Anyone Out There?

Day 1

Hello world.

For my first post I will be reflecting on the short film Passion Project we viewed in class today. It is a film created by the students at Chabot College in a bid to inspire and drive fellow students and teachers to discover that special thing that will motivate us for the rest of our lives. Why? Because it is that spark that will drive us to our fullest potential. These are my immediate thoughts after watching the short film:

It reminded me of a lot of things I struggled to understand myself when I first left high school. There were parts of the film, especially in the first half, that exemplified how I feel about schooling, how important it is to find yourself, and how important it is to not force the process. Most people struggle accepting this because they are too worried about what others think of them. Maybe they are under pressure by relatives and parents to quickly make their way out of the confusing maze that is college, but to that I must share the most important life lesson regarding education: stop going to school for your parents and start going for yourself. Karina, one of the students interviewed in the film made it incredibly clear that her parents had a very specific path they desired her to follow. Karina shares her thoughts on this by stating, "But that also makes me fearful like okay so if I don't do that will I like fucking die or something or will I like not succeed in life? That makes me really scared like to fall into this path that has been unexplored." This is one of the desperate situations where the parents have such control over their child's life that they become fearful of straying off the beaten path even if they are not enjoying their field of study. It is moments like these where the question of who we're going to college for becomes incredibly important. This realization must be something all students should come to terms with because it will inevitably shed light on the purpose and direction of college. Of course this is easier said than done, but that mentality ties directly in with having discovered some sort of passion and understanding of what it is one wants out of life and that is what the film stresses the most. Once this is realized then understanding and accepting the importance of pursuing education as an investment in the future comes naturally. Work hard, play even hard!

To be undecided is not a burden to bear, but a golden opportunity to look within yourself and discover what you are capable of achieving. This is one of the most resounding concepts I took away from the film. From the get go, we are told that we as students will grow and follow this predetermined path that everyone else follows until we finally achieve our college degree. Little did I, personally, know that life wasn't made out to be neatly outlined like an accountants quarterly reports. "Society is not doing its job," says Romeo, one of the students interviewed in the film, "because it has high expectations for people to follow what other people are doing." I've met many future, concurrent, and returning college students that always demonstrate the same anxiety for not completing college on time. As if we were all predestined to follow neat path drawn on the board game of LIFE with a neatly printed out itinerary. I, too, at one point felt the same anxiety, but slowly came to the realization that there is no template to life. There is no wrong or right way. I especially resonated with a statement by Samira, "But the best advice I felt I could have been given is to know that my mind is undecided...you're so confused and so lost and if someone had just stopped me and told me it's okay - explore it, go with it." In the end, I believe the film did an excellent job at initiating the thought that it is okay to move at your own pace and slowly feel out your desired direction in life. This is how passion is naturally cultivated rather than being forcefully created. We all know that something which is organic and all-natural is superior to something manufactured and artificial. 

The day wouldn't be over without at least one mention of the word privilege in class and today was no exception. The word has snaked its way back into our lives as we were assigned a secondary portion to this assignment - to share our thoughts on the relationship between passion and privilege. Following are my thoughts on the matter:

Privilege and passion don't necessarily go hand in hand, but the former can possibly have a noticeable effect on the latter. Passion has a lot to do with what someone has experienced and is available to them. What I mean by availability is how attainable that passion is and how accessible the tools are for the person to be successful. Student or young adults from less privileged families or ethnicity might not be aware of the possibilities available to them to pursue lofty dreams such as becoming a doctor or engineer and without being exposed to the available paths they can take, they limit their dreams and passions to what they perceive is only available to them. On the flip side, those with privilege, or even those who are over-privileged, have many more doors open to them. They are exposed to many more academic fields and industries than can spark that all important passion and drive themselves to all sorts of specialized industries.

I truly feel like this is a tragedy and a disservice to the world because who knows how many great minds are wasted away without realizing their full potential. There are plenty of intelligent young adults in the world, but most of them aren't afforded the opportunity to realize this. I wrote about this in our first paper and will spare the details, but by limiting the number of people in any capacity is like shacking a ball and chain around our ankles. We are gimping ourselves by not realizing the fullest potential of our future leaders and thinkers.

So, that's about it for the first day. See you guys next time!