Liya Abil- Week 3- Making the Most of Everything
As a child, I had a schedule as busy as any high school student. My parents put me into every class imaginable.
On Mondays, I had piano lessons.
On Tuesday, I had a public speaking class
On Wednesdays, I had art class.
On Thursdays, I had Hindi class in the afternoon and swimming class in the evening.
On Fridays, I had dance class.
Taking so many classes was exhausting because I wasn’t able to enjoy most of them. I had a natural talent for some classes like art or dance, but I had to work extremely hard for the others. When I wasn’t able to excel in some classes, I pushed myself harder because I had the need to always be the best in everything I did.
I was frustrated at myself but also at my parents for putting me into so many classes because I had wasted so much time on all these activities that I didn’t even enjoy.
Eventually, after doing these activities for a while, my parents let me quit some subjects like piano, Hindi and public speaking which let me focus on the ones that I did like.
Now that I’m reflecting back, I’m glad that I was able to experience all these activities even though I wasn’t fond of most of them. It allowed me to fairly evaluate them all and choose what I really like to do.
Without me realizing, my parents helped build my identity by pushing all these things on me so that I could carve something out and discover my true self. I'm glad that my parents put me into piano classes or Hindi classes because even though I ended up hating both of them, I am able to know for sure that neither of them were my calling.
I would much rather experience something despite the outcomes rather than wonder “What if?”.
Therefore, because of this valuable lesson that I learned from my parents' actions, I have made it my goal to seize every opportunity that comes my way because I don’t want to miss out on anything even if I end up hating it. There is always a chance that the opportunity might positively impact me and become a vital part of my life and identity.
Hi Liya! Sharing this personal aspect of your life made me really reflect on my own life. Parents, a busy schedule, exhaustion, and the need for a break have been the main problems of so many high schoolers’ lives, yet you were able to appreciate these things in retrospect. The importance in taking opportunities is the chance to develop one’s identity. I was impacted by your blog because I have felt that some parts of my life have been the opposite. Looking back, I wish I did more and feel that I live in that scenario of questioning “What if?” I wished my parents pushed me more than I resisted, but that was also my fault. I stood securely in my comfort zone, investing my energy only in hobbies I already excelled at and refusing anything that wasn’t immediately interesting.Your growth into being eager for exploration and opportunity is really meaningful to me because recently, tired of being lazy and at home, I developed a similar mentality. I aim to build a junior year that I do not regret looking back at, leaving little room to wish for more. I realized that the only thing that stopped me from pursuing this goal before was myself.
ReplyDeleteHi Liya! I understand the difficulty of having a lot of activities and extracurriculars from a young age because I was in the same predicament as you as well. I used to spend a majority of my time playing tennis, swimming, dancing, learning instruments, and singing. This experience helped me learn what I liked to do in my freetime and what I did not like. For example, although tennis was enjoyable for a while, I realized I was inherently better at swimming so I decided to stop playing tennis to focus on sports that I liked more. Although it is easy to resent having experience from a wide variety of activities at such a young age, it also helped me shape my identity, similar to how you describe dancing and other activities as large parts of your own personality. The experience I have with different sports and instruments have helped me narrow down what I like to do and what I know I do not like. Although I resented all these sports and instruments as a kid, I am grateful for all the experience I have because I am able to narrow down hobbies and passions effectively today. I agree with you since it is important to seize every opportunity that comes your way.
ReplyDeleteHey Liya! I can definitely relate to being put into so many classes a child. Because of my parents, I had tried almost most of the more common sports, like swimming, basketball, tennis, badminton, soccer, and golf. I had also tried piano (7 years now), guitar, and the drums. Out of those 9 things, I only actively play 2 of those, golf and tennis. I had only recently stopped playing the piano because I did not have enough time to, and partly because I did not want to. I remember being very mad at my parents for signing me up for so many things, but looking back, I realized that it was to help me find what I wanted to do. I feel like part of the reason why I might have not wanted to do the classes was because I was forced to do it. When I played piano again with my friend, it actually felt calming to just play and just automatically remember songs. But when I was taking the ABRSM exams, it felt like there was too much pressure. I know for a fact that when I am older, I am going to regret not playing piano, but I am still too lazy to play it. I agree with you that you should take every opportunity because eventually, I did end up finding two things I did like to play, tennis and golf.
ReplyDeleteHi Liya! Like you when I was little my parents enrolled me in so many classes that I didn't even have time to go on playdates. I had singing, soccer, dance, art, swimming, gymnastics, chinese and kung fu. Also like you I didn't enjoy many of thoses subjects over time and was able to quit them once my parents realized I didn't like them nor did I excel in them. But it was also hard to quit, because I didn't have time to make friends from school, I became friends with the people at my classes. Many of those, went to different schools so I had no way to talk to them again since I didn't have an social media then. I still have a letter my friend from dance class made me after I told her I would be quitting after that season. I always wanted to excel in my classes, to make my parents proud and also so I could be know for something. Out of all the classes, the only one I didn't quit was swimming. Quitting all the other classes gave me more time to focus on one thing and I strived to be the best. Going from summer team to all year around, the skill level of people increased dramaticly. I went from the fast in my age group to the same speed, but with practice and pushing myself I climbed back to the top at least for girls. I remember right before my parents had me quit comp swim too, I had a 2 month hiatus and when I came back I was the slowest and I pushed myself so much that practice that I felt like puking. Now that I am in high school, I miss having a sport I could brag about but I cant return 5 years later even more rusty than ever. I just look forward to school swim season where I can dip toes back into the waters of extracurricular activities.
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