Marking Ourselves

 Life seems to not get any better as we grow older. We notice our surroundings more, the people we hang around with, and the restrictions that are not said but are heard in our hearts. So why would we be mean to people? Doesn't everyone already have a tough life as it is? So why are we mean to them?

  I have two classes in which I have two fellow classmates that are not as devolved in their brain as the rest of us. Although they do participate and are not necessarily not smart they do do things that bug my other fellow classmates. For example one of my classmates that is in my classes is ,what you would say, annoying. Although he does not bother me at all and has done nothing to rest of us, he some how's bugs others. His comments of negativity, like when the teachers asks us how our weekend was and he always comments terrible, are not called for but he can't help it, just like we can't help but breath. It's not like he means to be this way, just like we can't stop being ourselves. But just because he is this way it doesn't call us to mean to him. No my classmates don't bully him or torture him or even get close enough to him to somehow hit him in any way, but they do talk about him. They do laugh at him. They laugh at his voice or roll their eyes when he talks. This might not bother him, but it should bother the rest of us. He is just as equal as all the rest of us, so when do we stop being equal with him.

  While reading "The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Night-Time" I got a better understanding what happens in a boy who has a special way of thinking. We don't understand why they are who they are so we tend to look at the situation like a problem instead of just another thing that is part of the world. For example there is a boy in another class of mine that is as well special, but again not that big of a difference to us. Yes he may as well say things that are not meant to be said at that moment but again it's the way he is. Once he argued with a teacher about a topic, it was a pointless debate, but everyone knew the teacher was right and so did he. But this did not stop him from keeping debating. Finally the teacher said that he doesn't even believe what he's saying and he agreed but that it was necessary to be said. Everyone else was just annoyed and to be honest so was I. But there is a difference between just being annoyed about a person than making that person less than who you are. 

  People are different and we might not like that so much. They might also not like you either, but it doesn't make you a better person making fun at that person or less if you don't. 

  We all need to understand that just because we might be "better" than that person just thinking like that makes us less. We need to treat others like we want to be treated. Because the worst trait we have is what marks us not necessarily the good ones. It might sound harsh but you never hear people talking about others traits in a positive way. So treat others to your level and better because no one is better than anyone else.

Break You or Make You

 As we grow older we seem to find life even more difficult than the last. We see more of this cruel world. We see the hardships that are to come. We see our future and quite frankly it scares us. Life is not going to get any more easier than today, but if we grow as a person we will grow to deal with them.

  As students in high school we all believe that each day is a curse. That we have to wake up each and everyday to learn something that is not relevant to actual real life situations or that we need to deal with the horrendous day that is to come. There is never a day that I don't seem to see a boy or girl in Twitter complaining about school. Whether about their grades, classes, or/and teachers. I myself have done all of the above. But one day I came upon a revealing video, showed by a AVID speaker on a field trip, about a point of view by a teacher. This video showed me a true love for students a teacher has. How they want us to be better in life, to have big dreams. It was lovely. It made me think that school isn't a game. It is more than just a curse, it's our future.

  As students we say, "At least I did it!". Yes we did it but, so what? We didn't try our best. We didn't give it all we had. We didn't do what was expected. So how are we going to complain later on that our teachers aren't teaching us well when we as students aren't doing our best? How are teachers going to teach us anything if we don't show them what we are capable of. If they see that we are B students they will try and help us be A's students, but we won't truly learn anything if our capability is already a A. I, at times, don't do what is required of me to do. Yes I turn things in and get ok grades, but I'm never satisfied. And how could I if what I turned in isn't what I am capable of doing. Each and every single one of us can be better if we only try.

  Yes life is hard, and life can at times be frustrating but that shouldn't give us the reason to quit. So you may say, "But I tried and that's better than nothing". Yes it may be better than nothing but that is a state of mind for failure. If we all have that mental note that it's better than nothing, one day we will do nothing because you see that others don't do anything so why should you?

   Quitting is never the answer. We need to learn how to be big boys and girls and man up! Life is not going to get any easier at the rate we are living but what I am saying is that we can grow and mature and take responsibility in our life. Work a little more, try to give it another chance, and look at the good side of the problem. The only thing a problem can do to you is break you or make you, but that's all up to us.