Ambition (Samuel Kim)
It's odd to think that for the first time in my academic career, I've been told to purposefully lose track of time and get distracted. But while I do so, staring off into the distance of my window, I think of the countless times I've lost focus unintentionally. I think of all the deadlines missed, all the times I've procrastinated, all the times I would take back if I could now. And yet after committing countless acts of laziness, I still find myself caught in the web of of laziness and inefficiency. But when I think about what's important to me, when I think about what it will take to get to where I want to be, nothing can stop me. This unit in English is all about the American Dream. And after thinking about it for so long, after reading about it and analyzing what it was in The Great Gatsby for so long, I've realized that it is simply coming up big from little to nothing. I always thought that the American Dream was different for me, because my parents both went to college, I was born into a middle class family, born with food on the table every night and getting everything I wanted. But after thinking about it, I have realized that the American Dream makes no exception to me and I should make no exception to it. The American Dream is simply - coming up big from little to nothing. And I am nothing. I have yet to make an impact on the world. I am still common, an unremarkable American high school student. But I want to much much much more than that. I want to achieve my goals, I want to do everything I had ever hoped to do and more. I want to be a remarkable human being. I want to leave a legacy, whether that be in history books or through my eventual children. This makes me think about the importance of being true to one's self. Michael Jordan, a professional basketball legend, once took 2 years out of his professional basketball career to play minor league baseball. This was after his father had passed away and Jordan wanted to fulfill his father's wishes of playing professional baseball. So, Jordan, in his prime of pro basketball, after winning 3 straight championships, retired from the NBA to play Minor League Baseball. Mind, it was not even Major League Baseball. When Jordan eventually came back to basketball, he won 3 more straight championships. Now Jordan is still considered a legend and to be one of the greatest ever despite his little baseball hiccup, but imagine how much more of a prominent figure he would have been if he had stuck with basketball. Maybe he could have won a championship in each of the two years he was gone? That would make it 8 championships in a row that Michael Jordan would have won. But. Would have, should have, could have. This is why I think it's so important that everyone be true to his/herself. Meaning, everyone should find what he/she is not just good at, but best at. Imagine if Jordan stuck with his mediocre minor league baseball career until he retired from all sports, imagine if Roger Federer chose to play soccer when he was a teenager instead of tennis, imagine if JK Rowling quit after having her first Harry Potter book rejected (countless times). The world would not be the same, and yet the world could be so much better if more and more people realized what they were good at and quit what they were bad at. I heard a recent statistic in America that more than 60% of college students change what they want to major in. To me, that just shows how many people are unsure of themselves, are unsure of what they want to become, unsure of their talents, unsure of their life. I, for one, wish to be different. I want to know, definitely, without a doubt, what I want to do, be, and live like. And to me, that all starts with today and now. Utilizing every second efficiently, making the right choices, being committed to my resolve.