This past month I graduated from high school and had the privilege of speaking at graduation. This video link takes you to my entire graduation. Go to 16:50 to watch just my speech and 2:25:30 to see the turning of the tassels. ...
This past month I graduated f...
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The question, “What do you want to be when you're older?” is asked in Kindergarten. I’ve been asked what I hope to accomplish, where I want to live, or simply which restaurant I want to eat at. Question after question requires constant decision-making. I’d like to say I’m a decisive individual, but as I begin my transition into college, I’ve faced questions I can’t provide an answer to. I feel as though career decision-making is overrated and over-pressured, as it forces a set-in-stone mindset; I almost feel guilty for flipping back and forth between decisions. My major, career path, social involvements, and club and class interests contain decisions that are made to change, yet I feel held down to make...
The question, “What do you w...
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Change is inevitable. Sometimes it can be in our favor, sometimes it is against us. It may be cliche to say, but it’s the things and people in our life that change that will ultimately guide us to who we are and where we want to be. Change is required for growth because it uncovers our strengths and weaknesses. Change can inspire us. We can ignore change. But then we are living in a new world with an outdated mindset, only making it harder to reach our potential. In order to move forward in life, we can’t re-open past events or reconnect with the people we swore we’d move on from. We must focus on progression as opposed to regression....
Change is inevitable. Someti...
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Growth is an endless process. There is always room for improvement. This 2022, I have realized that I need to change my mindset and be open to new possibilities. It has only been 17 days of the new year, but here are some life-changing lessons I have already learned. “Life doesn’t happen to you, it happens for you.” - Tony Robbin. Remember, life gives us what we need to succeed and if we fail, we fail in order to become stronger. There is no need to complain about bad luck or a lack of success because we are in control of our life, leaving no one to blame. Sitting around and letting things happen TO you can be compared to giving...
Growth is an endless proc...
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https://www.ted.com/talks/dominic_price_what_s_your_happiness_score Discovering what makes one happy is a challenging task. After listening to Mr. Price’s realizations that happiness is “not contextual,” I have recognized that we must be proactive in order to reach happiness. We often wait for a future event to make us happy and then when the event occurs, we are still left unsatisfied; this creates a constant cycle of unhappiness. Mr. Price explained that we can not “put all of our eggs in one basket,” meaning we can not rely on a single person/event to supply us with a happy mentality. Instead of being reactive, we can take charge in the present in hopes of a fulfilling life. When we are unhappy, we are unproductive. I’m aware that...
https://www.ted.com/talks/do...
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Books. Some people love them, some never open them. I have mixed emotions when it comes to reading. In school, we are forced to read different genres and classics of literature. People say books are a way for one to escape or fantasize about a completely different world. However, I feel like I don’t always want to feel the need to escape. I’d rather learn how to make my world so enjoyable that I choose it over a fantasy. That’s why my favorite books are self-help books. These books allow me to take advice from more experienced people who have created the mindsets and habits I hope to create myself. These self-help and motivational books are a way for me...
Books. Some people love them,...
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"Maybe it's not a fear of the unknown but a fear of the known coming to an end." -Dr. Jamie Zuckerman We feel comfortable in what we are used to. Without familiarity, we overthink and it's usually worst-case scenario thinking. When stages of our life end and lead to new beginnings, we are forced to change our situation and habits in order to adjust. The upcoming stages of our life aren't as scary as we make them out to be. In reality, after leaving our comfort zone, we create the most positive changes and allow self-reflection. The more uncomfortable we make ourselves, the more likely we are to reach our goals. Fear is inevitable even for the bravest people. We can...
"Maybe it's not a fear of the...
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From personal experience, in order to improve your speaking fluency and pronunciation, you need to hear your own voice. We are accustomed to our own voice, yet we can’t actually hear exactly what we sound like to other people. Even when practicing speech exercises, I couldn’t understand what I was doing wrong because I sounded the same to myself. When we can truly hear our own voice, we can pinpoint the areas that need to be improved. In order to hear your own voice, rather than recording yourself and playing it back, you need a tool that allows you to talk and listen simultaneously. My elementary school speech pathologist advised me to get a PVC elbow tube pipe and use it...
From personal experience, i...
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Consistency is needed if you want to accomplish your goals. “Without commitment, you will never start. Without consistency, you will never finish.” Working out is often difficult because progress is delayed and timely. We often want instant results and give up if we don’t see any. For me, I started working out to not only keep myself healthy, but because it was a stress reliever. I wanted to make working out enjoyable, not a chore. To me, the hardest part of working out is the process of getting myself ready and to the gym. To make this easier, I prepare my clothes out on my desk. When my gym gear is visible, I am more likely to accomplish my workout. Make...
Consistency is needed if yo...
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I have recently come to the conclusion that stress is not stressful if you have a plan. Basically, you are always going to have stressful situations in life and deadlines, but if you are organized and don't wait for the last possible second to get work down, you avoid the worst part of stress. I have so much going on in my life right now from starting school again, class president duties, homework, student gov. responsibilities, online college classes, applying to colleges and scholarships, work...
I have recently come to the c...
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