Tuesday, June 1, 2010

"Change" A Major Writing Assignment

There are many ways in which change can alter the course of someone or something. Through my eyes the possibilities of change are endless. It can mean so many different things; change clothes, change as in currency or change as far as physically doing something to make a difference. Many times in life we are the victors or victims of change, the outcome is of course hinged upon the decision the person makes, whether it is to change or stay the same. I myself don’t really like change, nor can I really think of anyone who does. Generally speaking most people like things to stay the same. On the other hand, when the opportunity of change presents itself, one would be foolish not to accept. Change is always constant, but never the same.

This quote from Three Cups of Tea is a perfect example of what change is and the positive effects it can have. “It was his body that had failed, he decided, not his spirit, and every body has its limits. He for the first time in his life had found the absolute limit of his” (Mortenson 16). If it hadn’t been for Greg Mortenson getting lost up on K2 he would of never found the village of Korphe and would have never known that they needed many schools in Pakistan. It was because of that change that Mortenson was able to change so many children’s lives in the remote mountainous villages of northern Pakistan. For Mortenson change was doing something out of the ordinary to help a group of struggling youth. If he hadn’t failed to summit there would have been no change, other than the fact that Mortenson had accomplished the feat of scaling one of the world’s largest peaks. Even though Mortenson’s goal was to summit, he came out of it feeling more accomplished that he had changed someone else’s life for the better. When the opportunity presented itself Mortenson made the correct decision to change. In his case the change was positive for both sides; as a result of building the schools Mortenson felt a sense of pride and accomplishment, and the children of Pakistan were now able to start receiving education.

In my case the opportunity to change was my own decision, I didn’t necessarily have to. In my Inventory of Being I said that everyone had said that I changed, but for better or worse I was to be the judge. I still believe that to be true and I feel that the offer to change presented itself in a manner in which I could not refuse. About three years ago this December, I made a choice not to participate in my school’s drug testing program, which in return put me on a 23 day suspension from playing sports, excellent decision you might say? Thats what I thought at the time, but little did I know what was in store for me next. About two weeks later I was pulled out of my second period class by the associate principal, I had somewhat of an idea what might be going on. That was of course before I knew the actual reason why I was being walked out to the parking lot. The man had informed me that there were drug sniffing dogs on campus and had responded to my car, he then proceeded to ask if I had anything in my vehicle that would cause that to happen. I hesitantly responded with a nod and said yes. Fortunately for me this was the end of a long series of stupid decisions.

This is when I decided to make a change that was necessary for my success as a human being in the constantly changing world. Not only was I suspended from school for ten days but I was also ineligible to participate in any extracurricular activities the school had to offer for an entire calendar school year. I decided that I was going to stop doing the immature things that I was participating in with a little help from some outside sources, and try to correct my bad habits. The people with whom I had surrounded myself with would ultimately lead to my destruction of one life style, and to the blossom of another. Ultimately it was my decision and I had to make the call whether I was going to change or not. As of that day my life had changed, whether I accepted it or not was a different story.

Basically I had to flip my world upside down and figure out some other way to go about living the way I truly wanted, which was to be happy. So I gradually stopped talking to my so called “ friends” and somewhat isolated myself to only a certain few. I concentrated on school and what was really important, the future. The remainder of my high school days wasn’t about partying and trying to be the most popular; it was getting good grades and building lasting relationships, things that I thought were impossible before now seemed like reachable goals. I ended my senior year with a 3.7 GPA and wonderful female companion who means the world to me. Never would I have thought in a million years I would be where I am today. As of right now, I am where I want to be, I have a career path chosen and am actively pursuing it. Change is the sole reason why I have chosen to go to college and further my education, change played a huge role in my life, and I am sure it will continue to stay that way.

I would have been foolish not to accept change. When my opportunity to change presented itself I didn’t necessarily accept willingly but it was unquestionably the correct decision. Although everyone has a different meanings and experiences to the word change, this is my definition of what change really means. Change must be experienced to be fully understood. Just think about this when the opportunity arises; change is always constant but never the same and one would be foolish not to accept the opportunity.

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