty stuff. “No wonder,” I thought.

But wait, why was there water on the ground? Oh no—the plastic bags had broken!

“Quick, grab a container!” I told my son, but nothing fit the spot to catch the water. We were having a flood! “It’s okay,” I assured my son. “At least those old blankets I’ve kept for years can finally be put to use!”

At last, we got things under control, cleaned the filter, and reassembled the machine. Now, it was time to find out—would it work? I held my breath and turned on the machine.

Guess what? The miracle… didn’t happen.

Lessons learned

My son lost interest, but I didn’t. I became obsessed. Over the next few days, I poured all my spare time into the project, even giving up watching my favorite show. I found more videos and followed them to check all possible causes of the problem. Still, no luck. Then, a friend recommended a mechanic, who concluded that the spider supporting the drum was broken. “It’s not worth repairing,” he said. At that point, I could see that the drum was out of place. I should have noticed it earlier if I’d been more experienced.

So that’s the story of my unsuccessful DIY washer repair. Do I regret going through all that trouble in vain? Not at all. I actually found the whole experience fascinating! It was fresh, exciting, and, best of all, empowering. I even feel like I have more control over my life now. You see, I had never touched an electric screwdriver before, but by the end of this process, I was using it like a handyman!

Conclusion: growth starts with trying

Looking back, I realize the label “not good with hands” was just an excuse I’d made for myself all these years. The real issue wasn’t a lack of skills—it was a lack of trying. This experience taught me that giving myself a chance is the first step to self-growth.

The funny thing is, when I thought about all the opportunities I had turned down, I realized my husband had been the biggest beneficiary. That’s how he became the handyman!