Words of Wisdom

Failure being a word of negative connotation, it has always been a word I avoid being labeled as. The crucial role of the word failure in my life, was to show me that failure was something I would never settle for, no matter what the situation. Personally, I define failure as a quality in which an individual does not satisfy their desired goal or success. Being unable to find the cure for cancer, not having paper to print your homework, not achieving straight A’s in school, are all examples of failure, ranging from small to big. The great thing about failures is that it can be corrected in the future, and is essential to go through in the journey to success. People need failure to find mistakes and learn from them, in order to know what is wrong and what is right to eventually reach their goal. Growing up, I learned that failure was one of the obstacles in life I did not want to be defeated by. Failure is an obstacle in life that prevents you from reaching your goals, just as speed bumps do in slowing you down from reaching your destination. It is up to the individual however to overcome the barrier of failure by being committed and not settling for less. Many individuals do not realize this and they end up giving up on what their goal is.

They become defeated, because they refuse to try other solutions, whether it be because of depression, or even pure laziness. On the other hand, many defeat failure by never giving up on reaching their mission and learning to ignore outside factors such as people telling you that you will never amount to do something, and physical setbacks such as being handicap. Ultimately, people should accept the fact that there will always be a time when all is lost, but is fortunately correctable. As the old saying expresses, “If at first you don’t succeed. try, try again”, meaning we should never give up in reaching our goals even though the persistent factor of failure constantly comes by.

The Rollercoaster Ride of Life

Throughout my existence I have encountered several communities throughout the world, having both astonishing and disappointing experiences, just as a bumpy roller coaster ride would. The “up” of my roller coaster ride of experiences in a community, would have to be when I was given the opportunity to live in the community of Japan, while the “down” part of the ride would be when I attempted to live my life as a superstar in the Hollywood community, which turned out to be a disaster. Living in the shoes of the rich and famous for one day is something almost everyone would ask for. That is exactly what I asked for when I decided to go on a trip to the streets of the so-called rich and famous community of Hollywood. My nightmare of a day began as my family and I pulled up to the sidewalks to explore this misleading society, where supposedly it is pictured as an elegant paradise. This misleading society was a huge disappointment, for I portrayed this society a place where I could feel as if I were a superstar as I saw paparazzi and famous individuals everywhere I looked. Instead, all I saw was a chaotic zoo, encased with maniacs harassing you for everything you own, thieves waiting for their chance to steal, inconsiderate people shoving others out of their way, rude tour guides attempting to take advantage of you, and an awfully contaminated community. My personal experiences with this chaos included my family and I being stopped by the police because of a bomb threat, preventing a man from pursuing to pickpocket my mom, beggars begging me for money, and someone attempting to enter our car on “accident”. Unfortunately, as I tried to fulfill my wish to live the lives of the rich and famous by entering the Hollywood community,  I will no longer ask to live through this disastrous experience. Although I went through one of the most terrifying times in my life, I was fortunate enough to be able to shift to an all time low experience within a society, to an occurrence that I will never forget for the rest of my life. Being in a military family I was given the uncommon experience of living abroad in the wonderful country of Japan.

Having the exclusive opportunity to live abroad in such a gorgeous community, not to mention in one of the most renowned capitals in the world, was an experience I will always treasure. The marvelous community of Japan has much to offer. Its vibrant culture runs deep with its appetizing foods, ancient temples, breathtaking landscapes, vivid artwork, and the convenient transportation system, all in a safe environment. Being part of a place loaded with such a colorful culture was also something I truly admired, for not every place has a unique culture that displays how priceless the world really is. Not only are the physical structures of the Japanese society wonderful, but so are the generous people who have been raised to respect others since day one. I loved everything about the Japanese society, from its innovative technologies of robots that will someday contribute to society, to its taste bud-pleasing ramen that cannot be imitated. It was an experience I will cherish for the rest of my life. I truly hope that one day in the future, I will again have a second chance to tackle the adventures of the Japanese community. Transitioning up and down like a rollercoaster ride, is the perfect metaphor to describe the adventures I took on as I explored some of the many diverse communities. During my adventures, I managed to pick out my worst experience in a community and also my best experience in a community. Hopefully in the future, I will avoid certain communities, but also make the most out of the many communities I will live through no matter where life takes me.

Guide to Success!

Like every new experience, you tend to go into the situation blind, and have no idea what to expect. This phenomenon is something that countless college freshmen encounter, causing them to be unprepared and in the long run ruin the beginning of their college career. However, I was able to figure out this puzzling system of college by finding the tips and tricks every college freshman NEEDS to have! College can be a tough experience, but here in this post, I have constructed a helpful guide to help future soon to be college students a chance to endure this crucial stage in an individual's educational life. To begin my guide, I found that it is very important to consider online classes as an option. Online classes can be convenient to a college student because it can help the biggest issue every college student faces: time. First, we as students must make sure that online classes would even suit us by: keeping ourselves on schedule without the help of professors, make sure we won’t procrastinate, be good listeners, and ultimately excellent independent learners. If a student meets all these characteristics, then online classes can easily become extremely beneficial by helping students fit classes in a schedule better, whether it be for work, social life, family time, leisure activities. In addition, the perks of taking online classes include teaching students how to be more self-disciplined, getting more individual attention by the instructor without the fear of asking a dumb question, and of course adds a huge amount of flexibility for any persons schedule. Another great piece of advice I highly recommend going into college to never pick morning classes. Another critical lesson in college is that you must learn how to balance your time in school with the probably crazy life you will live outside of the classroom, whether it be with work, friends,and even parties. I am a huge believer in the philosophy that education is the greatest investment a person can receive, so I suggest you prioritize school over the little distractions you may come across. Studying in college is very exhausting and studying can leave a person up until early in the morning. When that happens, there is not enough time to get a good healthy rest due to having morning classes. Getting morning classes is also a huge inconvenience to others because the majority of the population are not morning people and cannot simply get up early and be as functional as I should be. Getting ready in the morning happens so quick, and sometimes a person do not even have enough time to eat breakfast, which a crucial part in helping keep an individual's focus in school. Overall, I feel morning classes are a huge hassle, and should be avoided if you absolutely know you cannot wake up easily in the morning. You also have to keep in mind that since you are now a college student, in other words a young adult, you must learn to be independent which means that there is no one there to tell you when to get up. In addition, I advise future college students to NEVER EVER procrastinate, or you will fall behind on your assignments and will not be happy with your grades. Another important lesson you need to know coming into college is to be prepared to study until your brain explodes!!! (Kidding of course).

Students should also learn to take advantage of ALL the resources given to them, from libraries, writing centers, computer labs, office hours with teachers, tutoring, and even financial aid, for these highly ignored resources only benefit your learning experience. Ultimately, a new college student should learn to be independent of themselves, and must find discipline to become a truly successful scholar.