My Awakening
Since the theme of this seminar is awakening, I want to talk about my awakening and how it has affected my life. The awakening that I experienced was not sexual, but was about my views and realizations about life. It occurred to me in my junior year of high school and continues to grow with me to this day.
My childhood was care free; no worries or responsibilities. All I was concerned with was having fun, ignoring the fact that one needs to challenge themselves if they want to grow up to be a well rounded person. Since I didn’t have any drama or responsibilities, I didn’t really have any experiences that shaped my character. My infatuation with strictly having fun would eventually catch up to me later in life.
Unlike most people, my awakening happened relatively later in life. Going into my junior year of high school, I began to think about how the grades that I was getting were insignificant compared to the millions of students around the country. It made me so angry to see that I was just another number in the school system and that the only way to distinguish myself from others was by improving my academics. I now realized that there was a vast world ahead and that education was the key. I realized that I needed to take on new responsibilities and challenges, no matter how much I didn’t want to.
I began to enjoy taking on my fears and obstacles, which proved to be a difficult but enjoyable task. I tried to always do something productive, whether it is building my vocabulary, improving my social skills, or simply working on a new talent. Walking on my hands, beat boxing, and randomly engaging in conversation with strangers is just a small way I try to become a more interesting and outgoing person. I got my first job as a lifeguard during the summer of 2007 and experienced a new level of responsibility. Being held accountable for someone’s life was extremely stressful but ended up being a fun challenge and only left me craving more.
Growing up in such a carefree environment, I had to create my own challenges to mature as a person. My awakening began academically and developed into a project for personal growth. I admit that there were countless times where I felt as if I should just give up. The only way I was able to cope with those feelings was to accept that life isn’t always pleasurable and to just do what has to be done. I feel that even to this day, I have so much more to discover about myself and about the world and I will continue my journey with an open mind and a positive attitude.
