Working Hard or Hardly working?

Learn now so you can succeed later.

“One learns when one has to; one learns if one wants a way out; one learns relentlessly” (177).

~Kafka, Franz. “A Report to an Academy.” The Metamorphosis and Other Stories. New York, New York: Penguin Books, 2000. 170-179. Print.

This quote comes from a short story called “A Report to an Academy” by Franz Kafka. Throughout the story the narrator, an ape, gives a lecture to students of an academy about his former life. An ape giving a lecture? Sounds weird, right? I know, I know. Let’s just use our imaginations. Anyways, It’s a story within a story; he starts out by explaining how he got captured in West Africa. He was shot twice, one time in the butt (ouch!) and captured by hunters who then locked him in the cage and shipped him out to Europe. On the journey to Europe, he observed the crew; he figured that the only way for him to get out is to act like them. He was fortunate because one of the crew members (who had plenty of time on his hands) taught him how to drink from a bottle, which he eventually mastered after some difficulty. One smart ape right? Once he arrived in Europe, he knew he couldn’t go to the zoo because he will be locked up again. He decided the best way for him to avoid the zoo was to become a performer. However, he still did not have enough human skills to become a performer. So he found himself teachers to teach him (I wonder where he gets the money to pay them) the new skills required and worked furiously everyday to gain the human skills needed. After acquiring these skills, he finally became a free human; (an ape, oops, I mean human who may be smarter than us) he no longer had the identity of an ape. The idea of the story is in order for you to reach a goal or succeed; you need to be willing to put a lot of work into it even though it can be extremely difficult. In the end, it will all pay off.

We all need to admit that if we really want something, we will try our best to get it even though it means we have to learn. In high school, we will all find after school activities that we want to do but we don't have the skills to do that activity or are too lazy. For example, if you want to do cheerleading or football, you should do so without hesitation as long as you’re willing to learn the routines or the position to be part of the team. You can't expect to get selected or start if you don't know anything about the activity. When I played football my freshman year, I played the tight end position. This meant that I not only had to learn what the linemen did, but also what the receivers did. I probably had to learn the most aside from the quarterback on our team, and I did so I could get a shot at starting. It is also a good idea to learn by imitation-imitate the coach and follow his/her example. Then they know you are really trying. I did this because I wanted to start at the tight end position; I learned relentlessly and found my way to the starting position. The first game of the season, I reached my goal and I was the starting tight end. This also goes for high school as whole. High school is the way out to the world. The learning starts here and will help you succeed later in life. Put it this way, if you want to go to college and have a decent career in the future, you have to learn relentlessly.

Like a New Culture

Be ready to accept a diverse high school with different types of people.

“I tend to be shy with strangers and, unless I have a very good reason, I don't usually talk to people I don't know” (81).

“I fell seriously in love with [the] ice man” (82).

~Murakami, Haruki. “Ice Man.” The New Yorker 10 Feb, 2008: 81-85. Print.

This quote is from a short story called “Ice Man” by Haruki Murakami. The story is based around a woman who falls in love with an ice man. You might be asking what an ice man is. Well, it’s someone who is made out of ice and who is always cold. The story starts out by the woman noticing an ice man who always sat by himself in the corner of the hotel reading a book. (pffft reading) She wanted to talk to him, but at first was too shy. She eventually talked to him on her last day at the hotel and had a successful conversation. They met a couple times when they went back to their home and started dating. (Dating an ice man? How does that work? I have no idea but I guess its working) Once they fell in love (what?), they decided to get married even though the women's family did not support the marriage (who would?). Hard to believe, but they had a successful marriage and settled in well. The lesson I learned from this story: when you make a decision, make sure you think it through and predict what might be the outcome. If you take the wrong step, then you might not be able to take another step forward.

The quote from this story relates to those people who have trouble socializing. It may be more difficult for you as freshman because you are not only meeting new classmates, but students from all grades. It's unfortunate for you because you were separated into teams in Gemini (go All-Stars) and were unable to meet everyone even though they were in the same grade as you. It doesn't get any easier meeting the upper class men because you are on the bottom of the chain. But this is not Gemini anymore where you have classes with people you know; high school is where you challenge yourself. For the next four years, you will constantly be working with other students in groups and completing tasks together and presenting them to other students. It is not a time to avoid people and be shy. During my freshman year, I had to work with other people in almost every class. I knew that if I didn't socialize with these people by smiling or shaking hands, we would not be able to finish our project or one person might be doing all the work. After all, communication is the key to success. Fortunately for you guys, you will be taking Oral Communications next year that will help you speak to large audiences and strangers. Its high school, you can't be shy forever.

Making the Transiition

Try to learn-you will see how much your knowledge can increase!

“The power and capacity of learning exists in the soul already; and… just as the eye [is] unable to turn from darkness to light without the whole body, so too the instrument of knowledge can only by the movement of the whole soul be turned from the world of becoming into that of being” (52).

~Plato. “The Allegory of the Cave.” Plato’s Heirs. Ed. James Lester. Lincolnwood, Illinois: NTC Publishing, 1995. 3-10. Print.

The quote is from an essay called “The Allegory of the Cave” by Plato. The essay is about some imaginary prisoners who were born and raised in a cave. (No, they are not cavemen) They are chained to a wall, and the only way they can see is what is directly in front of them. (Fun life right?) The only light in the cave is the fire behind them. When an object or a person walks in front of the fire, its shadow is portrayed on the wall. Since this is all the prisoners can see, they try to guess what the object is. One prisoner manages to escape and experiences the real world. At first, he has difficulty adjusting himself to the bright light because all his life he lived in the darkness, but eventually his eyes adapted to the light. After being enlightened by the real world, and being able to face the light without a problem, he is reminded that he must return to the cave and pass his knowledge to the chained prisoners. He needs to teach them what the real world is, because to the prisoners, the real world is the shadows on the wall. The prisoners however, refuse to learn from the escapee. They do not want to face the light and accept the new knowledge even though they have the capacity to learn. The prisoners are too stubborn to change themselves even after they saw how much the escapee, who at one point was just like them, changed. (They are missing out) The lesson learned from this essay: When you gain knowledge, you shouldn’t be greedy and keep it to yourself, you should pass it on too people who are unaware of this knowledge. On the other hand, if you have the opportunity to learn, you should accept it because you never know when it can help you in life.

All of us are intelligent people and have the capacity to learn. However, it might be hard for some of us to make the transition from Gemini to Maine East, kind of like changing from dark to light. As high school students, we need to pick up the slack and adjust ourselves to more homework and tougher classes. Furthermore, we need to open ourselves up and be ready to receive education and educate ourselves because that is how it’s going to be for the next seven months. I had trouble adjusting myself to high school. I had no homework almost every day in Gemini and all my classes were easy. My freshman year in high school, my classes got tougher and I got a lot more homework. My grades dropped, but I eventually adjusted myself and got them back up, I was able to turn myself to the light so I can learn. I’m happy now that I was able to manage myself back then because as a reward this year, I don’t need to take as many classes because I passed all my previous classes. In fact, I only have three actual classes compared to eight my freshman year. Just something to keep in mind as you go through the years of high school, it will all eventually pay off in the future.