Paige's Powerful Poetry

goal: 

find the balance  

between being 

productive and  

being patient 

-yung pueblo 

This poem gives the vibe that it is attainable to check off your list by its structure alone. The short choppy lines grab your attention. The diction productive and patient both start with a p, and I believe this is smart when it comes to the reader remembering yung pueblo’s message. It leads the reader to question the idea that one can be too productive. 

When I first read this poem, I thought, “How can someone be too productive.” Then I remembered I hadn’t given myself the time to watch a full episode of Bridgerton in the past week. It is time to start applying for summer internships, and I believe in the motto, don’t stop because someone somewhere is going to outwork you. When in reality, I could turn the application in on time rather than being the first person. By waiting, I could let my thoughts marinate because not everything in life is a race.  

I have worked my entire life. I started a paper route when I was eight with my neighbor. I am high-strung, and I will never not be seen working. Well maybe that is a little too far, but I am always juggling fifteen events and class and work and friends and clubs. It’s safe to say that I do not like rest. 

As crazy as it seemed the other day, I had to tell myself it was okay to nap. I literally thought, “Paige you’re in liberal arts, it’s okay, you can rest.” I believe that because I am studying liberal arts, I’m surrounded by others who are constantly learning new technology when I am just honing my soft skills, and I feel as if I am not doing as much, when I am.  

So, I fill my time applying for grants, internships, and study abroad, which is useful, but I could spend a little more time focusing on the balance in my life. 

I come from a family where we never rest. My parents both have two jobs, and I believe not having to work in college is a luxury. When I go to my lab for work, that is when I relax. It’s mindless work of cleaning and preparing the chemicals and materials. My job should not be the place where I say I am relaxing, and I am realizing how much of a workaholic I am as I type this. 

I guess my point is– It is hard to find balance. Especially when you are in Schreyer, when everybody is achieving at such a high level, I want to do the same. Sometimes, I forget that people only talk about the highlights in their lives, and I am not as behind as I think I am. So, I am on the search to find a balance between school, work, extracurricular activities, and achieving at a high level. Wish me luck! My friends said as I type this that it probably is not possible. 

they asked her,  

“are you wealthy” 

she responded, 

“yes. It took years to build, but now there  

is a palace in my heart that I have constructed  

out of awareness, calmness, and wisdom” 

-yung pueblo 

On my first read, I was trying to understand the connection between wealth and having awareness, calmness, and wisdom. I thought that if I was aware, calm, and wise, I could be rich. Then I had to take one more read, and it clicked. To be wealthy is not about money, to be wealthy is to understand your mental capabilities.  

This poem finds into the overarching theme of life that money does not buy happiness. Even though I am constantly questioning this statement, this poem opens our minds to say that true wealth is what lies in our brains. 

Yung Pueblo uses the framework of a question to force the reader to question what true wealth is. Does it lie in money? Does it lie in knowledge? Does it lie in family? He answers this question by stating it is a place in your heart where you are aware, calm, and wise. 

 So, what does this mean? His point is that to utterly understand life you need to take a step back, watch how your decisions impact others, and determine which direction you wish life to take you. By doing this one will gain wisdom to see beyond oneself and be well versed and self-sufficient with their lives. 

When I was on my journey to find the perfect college, I ran into the feeling as if I did not have enough wealth to fit in. Specifically, Ivy League Colleges. I felt as if I was a charity case, and I knew people could see that I was not rich by my clothes, my diction, and the way I presented myself. Money changes people’s outlook on life. I felt judged the entire time. I was aware of my every action. I was not calm. I did understand that I deserved to be there as much as the legacies due to my wisdom and my outlook on life. 

When choosing my perfect school, I understood that I lacked the certain monetary wealth that typically thrives in the environment of the Ivy League, and my voice was most likely going to be silenced. Whereas, at Penn State Schreyer Honors College, I felt heard, I felt valued, I felt wise, and I understood that this is where I belonged. At Penn State, I could be wealthy. I could branch out and explore the thousands of clubs here, I could travel the world, I could work with like-minded people, and most importantly I would never be viewed as lesser due to my monetary wealth because at Schreyer your cognitive wealth comes first. 

I will always wonder what life would have been like to attend UPenn, but I understand for sure that I fit in at Penn State and I made a great decision. 

Five lines. Five lines that will leave one to think for longer than five minutes. This poem includes fourteen words, and it conveys a large enough message to blog about. Pueblo uses no punctuation in this poem to leave the message lingering with the reader, it suggests openness and allows the audience to tailor the poem to themselves. 

I believe that most college-age students can reflect on their years since birth and know that they have had support systems that have carried them through. For example, parents tell their children they are great since they come out of the womb, and they are special. However, over the years some start to feel average, but we all have that one voice pushing us towards our dreams. As we get older, friends and teachers start to impact our self-worth more than parents.  

I am the definition of an underdog. Recently we discovered I have auditory processing disorder. “Auditory processing disorder (APD) is a term that refers to problems in how the brain understands speech. The sounds may be loud and clear. But people with APD don’t pick up on the subtle differences between them. “(www.understood.org). We did not know this until I turned 18. I was always deemed smart, and I was sectioned with the fast-paced classes. I always struggled to learn in lecture-styled classes, I cannot take it in the same as others. I noticed this during my sophomore year in lecture-based classes such as AP Biology. I struggled. My friends were relaying information to me over and over. The amount of help I needed to understand the message, killed me.  

I have never been one to ask for help. However, I typically relied on friends to reteach the lecture to me multiple times until I got it. When it came to conversation-style classes, I thrived. Once I understood what the lectures were truly conveying, it clicked, and I thrived. For my entire high school career, my friends and teachers saw an ability within me that I often did not see. When I struggled every day to understand the lecture, they were patient, when I was not. They carried me through my darkest moments, and they got me to a place where I see my own greatness.  

I was often overlooked. I was 33rd in my class of 120. My parents figured I would thrive in trade. I wanted to become a doctor, so I put hours upon hours into perfecting my work. It takes me an extra amount of time to comprehend, but I was driven to succeed, and I still am today. Without my friends and teachers seeing the underlying potential that needed a little extra attention, I would not have graduated 5th in my class, with many full-ride scholarships. I would not be in Schreyer Honors College. I would not be the most successful out of my High School graduating class.  

They helped me see my inner greatness. I had to be driven to reach my full potential. They did not leave me behind to fend for myself. They forced me to compete with the best. They forced me to not make excuses, but to use it to my advantage, understanding where my weaknesses lie, and how to improve.