Angel Lee, Period 5, 4/22/21, Day B

Goal Setting & Growth 

At this current point in time, what specific goal(s) do you have for yourself? Why? 

It’s been over a year since the start of the pandemic and with the time I’ve had to reflect upon myself, society, and the world, I have developed different goals to work towards. WIth the pandemic, it feels like we lost the last year of our lives. Thus, I want to be more productive with my time and do not want to have any regrets as I embark on a new journey. Perhaps not having any regrets is impossible as humans always strive for bigger and better things. However, that goal involves more thinking about my actions and how I choose to live as a student and citizen of society. I also want to spend more time with friends and family in the four months before college begins. Although it was incredibly frustrating not being able to see my friends for prolonged periods of time, it made the little time we spent together more memorable. The pandemic weakened many relationships, but also strengthened many. In an oddly quirky perspective, if one is able to maintain friendships through this difficult year, it’ll give us an idea on keeping our loved ones close even when we are hundreds of miles away from home. In addition to these goals, I hope to work harder and be more optimistic and open-minded. In remote learning, there are so many ways to slack off and be lazy. We gradually see more and more cameras turn off and breakout rooms are silent. Although these instances do not apply to me, I have definitely not been working as diligently since quarantine began. Granted, there is not much academic testing/event to have to study for, but I hope to use the mindset I had before the pandemic to finish off the last two months of high school. I hope I will use these goals to improve myself in college and beyond. 

How do you demonstrate resilience towards achieving this goal? (or these goals?)

Since the new year, I’ve been trying to sleep earlier and wake up earlier. In the past, I was overwhelmed with extracurricular activities, homework, and studying, resulting in me sleeping very late yet waking up early. I’ve taken this opportunity to sleep more and to focus more on mental health. I still work out almost everyday and will sometimes take long walks around my neighborhood. It feels nice to have somewhat of a schedule, and it makes me more efficient when studying and doing work. Also, to reflect on my daily life, I’ve been trying to keep a journal. It is helpful to spend that 15-30 minutes a day just reflecting on what happened that day and anticipating what’s to come tomorrow. Recently, I’ve also been spending more time with friends. Perhaps college decisions have reminded all of us that there is only four more months before college. As much as we want to maintain all of our friendships, it’s inevitable that it will be more difficult because of the distance and difference in social and school life. In the past, there might’ve been more options when spending time with friends. However, I’ve learned to appreciate just sitting around a fire and talking with others. As of recently, one event that caused a drastic change in perspective was when I got rejected from my top three colleges. It made me question what went wrong: Was it my work ethic, personality, ability, or was it simply that I’m not special? After much encouragement from friends and family, I learned that working hard doesn’t always mean everything. I realized that despite not being able to go to the “dream college” doesn’t mean that my accomplishments and goals get any more diminished. If anything, this misstep makes me want to reach higher for graduate school and recover from defeats. I’ve started to research the college I committed to and the activities I want to get involved in. There is actually a lot to look forward to and to be excited about once I have accepted the rejections and come to terms with myself. 

How does the world around you affect your perception of this goal? (or these goals?)

The pandemic has taught us that the world is unpredictable, yet life goes on. We see businesses reopening despite difficulties with labor and supply, schools reopening despite daily testing and social distancing. It gives us hope for a better future and “normalcy.” As the world is changing everyday, we change as well. It is the reflection of the change as individuals and as a society that keeps us motivated and moving towards our next goal. Also, being at home for the past year has gotten me more informed with the news and current events. With recent hate crimes, we start questioning our security and fear for our safety even in the most common situations. Even as we work hard to improve ourselves, there will always be people that have certain views and that will always try to oppose us. It makes me angry that in such an evolving and open world, there are still such racist views. However, instead of focusing on the hate and forgetting the good in the world, our reflection and growth and humans should not be motivated by the evil, but by people we love.