This I Believe.
Our beliefs are really the foundation of our character. What we believe becomes what we act on, and what we act on is what represents us to the rest of the world. Over time, some of our beliefs can be influenced to change, while we steadfastly hold on to others. In my 'This I Believe' essay, I hope that you can learn about one of the beliefs that has shaped my character and driven me to step gradually out of my shell to achieve my dreams.
You know that one piece of candy in the bag that’s especially small or large or strangely shaped? I believe in that piece of candy. I believe in it because even after going through all of the attempts at conformation that a factory implemented to produce it, it still comes out with some individuality. I believe in that kind of perseverance to maintain individuality.
I hope that I can be that piece of candy, a seemingly low aspiration, I know. But it really isn’t, because it takes a lot of work to come out of a ‘factory’ with all of the values, quirks, and ideals that make you up. After experiencing over 12 years of schooling and entering college, I am a little afraid. I’m afraid that I’ve lost a part of myself. I’m afraid that I’m going to continue losing parts of myself until I forget how to be myself again.
As I look back on each transition-6th grade to 7th grade, 12th grade to college-I feel like I’m focusing more on what the ‘factory’-parents, school administration, society-wants me to focus one. Why should I only care about getting the right grade, the right major, the right career, and have to leave behind the Powerpuff Girls because they’re ‘childish’. That world has such a bad connotation. Growing a year older doesn’t really make people dislike something, it just makes them push it further and further back into their minds.
I think that I should be able to embrace anything that I’m passionate about, anything that’s a part of my personality, and use it to motivate me in school and work and life no matter what age I am. I believe that people often enter the ‘real world’ after losing themselves to concerns about the future, and I don’t want to be one of those people, one of those candies that are the same as every other one in the bag. I want to be vibrant, and I want to help others be vibrant, because I believe in the power that individuality has to create a sincere society that admires those who express themselves.
Final Presentation
1. This significant thing that happened to me this past semester has been both an event and a revelation. It was the physical act of moving away from my home and family that made me realize that this is it, I am in the act of growing up. It was like I was in an odd half-state for the first month, in which I was subtly expecting to go back to high school because this couldn’t possibly be it. College had been looming on the horizon for far too long, probably since 7th grade, for it to actually be happening. This is such a big shock, not necessarily bad, that I haven’t even fully grasped it and the first year is halfway over.
2. It isn’t really the distance that makes this move so significant for me-my house is only 20 minutes away. I know that some people will roll their eyes at this because they have moved much farther, and I am not trying to undermine that. For me in particular, it is the surroundings of daily life that make it so strange. I’m not saying that it is a bad thing at all. I am enjoying this new freedom responsibly. It’s just that I have grown up in a very family-oriented atmosphere, where much of my social activity has been attributed to my family dragging me out places. That’s why it is just hard to get used to not having my sister, mother, father, and cat just being here all the time.
3. To represent this event/revelation, I have written a free-verse poem that sums up my feelings of this significant change in my life. It is most accurately described as a combination of me looking back on my impressions of first semester and my introspection during that time. I chose to write a poem because it is a very easy form of expression for me. I have always been much better at showing myself through my words than through anything else. The poem that I have written conveys the images and analogies that come to my mind whenever I would think about what this means to me.
You Let Me Know
I was
Just falling asleep
And thinking
That’s not my address anymore
I was
Just walking back from class
And thinking
I call here home now
I was
Just putting my boots on
And thinking
These people are my routine
I was, I am, I’m not, really
Hello at the same place
I’ll see you next week
Do I know you enough yet
Will you let me know when I do?
When am I going back
When-is this not a movie
Or was it a summer camp?
I think I dreamt about it once
Remember
Write it down, leave it on the shelf
To study later
Pick it up, it’s smudged now
You worked for this
And now it’s smudged
When is this not ‘when I grow up’
Or has that happened
Will you let me know when it does?
Am I in ‘when I grow up’
Someone is using the film reel
Someone is using it
Hey, I think that’s me in the audience
Am I
In both places at once
Or twice but not really at either
I can’t tell
Will you let me know if you can?
Am I
Talking to you or
Letting myself pilot
While I wait behind the bookshelves
I think so
Until it’s over and
The next shift starts
Mock Proposal
Our beliefs are really the foundation of our character. What we believe becomes what we act on, and what we act on is what represents us to the rest of the world. Over time, some of our beliefs can be influenced to change, while we steadfastly hold on to others. In my 'This I Believe' essay, I hope that you can learn about one of the beliefs that has shaped my character and driven me to step gradually out of my shell to achieve my dreams.
You know that one piece of candy in the bag that’s especially small or large or strangely shaped? I believe in that piece of candy. I believe in it because even after going through all of the attempts at conformation that a factory implemented to produce it, it still comes out with some individuality. I believe in that kind of perseverance to maintain individuality.
I hope that I can be that piece of candy, a seemingly low aspiration, I know. But it really isn’t, because it takes a lot of work to come out of a ‘factory’ with all of the values, quirks, and ideals that make you up. After experiencing over 12 years of schooling and entering college, I am a little afraid. I’m afraid that I’ve lost a part of myself. I’m afraid that I’m going to continue losing parts of myself until I forget how to be myself again.
As I look back on each transition-6th grade to 7th grade, 12th grade to college-I feel like I’m focusing more on what the ‘factory’-parents, school administration, society-wants me to focus one. Why should I only care about getting the right grade, the right major, the right career, and have to leave behind the Powerpuff Girls because they’re ‘childish’. That world has such a bad connotation. Growing a year older doesn’t really make people dislike something, it just makes them push it further and further back into their minds.
I think that I should be able to embrace anything that I’m passionate about, anything that’s a part of my personality, and use it to motivate me in school and work and life no matter what age I am. I believe that people often enter the ‘real world’ after losing themselves to concerns about the future, and I don’t want to be one of those people, one of those candies that are the same as every other one in the bag. I want to be vibrant, and I want to help others be vibrant, because I believe in the power that individuality has to create a sincere society that admires those who express themselves.
Final Presentation
1. This significant thing that happened to me this past semester has been both an event and a revelation. It was the physical act of moving away from my home and family that made me realize that this is it, I am in the act of growing up. It was like I was in an odd half-state for the first month, in which I was subtly expecting to go back to high school because this couldn’t possibly be it. College had been looming on the horizon for far too long, probably since 7th grade, for it to actually be happening. This is such a big shock, not necessarily bad, that I haven’t even fully grasped it and the first year is halfway over.
2. It isn’t really the distance that makes this move so significant for me-my house is only 20 minutes away. I know that some people will roll their eyes at this because they have moved much farther, and I am not trying to undermine that. For me in particular, it is the surroundings of daily life that make it so strange. I’m not saying that it is a bad thing at all. I am enjoying this new freedom responsibly. It’s just that I have grown up in a very family-oriented atmosphere, where much of my social activity has been attributed to my family dragging me out places. That’s why it is just hard to get used to not having my sister, mother, father, and cat just being here all the time.
3. To represent this event/revelation, I have written a free-verse poem that sums up my feelings of this significant change in my life. It is most accurately described as a combination of me looking back on my impressions of first semester and my introspection during that time. I chose to write a poem because it is a very easy form of expression for me. I have always been much better at showing myself through my words than through anything else. The poem that I have written conveys the images and analogies that come to my mind whenever I would think about what this means to me.
You Let Me Know
I was
Just falling asleep
And thinking
That’s not my address anymore
I was
Just walking back from class
And thinking
I call here home now
I was
Just putting my boots on
And thinking
These people are my routine
I was, I am, I’m not, really
Hello at the same place
I’ll see you next week
Do I know you enough yet
Will you let me know when I do?
When am I going back
When-is this not a movie
Or was it a summer camp?
I think I dreamt about it once
Remember
Write it down, leave it on the shelf
To study later
Pick it up, it’s smudged now
You worked for this
And now it’s smudged
When is this not ‘when I grow up’
Or has that happened
Will you let me know when it does?
Am I in ‘when I grow up’
Someone is using the film reel
Someone is using it
Hey, I think that’s me in the audience
Am I
In both places at once
Or twice but not really at either
I can’t tell
Will you let me know if you can?
Am I
Talking to you or
Letting myself pilot
While I wait behind the bookshelves
I think so
Until it’s over and
The next shift starts
Mock Proposal
honors20experiential20learning20proposal20-20general2028revised20v.220summer20201329.doc | |
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