Growth
When I was first introduced to the blogging assignments of this class, I knew I would dread all of them. I hated the creative aspect, struggling to even pick the color scheme of my blog. But soon enough, I realized that the blogs were the best part of this class. I was excited to write them, even coming up with my blog ideas weeks in advance. I started putting in more effort than I expected, and I was actually proud of some of my blogs. Namely, some of my favorite blogs were the ones that started with a vision I had weeks before. This included ones like “My Steepest Childhood Learning Curves”, “My Increasingly Wishful Pickleball Wishlist”, and “Sisyphus or Sissy Fits”. The greatest part about these blogs was that they all started with thoughts I naturally had the week before I had to write a blog. They were all concepts I was genuinely interested in and naturally flourished into a blog I enjoyed writing.
But, if I were to choose a blog, I am most proud of “Sisyphus or Sissy Fits”. Around the time of writing this blog, I had fallen into the rabbit hole of Albert Camus’ work, and I thought more about how his philosophical work applied to my life. I ended up loving his “The Myth of Sisyphus” and this blog was the most effort I had put into a blog this year.
Voices Takeaways
For the seniors taking this class next year, I would recommend picking a Voices novel that genuinely interests you. For me, I picked Interior Chinatown because I felt disconnected from my own culture and I felt that this was a great opportunity. You don’t necessarily have to stick to your own culture, but find something that won’t bore you during your research. While I spent a lot of time on my research project, a lot of it ended up being sifting through fascinating interviews or being amazed at crazy statistics and studies done on the topic.
Throughout the Voices project, I learned plenty of things from exploring individual’s experiences and sifting through plenty of research studies, but I generally learned more about myself. I found more gratitude in my upbringing, seeing a greater level of stereotyping and ignorance in other people’s experiences. As I listened to some people’s absurd experiences with the ignorance of those around them, it was baffling to hear their stories.
Reflection and Advice
With my time at NNHS, I’ve had plenty of role models. Because of the classes and activities I was in, I got to meet tons of upperclassmen that guided me through my high school journey. As a senior now, I’ve hopefully been able to be that for others as well. Aside from any grades or awards I’ve earned within these four years, I think my greatest achievement has been personal growth. I’m confident that freshman year me would be incredibly proud of who I am now and there’s so much I want to tell my younger self about the journey. But, because I can’t time travel for myself, here’s my advice for the future seniors:
Don’t be too hard on yourself
By the end of this year you will see the culmination of four years of your work, and you’ll either be surprised, indifferent, or disappointed. My advice to you is to be none of those. Be glad it all happened, be proud, and know that your journey isn’t over.
Matt, I can confidently say that your blogs have been some of the best that I have read all year. I personally really enjoyed your backpack blog and the learning curves one you mentioned as well. I agree that these blogs are the best part of this class; I find it so entertaining to see what all my peers are up to and interested in, and everyone always has such fascinating information to share. I’ve also noticed that when you can just find something you’re passionate about, it becomes so easy to write about it, because the words just come naturally. That is the main reason the blogs have been so enjoyable for me. I’m not really the creative type, so coming up with ideas isn’t easy. But, when I have something I really enjoy talking about, I can come up with 700 words to say incredibly quickly. I love the advice you have for incoming seniors. Our journey is truly just beginning, and while we carry the memories and lessons learned from high school, there is so much more to our journey that we haven’t experienced yet, and it would truly just be a waste of time to ponder things that could have been.
Matthew,
I really enjoyed reading your blogs this year. Like you, I initially dreaded blogging because it was something I had never done before, and I was intimidated by the word limits. However, I too felt more and more excited to come up with fun ideas to write about, and I was able to have pride about some of my blogs. You had said that your favorite post was your Sisyphus blog, and while I agree, I think that my favorite of your blogs was your pickleball post. I think it captures your personality and also one of your favorite hobbies nicely. I love the advice you left for incoming students; it’s definitely something I would need to hear coming into high school.
Great job this year!
Hey Matthew! You have produced some of the best blogs, and some of my favorites to read every time we post. Your Sisyphus or Sissy Fits was an excellent blog and it was great to read about how your life coincided with such a philosophical approach. I too initially thought the blogs were going to be boring and time-consuming, but they quickly became enjoyable, especially when writing about something we are passionate about. Your advice seems solid, many underclassmen I know often are way too hard on themselves and forget to appreciate anything around them. While we were all in the same position at their time, I think we’ve grown to realize our mistakes. I wish you the best in your future endeavors (including Bdubs tonight)!
Matthew, your blogs have been some of the best reads for me this semester, so I am glad you ended up enjoying these assignments. I was also a fan of your “Sisyphus or Sissy Fits” blog, it was very philosophical and made for an interesting read. As far as Voices books, I like how you picked Interior Chinatown since you felt like there was a cultural disconnect and you wanted to learn more. That was also the reason I picked The White Tiger. Lastly, I think I could’ve used your advice when I was a freshman. The amount of times I was super stressed about a bad grade seems unnecessary now. To me, all my work got me where I wanted to be, so I have no regrets. Great blogs this year, and I’m glad we became better friends as well.