Passion Ignites MotivationIt's hard to do well in a subject you don’t like. This is probably the #1 reason people prefer college over high school. In high school, you are expected to perform well in topics that don't interest you. For example, do I see future me as a mathematician? No. Math doesn't interest me in the slightest. I must work extra hard in that class because I lack any kind of motivating interest. However, in college, you get to choose your favorite topics from high school and expand on those.
This concept may seem out of context, but it was very relevant for me this week. Last week's POW I absolutely hated, and trying to write an essay on it was torture. I was literally counting down minutes until the class ended. But, this week when I sat down to write a paper on 'An Elegy in X Parts' I never stopped typing. In fact, when the bell rang I was disappointed because I didn't get all my ideas down. Why was it 100% easier for me to write about this? Probably because I 100% enjoyed this poem more than last week's. There’s probably some kind of mathematic ratio there. Interest in something fuels passion, passion ignites motivation, motivation leads to learning, and learning leads to betterment. It really has a lot more to do with skill than most people recognize. A really good life hack would be to just get passionate about learning, and then everything would come easier. https://plantingmoneyseeds.com/develop-lifelong-passion-learning-rewards-brings/
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Seeing the StoryPicture a deep green valley. There are a few rolling hills and scattered trees, and the sun is shining overhead. Did it work? And did you see the same picture I saw?
This week I've been thinking a lot about visual literacy and visuality in general. It's fascinating to me that two people can read the same passage and picture different things. When I'm reading, I often wonder how my mental depictions compare to what the author intended them to be. To be honest, I’ve probably never met their same image while reading. I think human brains are just too different from each other to picture the exact same image through reading, no matter how specific the descriptions are. How does knowing this impact authors’ writing and the language that they use? Does JK Rowling know that not everyone saw the same Hogwarts castle that she did? This is probably one of the most beautiful aspects of reading. That each story is different for each person, and thus leaves a different impact. Depending on the reader’s imagination and personality, the story is somewhat tailored to them. This applies to other things besides visual writing as well. Each person who reads will take something different from a story- a different moral, a different message. This is exactly why some people like books that others detest- they were both focusing on different features of the piece. Going back to the visual though, it is nearly possible to see what author's wanted their character's to look like. Using word-for-word descriptions and a new law enforcement sketch program called FACES, New York artist Brian Davis was able to show what some famous fictional characters might look like. Take a peek https://www.rd.com/culture/book-characters-real-life/ I should be quarantined for writer's block.This week, the topic we discussed that really hit me was writing in ‘your niche’ (which is ironic, since Shoenborn only said about 2 sentences about it). When writing, it’s imperative to be in a good place and mentality, and to be comfortable. This is when your ideas are best, your words most eloquent, and your writing most flowing. However sometimes, even when I’ve met all this criterion, the words just refuse come (we talked about this too). I’m certain every writer will agree with me when I say it’s probably the most aggravating feeling on Earth- knowing what I want to say but not being able to express it. For me, this occurred in its entirety during our PoW on Tennyson’s poem The Eagle. I wrote the introduction well, but when it came to the analysis I had absolutely zero to say. My concern peaked when I looked around at my desk neighbors and saw they all had at least 2 strong paragraphs. In that instance on Friday, I appreciated just how stressful writing could be. I used to think it was always easy, and with good reason, because it was always easy! I always wrote about things that I wanted to write about, agreed with, or at least could appropriately fit my opinion in somehow. This class has required me to write about things that I don’t agree with or see reasoning in. Therefore, I couldn’t think of anything to say about the poem that didn’t sound ridiculous- I didn’t think it was possible or beneficiary to analyze it further than we already had.
Nevertheless, I always enjoy a writing challenge. It is hard for me to try and develop opinions worthy noting based on topics I find useless, especially on the spot. But I’ll do my absolute best until I get better - from my understanding of this course it seems that’s the moral. And with any luck, someday those topics won’t seem so useless anymore. This site describes my condition pretty accurately and seems a good place to start. goinswriter.com/how-to-overcome-writers-block/ It doesn't get better senior year. No, really it doesn't.
But that isn't necessarily a bad thing. It just means that everything I've heard been told about it "Senior year's a blow off year!" or "You'll stop stressing out so much once you become a senior" isn't true. Maybe it's true for some who want it to be so and make it that way. But not for me. The surprising thing is, I want senior year to be challenging. I want to push myself and become better at reading, writing, science, math all of it. Heck, I enjoy the work, the stress, the satisfaction! Is that a bad thing? I remember last year being reduced to tears by all the work pushed on me by my teachers. I felt bombarded and overwhelmed with homework- especially homework on difficult topics that I just learned earlier that day. And it's not as if my school situation has changed. This year, I am taking classes that are just as difficult, if not more. But my attitude has been altered. Instead of feeling overwhelmed, I simply think, "It's time to get to work!" Is this growing up? My dad always reminds me that the right amount of stress is a good thing- it's a motivator against laziness. I think I've reached that stress sweet spot. I've learned to control it to livable, even enjoyable levels. This is the most surprising to me. That I can be, and am, as happy in the in the busy, hectic school months as in the do-nothing days of summer vacation. Does this make me a nerd? I hope not. |
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