For my passion blog I have decided to write about new gadgets out there that I find really interesting. For my Civic Issues blog I have then decided to write it about GMOs.
This I Believe
Breaking Bones
I believe in breaking bones. When a bone fracture occurs the body goes through some amazing steps to ensure the bone is fully healed. After a few weeks, a hard callus is formed around the site of the break, and at this point the bone is essentially stronger than it was before the break. I realize that no one wants to go through the pain of breaking a bone, but once it happens the bone actually gets physically stronger than before! This is the driving principle behind my belief.
I “broke my bone” in March of 2014. After a week of tryouts, I was standing in the locker room waiting to hear the results. One by one, I watched players being called into an office to hear if they would have a spot on this year’s high school lacrosse team or not. An hour passed before I was finally called in the room where I was sat down and handed a sheet of paper. My coaches explained to me that although I had the ability to play on the team, they felt I lacked the commitment needed, and they told me they were letting me go. They asked me to sign the piece of paper to show I understood what they have just told me, so I signed the page and left the room.
To me, this was absolutely devastating. A team, or better yet, a family that I have known for most of my life was abandoning me. Basically, they were telling me that they didn’t want me anymore, and how could anyone feel good after this? This was me breaking a bone, this was me experiencing hardship.
The next few weeks were no easier, people asking how tryouts went and having to alert them of my bad news, and what was even worse was watching my friends playing lacrosse without me. But eventually I realized I had to move on and one of the first steps I took was getting involved elsewhere. I started participating in my school’s Key Club, I joined my school’s Science Olympiad team, and I even signed up to compete in the Science Fair. I met a lot of new people and got to experience a completely different aspect of extracurricular activities. Through my experiences I not only got to realize my passion for science, but I also got to make new friendships. This was me healing, this was me becoming stronger.
Without the pain of being cut from the lacrosse team, I wouldn’t have had the same high school experience that I had. I definitely wouldn’t have got involved in the new activities I did, I wouldn’t have met all my new friends, and I may not be where I am at today. Bad experiences are a necessary part of life because they allow you to learn and grow from them. And that is why I believe in breaking bones.
New Topics for Spring’16
For my passion blog, my ideas are either a continued skiing blog or a new blog about random “gadgets” out there that most people are unaware of and are pretty cool. With continuing a skiing blog now that it’s actually winter, I would maybe get to post about actually going skiing rather than posts about skiing. Now although I really like the idea of continuing my skiing blog, I’m leaning towards the gadget blog. I feel that this would be a better topic to write about weekly and I’m assuming learning about stuff that you can possibly get if you like would be more enjoyable anyway than skiing.
For my civic issues blog, I think I want to choose to write about genetically modified organisms (GMOs). I hear about them all the time, some people argue they’re bad others argue they’re good so I think it would be interesting to do some research about them and see what conclusions I can draw. Another reason this topic seems interesting to me is because currently I’m working in a lab where we actually do genetic modifications and to fully understand what that means I think would be very useful and helpful with my work. A second idea for the civic issues blog could be on the topic of education. When we discussed GPA in the class for deliberation topics, I feel that this topic definitely has a lot that can be talked about and a lot of information that can be explored. With GPA requirements, course scheduling, and the cost of tuition are all topics that can be discussed.
For my “This I Believe” project I think I want to do the topic on commitment. I think commitment is really important and I can think of many times in my life where it has helped me and even hurt me when I choose not to commit. Giving your best effort in everything you do is extremely important and a strong belief that I have so I feel it would be a good topic and very fitting for me. Another idea I have is following through on what you want to do. Many times people may try to sway you to do something their way but I think it is very important to follow your own ideas and do what you want to do. By doing what you actually want to do, you’ll now only enjoy it but be able to express yourself rather than hiding behind what others tell you to do.