Why We Shouldn’t Try Too Hard
Dahyun Kim
I remember talking to a teacher about how I “wanted to live a life as easily as possible.” In return, he chuckled and asked me if I wanted to become a pothead.
That response was a complete distortion of the hidden meaning behind my own well intended statement. The hidden meaning inside of my statement was that I wanted to live an easy life without having to get bothered and without having to be control-freaky and picky about every single little thing. Which, if you have to look at it that way, is a mindset that might lead to the unlikely job of a pothead. But that isn’t the point.
You see, sometimes I hear from my fellow students that an upperclassman managed to get 2400 on the SAT, has a GPA of 4.0, and managed to pull of the feat of getting 5s on over ten APs. Clap. Clap. Clap. I’m not denying that this is awesome. It’s horribly awesome. I can’t imagine bringing myself to do anything like that. It just shows how much people are desperate to achieve in the short period of three years that is spent in high school. It’s incredible really, seeing how we do anything to get anything that will supposedly send us to prestigious colleges, universities, whatever. The lives that we have been living so far seem to be revolving around the idea of “success,” or what we think as of success. It’s good actually. It means that we’re really realistic. It also means that we’re really, well, trying.
Trying is a word that constantly lingers around in my mind, and it is gnawing away at my brain now that I know that I will be a senior very, very, very soon. Hello 노인정. I’m not glad to see you so quickly. So, the obvious thing for me to do, as a senior, is to try to get better grades, try to ace the remaining APs that I will take (which is more of a must-do thing), try to be a better person so that the my fellow students will write exquisite comments about my flawless character, try to do extracurricular activities that will show that I am a unique person, try to write the perfect essay so that the likeliness of me being picked by any university will increase by 3% at the most, etcetera, etcetera. Well, I’m tired already. That long list of trys is making my past two years at Daewon look pathetic, and I’m not going to deny that.
At the end of my junior year, I’ve figured out a few things about trying. Trying is good. Overdoing things isn’t. I know that most of you guys want to be perfect. Most of you believe that you will become important people who do stuff. Maybe you will. Maybe going to some IVY school or any other conspicuous school in either the U.S.A or the U.K will increase your chances of living your ideal life. In most cases, that is true. But please remember that nobody is perfect. Nobody is perfect, but everybody is unique. Trying to do something because others are doing the same thing isn’t really going to help you at all. Believe me, I’ve tried. And failed miserably. Failing after trying does wondrous things to your self confidence; it makes it nearly
nonexistent.
Just. Just don’t overdo it. But don’t under-do it either. You’ll be suspected of wanting to become a pothead too.
Showing posts with label opinion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label opinion. Show all posts
Sunday, December 2, 2012
A Hollow Year
A Hollow Year
May Lim
A regular girl from a regular middle school was accepted by the most prestigious high school in the nation. With big hopes and big desires, she finally entered Daewon Foreign Language High School, which she thought of as a magical place where enlightened students with brilliant minds could pursue their dreams. When she first walked up the stairs towards “heaven (which in this case, Daewon)” for the interview, she desired and desired to come back to this hall of heaven and become a part of the Daewon family. A few days later, she was officially announced as a student of Daewon Foreign Language High School. And from that moment, the tragedy began.
Sadly, and as all of you would have already figured it out yourselves, the girl from this tragic story is me.
When I first walked up this school, I had ambitions. Actually, I could say that my body was practically composed of ambitions, looking toward a perfect high school life in a perfect high school. I expected the best of the best teachers filled with knowledge and dignity and nerdy but brilliant students who didn’t know anything except studying. Again, I was ambitious. I had ambitions to study hard, no matter how difficult an adventure in Daewon lay before of me. …And I dozed off during the second period on my first day of school.
Almost a year having passed away, I look back on March and think about how my life had been for the last eight months. Friends who will go through this journey together for the remaining two years, a significant improvement in my English after I coming back from Canada, and the paradigm shift of my life as a happier and more of a meaningful life—these are accomplishments of the year, which look quite satisfactory in one way. However, when I really think about the past eight months, I somehow feel emptiness, for not trying with my best capacity or not managing my time so well.
Right now, the first thing that pops up in my head is the word “busy”. With 100% confidence that all of you will sympathize with me, this year has been the busiest year I have ever gone through. Coming back home at eleven at night and waking up at six in the morning was horrifying. To be frank, I don’t even know how I managed so well to wake up on time every day. And after I finally get to take my seat at my desk, I drink a sip of water and start off reading Fountainhead. Until the starting bell rings, I read as fast as I can, underlining some quotes that seems to have some kind of a meaning (Sorry, Mr. Cho). As soon as the bell goes, I silently put my 700-page book aside and see whether the next class is important or not. If it is Mr. Lee’s biology class, I take out my phone and start reading an article for Ms. Lee (Sorry, ma’am.).Not only that, skipping meals became part of my usual pattern. Skipping lunch and dinner for the sake of doing homework is quite sad and also pathetic, but that was the route that I had to take. These busy days arrived three times per week: Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. This weekly routine continued for an entire year. Surprisingly, my calculations show that I have spent roughly 107 days, living in this busy cycle just on doing GLP homework. Wow.
Another thing that comes to my mind is the word “thrill”. With a great privilege that they can get a perfect score as long as they receive a higher score than 67, GLP students have incomparably less stress towards the mid-term and final exams than the domestic department students. In fact, many domestic department kids say that it really should be a piece of pie to get straight A’s. But is it? Well, at least to me, no. Really, who has the time to get a satisfactory score when he is given only five days of study hall? Many GLPians manage to pass several subjects with a smallest difference, which Korean students often refer to as called “pull-ups”. And after they get a dangerous score on the verge of getting a B, they study damn hard to make that score into an A. With this thrill of the borderline for A, GLPians live in fright with worries that stress them out every time they have a big exam.
After looking back on year that will never come back, I don’t exactly feel “satisfied”. I was always chased by time, so desperate to finish homework before class began. I was constantly under pressure by my grades, despite the fact that the cutline was surprisingly low. More than that, it feels like I haven’t managed my time effectively, just letting it slip away without doing anything. With various other reasons, I feel somewhat empty about what I’ve done this year. I can’t say for sure that there will be any dramatic changes next year. I might just spend another year with the same, busy, and stressing patterns. But with high hopes, I will try to not fall into that trap again.
May Lim
A regular girl from a regular middle school was accepted by the most prestigious high school in the nation. With big hopes and big desires, she finally entered Daewon Foreign Language High School, which she thought of as a magical place where enlightened students with brilliant minds could pursue their dreams. When she first walked up the stairs towards “heaven (which in this case, Daewon)” for the interview, she desired and desired to come back to this hall of heaven and become a part of the Daewon family. A few days later, she was officially announced as a student of Daewon Foreign Language High School. And from that moment, the tragedy began.
Sadly, and as all of you would have already figured it out yourselves, the girl from this tragic story is me.
When I first walked up this school, I had ambitions. Actually, I could say that my body was practically composed of ambitions, looking toward a perfect high school life in a perfect high school. I expected the best of the best teachers filled with knowledge and dignity and nerdy but brilliant students who didn’t know anything except studying. Again, I was ambitious. I had ambitions to study hard, no matter how difficult an adventure in Daewon lay before of me. …And I dozed off during the second period on my first day of school.
Almost a year having passed away, I look back on March and think about how my life had been for the last eight months. Friends who will go through this journey together for the remaining two years, a significant improvement in my English after I coming back from Canada, and the paradigm shift of my life as a happier and more of a meaningful life—these are accomplishments of the year, which look quite satisfactory in one way. However, when I really think about the past eight months, I somehow feel emptiness, for not trying with my best capacity or not managing my time so well.
Right now, the first thing that pops up in my head is the word “busy”. With 100% confidence that all of you will sympathize with me, this year has been the busiest year I have ever gone through. Coming back home at eleven at night and waking up at six in the morning was horrifying. To be frank, I don’t even know how I managed so well to wake up on time every day. And after I finally get to take my seat at my desk, I drink a sip of water and start off reading Fountainhead. Until the starting bell rings, I read as fast as I can, underlining some quotes that seems to have some kind of a meaning (Sorry, Mr. Cho). As soon as the bell goes, I silently put my 700-page book aside and see whether the next class is important or not. If it is Mr. Lee’s biology class, I take out my phone and start reading an article for Ms. Lee (Sorry, ma’am.).Not only that, skipping meals became part of my usual pattern. Skipping lunch and dinner for the sake of doing homework is quite sad and also pathetic, but that was the route that I had to take. These busy days arrived three times per week: Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. This weekly routine continued for an entire year. Surprisingly, my calculations show that I have spent roughly 107 days, living in this busy cycle just on doing GLP homework. Wow.
Another thing that comes to my mind is the word “thrill”. With a great privilege that they can get a perfect score as long as they receive a higher score than 67, GLP students have incomparably less stress towards the mid-term and final exams than the domestic department students. In fact, many domestic department kids say that it really should be a piece of pie to get straight A’s. But is it? Well, at least to me, no. Really, who has the time to get a satisfactory score when he is given only five days of study hall? Many GLPians manage to pass several subjects with a smallest difference, which Korean students often refer to as called “pull-ups”. And after they get a dangerous score on the verge of getting a B, they study damn hard to make that score into an A. With this thrill of the borderline for A, GLPians live in fright with worries that stress them out every time they have a big exam.
After looking back on year that will never come back, I don’t exactly feel “satisfied”. I was always chased by time, so desperate to finish homework before class began. I was constantly under pressure by my grades, despite the fact that the cutline was surprisingly low. More than that, it feels like I haven’t managed my time effectively, just letting it slip away without doing anything. With various other reasons, I feel somewhat empty about what I’ve done this year. I can’t say for sure that there will be any dramatic changes next year. I might just spend another year with the same, busy, and stressing patterns. But with high hopes, I will try to not fall into that trap again.
Thursday, November 22, 2012
How To Assemble An Essay In 25 Minutes
How To Assemble
An Essay In 25 Minutes
By Moses Kim
Question: Is it better to fart than not to fart at all?
By Moses Kim
SAT Prompt #16
“I farted.” –PlatoQuestion: Is it better to fart than not to fart at all?
You’re seriously going to make me
do this.
Manny—oh, wow, sweaty palms—MANY
people will reference the comically squeaky sound, the odious odor that
odorizes everything in a two-foot radius, and the environmental cost of farting
methane into our environment as reasons not to engage in flatulence—okay, none
of that is true. As anybody who has heard “he who smelt it, dealt it,” will
attest, anybody who actually argues against farting is a hypocrite by nature.
But this is obviously what you want me to begin with so I can then spend the
rest of my essay tearing down the opinions of these nonexistent “many people”
and pat myself on the back for being such an independent mind. But I digress;
unfortunately, in my rage I forgot not to write this rant on my test sheet, and
now my first paragraph is way too long, so if we can just start over—
Oh, we’re already down to twenty-one
minutes? Okay.
MANY PEOPLE will reference a bunch
of blahblahblah as reasons not to fart. However, they are all fartfaces of the
highest order because farting is a completely natural activity to engage in,
and as I will show you through scientific, social, and personal examples, as if
I even cared about science or society (of course I care about myself, and
thankfully, I remembered not to write this thought down this time), farting is
a way for us to pursue liberation from the established order of things.
As I already (accidentally, and
regrettably) mentioned in my longass introduction, farting is a completely
natural act. The average person, in fact, farts fourteen times a day. (That is
totally scientific because I saw it on Nickelodeon. When I was eight years old.
And still didn’t speak a breath of decent English. I would talk some more about
that fact, but I have seventeen minutes and two more body paragraphs to write.
And I still have to finish this one. Just to check, you guys have fact
checkers, right? Right? Oh, you don’t? I have an idea.)
I have more information that is
absolutely legitimate, which you will surely later check to validate. According
to a study conducted by the incredibly reliable Harvard University, 88% of
historical figures in the twentieth century farted at least twice as often as
the average person, including people like Martin Luther King, who let one rip
every time he nailed a particularly insightful point, and Neil Armstrong, who had
to get a Febreze dispenser installed in his spacesuit so he wouldn’t suffocate
on long trips. The other 12% were probably all of the boring people, like that
guy who invented penicillin and that other guy who got impeached for some other
boring stuff. Anyway, this totally scientific study which I did not make up proves
that the tendency to pass the gas is correlated with qualities of leadership,
which proves something else about my thesis and my hands really hurt already.
(Okay. Third paragraph. Eleven
minutes. Proofreading took a while; perhaps I should skip that from now on.)
Socially, farting is break from the
status quo, a ways for us to pursue our individuality and asserts ourselves. Maya
Angelou, in famous book That Bird Is Singing in a Cage (oh, I really
hope I got that title right) recounted a story of a sit-in she attended where white
police officers forced their way to the counter and assaultid the nonviolent
protestors. The civil rights protestors were totes (who has time to write “totally”?)
an unprotected class, and farting was one of the only ways they had to assert their…dammitcrampscrampscramps…humaneities.
Through farding (that is NOT correct, but I have nine minutes to write and none
of them to revise), the whole world is unites in mélange of sounds and smells,
which all human, regardles of status, class, or race, can take part inn. (Of
course, Angelou didn’t talk about farting at all in her book, but the way I
wrote this paragraph, you just might be fooled. Even if you don’t bite, the way
I used “mélange” as if I actually knew what it meant will certainly net me at
least a few points for vocabulary. At least I have enough time to write my last
paragraph now.)
Finally, my personal experience
with farting has given me an understand—
“Three minutes left, guys.”
YOU’RE TELLING ME THIS NOW?!
Okayokayokay somethingaboutfarting.
I…uh…I have fart throughout my entire life (grit your teeth and power through
the humiliation). When I younger, my farts get reactions of revulssion and
angers (am I really writing this?). I had a friend who constantly laughs at me
and call me Gassy Ass (this friend was imaginary, and I just made him up, but
at least this sounds convincing). However, as I was a matured, my farts was
mature as well (nonononoIwillnotlivethisdown). I learned to not fear the
rejections of others and embrace my flatulence (I’m sorry, Mom). Now, every
time I farts, I stop to consider the…the…the cramps! The ease that I does it
with. Farting should be done confidently, as a reminder of who we is.
“One minute!”
(Oh crap, a conclusion.)
As we can see in the three examples
I have explained today, farting should not be treated as something to be avoids—avoided
but something to see as integral part of our individuality and perhapss if we
accept this pastime we can see beyond status quoses and into our (TEN SECONDS
LEFT) souls so that we can finish what the thoughts we have in our and the last
part of this sente
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Writing an editorial
In a way, writing an editorial is just the next step up from writing a news report. You're telling some sort of current story, but then you provide your spin on it. Think of it like the commentary you see on sports games or on talk shows.
So if you have an idea of what you're trying to say, then you're already in a pretty good position. Beware, though: there's a load of people with their claws out, and not all of them are automatically going to be on your side. It's up to you to convince your readers that you're worth being heard.
Here are a few things to think about...
1. Tie your point into the real world. If you've done debate, you will know about how important this point is. Think ARE - that's assertions, reasoning, and evidence. Don't just limit yourself to your personal reading of the issue at hand, but actually take some time to analyze it and where it shows up in real life. Research and statistics can be good for backing up your arguments, but they should be connected to it by your reasoning as well.
2. Think about how it affects you/your audience. Imagine that your reader has never heard of the topic you are writing about. How will you ever get them to care?
Well, they're reading your editorial because they have something to gain from it. In other words, they have a stake in seeing where your train of thought is going--and you can capitalize on that. This is the next step from the first point--you tie your point into the real world, and then you tie it to your reader. That's the jump from a merely educational editorial to an effective one, because it makes the audience care.
3. Don't be afraid to be assertive...people have opinions, and sometimes those opinions clash. That doesn't mean that you need to apologize for the viewpoint you hold--if you stick to what you say and back it up, then they will respect it. That said...
4. Just don't be combative. If you've ever argued with your parents, there will have been a time when you knew what they were saying was right, yet you completely disregarded it anyway. That's natural; humans do not easily accept points from people who they feel are being disrespectful or condescending.
Nobody likes the loudmouth in the class who knows their stuff but is always an ass about it. You don't want to be that guy. Taking a professional tone ("I take issue with this, and here's why.") instead of an overly personal one ("They're such awful sexist pigs for saying that and Girl's Generation rules!") only makes you look more credible. Be willing to let in opposing viewpoints into your article, because the process of considering and taking from those will only serve to enrich your arguments in the long run.
Great job making it to the end of this! Now you have the skills necessary to write an editorial about the pointlessness of writing editorials so you can prove me wrong on all of these counts.
-Moses Kim
So if you have an idea of what you're trying to say, then you're already in a pretty good position. Beware, though: there's a load of people with their claws out, and not all of them are automatically going to be on your side. It's up to you to convince your readers that you're worth being heard.
Here are a few things to think about...
1. Tie your point into the real world. If you've done debate, you will know about how important this point is. Think ARE - that's assertions, reasoning, and evidence. Don't just limit yourself to your personal reading of the issue at hand, but actually take some time to analyze it and where it shows up in real life. Research and statistics can be good for backing up your arguments, but they should be connected to it by your reasoning as well.
2. Think about how it affects you/your audience. Imagine that your reader has never heard of the topic you are writing about. How will you ever get them to care?
Well, they're reading your editorial because they have something to gain from it. In other words, they have a stake in seeing where your train of thought is going--and you can capitalize on that. This is the next step from the first point--you tie your point into the real world, and then you tie it to your reader. That's the jump from a merely educational editorial to an effective one, because it makes the audience care.
3. Don't be afraid to be assertive...people have opinions, and sometimes those opinions clash. That doesn't mean that you need to apologize for the viewpoint you hold--if you stick to what you say and back it up, then they will respect it. That said...
4. Just don't be combative. If you've ever argued with your parents, there will have been a time when you knew what they were saying was right, yet you completely disregarded it anyway. That's natural; humans do not easily accept points from people who they feel are being disrespectful or condescending.
Nobody likes the loudmouth in the class who knows their stuff but is always an ass about it. You don't want to be that guy. Taking a professional tone ("I take issue with this, and here's why.") instead of an overly personal one ("They're such awful sexist pigs for saying that and Girl's Generation rules!") only makes you look more credible. Be willing to let in opposing viewpoints into your article, because the process of considering and taking from those will only serve to enrich your arguments in the long run.
Great job making it to the end of this! Now you have the skills necessary to write an editorial about the pointlessness of writing editorials so you can prove me wrong on all of these counts.
-Moses Kim
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