Well, this is now going to be more than just an english project. It's gonna be something that I'm really going to think about.
One of the advantages winners have is vulnerability. It's really quite exciting to expose yourself, not quite sure of what the outcome will be. Yeah, it sounds crazy but that's really how you get somewhere in life. If you aren't giving your heart away, then it will always be with you and no progress will be made. I'm trying to think of a good analogy, and will hop back on here if I find one.
I feel vulnerable right now, but I don't think I could be more content.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
I hate coffee
I hate coffee. I love coffee shops. Particularly, coffee shops in New York City. New York has traditionally been the melting pot; a city of dreams and opportunity. In the music and fashion industries, if you are known in New York, you've made it. I want to be there.
In the fight for college acceptance (yes, it is a fight), New York University is the top prize. A degree from NYU is a boost into law school. A good, New York law school is a sure-fire win into a good, New York law firm. Is it obvious yet?
And so I must ask, in the face of adversity, what causes some people to prevail while others fail?
Particularly as a high school senior, this question has been shoved down my throat daily. What will give me an edge over the girl sitting next to me in first hour AP Statistics? How can I beat that kid down the lunch table? But adversity- that's the key here. Adversity forces us to feel uncomfortable, unsettled. It would be naive of me to say that every senior applying to college is facing a great adversity. We all must fight for it, but that doesn't mean it is some calamity. Maybe at the end of this long road to college, some day in the mail next April, I'll be able to tell you the answer.
I think of adversity as a set back, perhaps like a sooth-sayer telling you that it was in your destiny to kill your father and marry your mother. Oedipus faced great adversity, once he discovered the awful fortune. But in my eyes, he ultimately was a success. His heart of gold and genuine concern for the people of his kingdom led him to the right direction. His marriage to his own mother was not a minor set back, but essentially doom. Success in this situation could really only be found in righting the situation for himself.
Viola, of Twelfth Night, also faced a great adversity as her physical disguise led her farther and farther into an identity as a man, while as a woman, she was in love with her master. There is a difference between her and Benvolio, who also dons a disguise in attempt to woo his love. Benvolio's intentions were to better his own place in society, by marrying "up." Viola was simply in love, and had accepted the fact that she would probably not end up marrying the Duke.
Essentially, these two works have put two big thoughts onto the list of answers to this question. 1) You have to find a place of honesty and consider not only yourself, but everyone. Every action you take impacts another person in some way, however small.
2) Good intentions will theoretically lead to a good outcome. Moreso, humility is the key.
And as you may find, I love poetry, and so I'd like to end this post with a quote from the wonderful Saul Williams.
"intelligence is intuitive
you needn't learn to love
unless you've been taught
to fear and hate"
In the fight for college acceptance (yes, it is a fight), New York University is the top prize. A degree from NYU is a boost into law school. A good, New York law school is a sure-fire win into a good, New York law firm. Is it obvious yet?
And so I must ask, in the face of adversity, what causes some people to prevail while others fail?
Particularly as a high school senior, this question has been shoved down my throat daily. What will give me an edge over the girl sitting next to me in first hour AP Statistics? How can I beat that kid down the lunch table? But adversity- that's the key here. Adversity forces us to feel uncomfortable, unsettled. It would be naive of me to say that every senior applying to college is facing a great adversity. We all must fight for it, but that doesn't mean it is some calamity. Maybe at the end of this long road to college, some day in the mail next April, I'll be able to tell you the answer.
I think of adversity as a set back, perhaps like a sooth-sayer telling you that it was in your destiny to kill your father and marry your mother. Oedipus faced great adversity, once he discovered the awful fortune. But in my eyes, he ultimately was a success. His heart of gold and genuine concern for the people of his kingdom led him to the right direction. His marriage to his own mother was not a minor set back, but essentially doom. Success in this situation could really only be found in righting the situation for himself.
Viola, of Twelfth Night, also faced a great adversity as her physical disguise led her farther and farther into an identity as a man, while as a woman, she was in love with her master. There is a difference between her and Benvolio, who also dons a disguise in attempt to woo his love. Benvolio's intentions were to better his own place in society, by marrying "up." Viola was simply in love, and had accepted the fact that she would probably not end up marrying the Duke.
Essentially, these two works have put two big thoughts onto the list of answers to this question. 1) You have to find a place of honesty and consider not only yourself, but everyone. Every action you take impacts another person in some way, however small.
2) Good intentions will theoretically lead to a good outcome. Moreso, humility is the key.
And as you may find, I love poetry, and so I'd like to end this post with a quote from the wonderful Saul Williams.
"intelligence is intuitive
you needn't learn to love
unless you've been taught
to fear and hate"
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Brainstorming
Some attempts to find my own big question:
In the face of adversity, what causes some people to prevail while others fail?
Are we governed/guided by fate, free will, a greater power, or do we fall somewhere on the spectrum between?
How is the present shaped by our experiences in the past and our hopes for the future?
How does one's perspective shape or alter truth?
I guess the topic that I think about the most is contextualization. I am constantly trying to find a way to put something into a bigger frame, a bigger picture.
In the face of adversity, what causes some people to prevail while others fail?
Are we governed/guided by fate, free will, a greater power, or do we fall somewhere on the spectrum between?
How is the present shaped by our experiences in the past and our hopes for the future?
How does one's perspective shape or alter truth?
I guess the topic that I think about the most is contextualization. I am constantly trying to find a way to put something into a bigger frame, a bigger picture.
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