Hi, everyone! Happy August. I hope you enjoy this essay I wrote about hiking and leadership. Stay safe and please reach out if you need emotional support. I am here for you. <3 I am twelve and hiking the White Mountains. Sweat slips down my forehead and my polyester shirt is heavy against my skin. My backpack straps burn my waist and my shoes thud against the stone ground. Yet, I am alright. Although I am last in line among the ten campers in our group, two of my counselors have stayed beside me. With their belief in me, positive spirits, and knowledge, I know I will be okay.
That hiking trip, although physically and emotionally exhausting, was one of the best summer camp activities I was privileged to experience. The week before the trip, the counselors had taken us on numerous day hikes and facilitated multiple team-building exercises. We visited Wachusett and the Fells. We played games that forced us to work together to solve mysteries. By the time we left for the White Mountains, we were all prepared. Using my counselors as examples, I understood that the best leaders are those who trust and inspire their followers and guide them with knowledge. Trust is a huge part of leadership. If during the hike, my counselors told me I was not going to make it to the next resting point or that because of my small height, they were already predicting I would slow them down, they would have lost my respect for them and hindered the group dynamics. Fortunately, my leaders learned to trust and believe in me and, throughout our trip, they assured me that I would complete the expedition. The fact we had a week before our journey to bond emphasizes the importance of leaders putting aside time to build trust with their followers. During that week, my counselors discovered my love of reading, so when we arrived at the White Mountains, they told stories about red balls, William Tell, and Zorro in order to comfort me during our trek. I felt cared for by them and in turn, I trusted my counselors. When I became an art camp counselor at fifteen-years-old, I used the lessons I attained on that hiking trip about trust to guide me. At my first lunch recess, I gazed at the kids running around everywhere. My heartbeat quickened and I fiddled with my red lanyard. The campers were moving too fast. Fearful, I did not even allow some of the kids to skip. This, naturally, upset them. Eventually, as I connected with the children and recognized their intelligence, I realized that I could find a balance between trusting the campers to jog safely and maintaining they are not running. That way, the children felt trusted and more willing to bond and talk with me, but I still could watch out for their security. Leaders must also motivate their followers if any tasks are to be completed. In my senior year, as a co-founder of my high school’s Asian American Club, I was constantly testing what activities inspired participation. I learned very early on that most people in the club found group discussions to be disengaging, but events like potlucks and card game tournaments to be entertaining. By taking the time to discover what aroused motivation, planning activities became much easier and members became more likely to participate. Additionally, through my experience as a club leader, I observed how confidence is necessary to inspire followers. During the first Asian American Club meeting, I remember standing off to the side of the room filled with students with my hands shaking and my voice trembling. It was a Friday afternoon following a long week of school and I was worried that everything I had planned would crumble. Sure enough, with my very visible nerves, I had a difficult time motivating members to participate in the group discussion. Yet, a few weeks later, after I had time to feel more comfortable in my role, I was able to stand in the front of the classroom and with a clear voice, lead a successful trivia game. The club’s member engagement only blossomed from that moment. We went from no one wanting to participate to everyone laughing and babbling each meeting. In reaction to my confidence and my time figuring out my members’ interests, the club’s motivation became strong. If not for my counselors’ knowledge, I would never have gotten off the White Mountains. I watched them lead the way for us gaggle of preadolescents. As we slipped down wet rocks, they provided us with tips to safely descend. When rain lashed against our jackets and filled streams to the brim, the counselors knew the best ways to jump across the water unscathed. While the counselors, of course, carried and consulted a map, they also had years of personal experience on the trail to advance their knowledge. Their knowledge was the foundation for their other leadership qualities. Their wisdom spurred my willingness to trust them and my motivation to keep going even when the path seemed difficult. Without being informed, they would not have had the confidence to inspire us to continue. Even simple facts they knew like the scientific names of trees and salamanders gave me faith in their abilities. It is no surprise then that I think of my counselors when I need examples of strong leaders. In my own leadership positions, whether as a camp counselor or a club leader, I try to exert that same aura of trust, inspiration, and knowledge. Before entering a club meeting, I make sure I have a plan and a backup plan. To prepare for being a camp counselor, I confirm that I am well-versed in the camp’s protocols. After all, whose faith could I gain and who could I motivate if I know nothing? Thanks to my hiking counselors, I now understand that what all the best leaders need is a sprinkle of trust to bond with their followers, inspiration to encourage their supporters, and, finally, knowledge to guide everyone.
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Hi, everyone! I hope you are all safe and healthy. If you need emotional support, please reach out to me. I care about you and I am here for you. In the meantime, please enjoy this exclusive essay I wrote that I will only be publishing on this website. As an elementary schooler, I was never a huge fan of Star Wars. Movies were a family thing and with my feelings toward my family often being rather complicated, I preferred to find shelter with more personal enjoyments-- mostly books like Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, and Warriors-- that I could hold in my hand. The strongest memory I have of watching Star Wars in my elementary school years is of viewing The Empire Strikes Back with my aunt during a snow day and I was more focused on the fact my aunt napped through the whole movie than on the film itself. Fortunately for today, in eighth grade, my opinion of the franchise was shaken after I experienced one of the newer films, The Force Awakens, in theaters. Now, as I am at home with my mind overloaded with worries for my extended family members losing jobs, for my friends struggling with complex home situations, and for my country scrambling to find an adequate solution to handle a deadly virus, I can find validation, unity, and hope in a galaxy far, far away. One thing I love about being a Star Wars fan: you are never alone. Even though the story takes place in another universe and is rife with fantasy, so many issues the franchise tackles are visible on Earth. Although, of course, on Earth, these challenges are much more serious because they are real. One parallel is how the original trilogy centers on imperialism with the main antagonists allying with the Empire. On Earth, we do not have to fight a galactic authoritarian government, but we do have a long history of colonialism. Additionally, similar to how Star Wars’s sequel trilogy concentrates on the difficulty of escaping past horrors, we humans on Earth are still combating the negative effects of European and East Asian imperialism. Just a quick listen to the podcast Illuminative can paint a powerful picture of the struggles Native people in America possess right now during the COVID-19 crisis due to the ramifications of colonialism. On a personal level, Star Wars can be quite validating. The Star Wars prequel trilogy is all about the harmful impacts of emotions as seen by Anakin Skywalker’s fall to the dark side. Chronologically, in the following trilogies, viewers watch Anakin’s son Luke and grandson Ben encounter similar hurdles. On my mother’s side of the family, we, too, have a pattern of mismanaging emotions. We jokingly label the matter as the “Yee anger,” but it’s a serious issue that has led to emotional, verbal, and, at times, physical abuse in my extended family. Star Wars has always reminded me that the troubles I face with my family are universal and that I am not alone. As a sensitive person myself, I feel acknowledged by how, in Return of the Jedi, Luke illustrates by trying to save his father that emotions can be healthy as long as you use them to selflessly help others. Besides solely relating to life, Star Wars can also unite and inspire people. Although, as a child, I disliked the community feel of the franchise, I have now grown to respect the way the movies brought my family together. In my middle school years, watching films became a highlight of my weekends. Movie nights were a time when my family could be with one another, all focused on the same thing, in peace. Recently, during the lockdown, my family was privileged to a free two-week trial of Disney+ and for three nights, we were able to quietly watch The Mandalorian together. My family are not the only people connected by Star Wars. Just visit Star Wars Wikipedia, a.k.a Wookieepedia, and see how the site has over 155,000 articles and updates daily. Wookieepedia is a glimpse at a vast and motivated fandom. With my family’s Disney+ trial having ended, I have relied on YouTube to provide me with summaries of the most recent Star Wars: The Clone Wars episodes. Even during this global pandemic, channels like Star Wars Explained, ScreenCrush, and StarForceOne, among others, are steadily producing videos. To further showcase the inspiring nature of the franchise, on the activist side of things, one young supporter of the Green New Deal wrote on their protest poster, “We grew up on Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Marvel. Of course we’re fighting back.” One thing Star Wars is able to offer, especially now with the spread of the coronavirus, is hope. I am so anxious. Every single day brings more and more bad news. The longstanding inequalities in the US are sharper. Scapegoating is prevalent everywhere from the United States to India to China. With so much negativity in the world, it is difficult to feel optimistic. Yet, just reading Star Wars books like Last Shot, Master & Apprentice, and Black Spire can comfort and encourage me. In Last Shot, Lando Calrissian and Han Solo try to prevent an evil alien from controlling all droids. Master & Apprentice centers on two Jedi struggling with the intricacies of politics and slavery. Black Spire follows a Resistance agent setting up a base on a remote outpost. The common thread between these three stories is that the characters persevere and do good despite how powerless they may feel. Even though I find myself in despair at times, I remind myself that there are things I can do to aid others. I can help my parents deliver extra grocery bags to the local food pantry. I can knit scarves for my friends and family. I can simply listen and read the accounts of those who are suffering and need a platform the most right now. It’s funny how a franchise I disregarded as a child became such a motivator for me as a teenager to assist others. But, as one episode of The Clone Wars states, “Never give up hope, no matter how dark things seem.”
Hi, everyone! Things have been going pretty well. I have started recording a lot of my pieces, which you can check out on my youtube. On the other hand, I am going to take a break from doing reviews. I don't have a plan for when I return to my review website, but I will no longer be updating that site. Thank you for all the support you've given me and I hope you enjoy all the new content I'll be providing! Onto the essay. There is light beneath us. I take the bus home on Tuesday nights and, oh, the journey is glorious. There is something beautiful about twenty-so people huddled in one vehicle, their individual dreams and worries whirling and slipping into one another’s consciousness. There is a unity underlined with discord that can only be described as light.
I think we sometimes forget that the people around us exist. They’re not just statues decorating our lives. No, they’re people with their own histories and beliefs. We have so many lives we live. Sometimes we’re simply the person sitting in the back of the bus. Other times we’re the person who gives up their chair for the girl who wants to be with her parent. We are still nobodies in both situations, yet we are there and glowing. I forget how big the world is. I get so caught up in my life and everyone I know that I disregard the countless people that make up the backdrop. I underestimate my appreciation for the boy and his father that pass me every morning. I overlook the people driving cars on my way to school. For all I know, this may be the last time I see these people. Most of all, I neglect those I don’t see. They may be a town or a continent away, but they are still living and, oh, they glimmer. I am the one who needs to pay attention and remember the light beneath us. Overall, I think a lot of people can agree that 2017 hasn't been the best year. Insensitivity, selfishness, and an unwillingness to meet change has sped through the atmosphere and plummeted into people's minds. I, myself, have battled with all three of those descriptors and will probably have to continue to do so next year. It is an ongoing fight, but one I must take in order to lighten the future. This year personally has not been an especially good year. I've dealt with depression, suicidal thoughts, and generalized anxiety. I sometimes wonder if a lot of it is a result of spending more time on the internet. I received a Chromebook for my birthday last year and ever since, my consumption of social media has increased. Still, I don't regret it. I've learned much since the change that has positively affected me as a person. I've made a hard, but important decision to no longer promote myself as a musician. After taking a course in music theory, I've realized I have not music talent what so ever. Sure I can learn if I really put myself up to the task, but with work, family, friends, my other creative activities also being significant parts of my life, increasing my music talent is low on my to-do list. Despite having a mostly negative year, I still think there can be hope for 2018. For myself, since I've found professional assistance for improving my mental state, I've become better. For my creative works, I've become more determined to improve while continuing to be entertained. For the world, there have been incredible people doing awesome work to make others' lives better and as long as people keep promoting their voices and listening to them, I believe we can make society better.
Have you ever felt bored? What did you do? Did it help? I've been bored plenty of times in my life. I believe being bored can be a good and bad thing. Sometimes it's nice being bored, you have so many options to choose from and you know you've already accomplished your tasks. Other times, being bored is horrible. You feel like you aren't contributing enough to society or that you're missing out and being lazy. Even so, boredom can be a powerful motivator to do change and try something new.
I have mixed feelings about boredom. I remember when I was younger, I would sit around my house, wasting my time online. I knew I could do more productive things like walk the dog, take a bike ride, and read, but those stuff needed me to work and think. Yeah, I was a pretty lazy person. Eventually though, my boredom would get to the point that doing something interactive was a necessity. I started drawing and writing more often. I volunteered in my community and met really cool people. Boredom is what got me doing these things that I now enjoy and do regularly.
I still get bored sometimes (how can a person not?) but I know how to handle it. I remind myself of all the options I have and the people I can help and meet. I force myself onto my feet to go out and do things that previously I only imagined myself doing. This is the power of boredom.
How do you handle boredom?
Recently I've been thinking about hard work and privilege. I believe that hard work helps people improve, but without the kindness of others, it's not always acknowledged and not always able to help a person succeed. I also believe that privilege comes hand and hand with hardship, but hardship does not block out privilege. I remember in school how sometimes we had to choose our own groups to work on projects. I was always a hard worker, but if I didn't have a friend in my class, it made me less likely to be chosen for a group. In school, I realized, the only the people that seemed to acknowledge hard work was my teachers. My classmates, not so much. If you weren't their friend, it was unlikely they'll pick you. If you wanted to get into a group, you had to take the initiative to ask around and hope someone would be kind enough to take you in. The same thing happens in gym class when captains are chosen to choose people to be on their teams. I didn't really try that hard in PE but when my friends were the captains, I was one of the first people chosen. These school experiences have taught me that hard work doesn't always get you where you want, but it does help you improve. Having to take initiative to get into project groups gave me more confidence. The experiences also taught me that the kindness and acknowledgement of others plays an important role in helping me succeed. My school memories have taught me a lot about privilege as well. In classes where I had friends, I was privileged. I didn't have to awkwardly stand in the corner, waiting for an invitation to join a group. Although I was privileged to have friends, that didn't block out troubles like the lazy worker or stress. Yet, these hardships didn't block out the fact I was privileged to have friends to work with instead of being with strangers. Outside of school, I've learned the same lesson. When I was in middle school, a friend who was much less financially fortunate than my family lived at my home for a couple of months. I remember my dad said he would pay us $0.25 for every dandelion we picked up in our yard. I got about $5.00, Hunter got a little more, but my friend got $12.75. I never really had to worry about money in my life, so I wasn't that motivated to pick dandelions because I knew all I had to do was wait for the holidays when relatives would pile me with gifts. My friend, on the other hand, knew the value of the dollar and was willing to work hard and pick much more dandelions. My family's financial privilege didn't block out all trouble, but our hardships didn't make us any less privileged. What are your thoughts and experiences on these topics? Thanks for reading and see you next month!
I've always been interested in human nature, but more recently than ever. Lately, I've been reading Lord of the Flies. After reading that book, I thought the moral of the story is "people are naturally evil even if they don't seem so at first". Maybe that's what the author intended and it fits especially since the author fought in a war, but even so, I just found myself disagreeing. To me, that lesson is saying "don't trust anyone because eventually you'll stab each other in the backs" and I didn't think that is a helpful lesson. A few philosophy Crashcourse videos later, I came up with this: "human nature is to do things that makes oneself happy." One of the main reasons I didn't like my inferred Golding's moral was it didn't explain why the world isn't in complete disarray today. Yeah, there are so many things going on that makes it seem like it, but there are still a lot of good things, or things I see as good, that happen. I believe my analysis fits into both sides as well as the shades of gray. For example, during the Tienanmen Square protests, people starved themselves in hopes that making themselves unhappy in the moment would lead to happiness later. Throughout many other protests, there have been similar thinking. Some protesters know they won't survive their protesting, but the thought of what they see as better might happen in the future makes them happy, giving them reason to do it. Children procrastinate doing their homework because they want to feel happy in the moment. I believe a lot of counterproductive actions are also caused by that thinking. On the other hand, people who don't procrastinate doing their homework are often doing it so they'll feel happy later. This might mean more time to do things they enjoy, not being yelled at by a parent, getting a good grade, but all in all, it's for feeling happy. In my life, I've woken up suddenly, worried sick I had school or work and I was going to be late. Then I would realize it was the weekend and settle down. You're probably thinking, "this doesn't work with your philosophy, Darcy" and that's what I thought, too, but think about it this way. On our pursuit of happiness we often cause negative and positive consequences that affect our emotions and thinking. I strive to do well in work and school to make myself happy, but this leads to me getting worried that I'll be late, causing me to wake up on the weekends thinking I have school or work. I can go on and on, but I think you guys get the point. If you have any other examples from your own life or from anywhere, feel free to submit them down below. If you have an example you believe doesn't fit my version of human nature, put it down there, too. I'll try to prove you wrong, but you may be right. Thanks for reading and see you next month.
Have you ever walked past a person trying to get through a door? Have you ever seen someone drop their binders, but refuse to help pick their things up? I've definitely been in those situations and having been the person on the other side as well, I've seen others do it too. I'm not a professional on the human mind, but I'm interested in delving into why we push other people's problems away or into our lives. A big part of pretending to ignore someone grappling at a door is worrying what others will think. You may be worried the person will get angry at you for trying to help or that people will think of you as weak. You may also be worried about embarrassing yourself. These worries then lead you to come up with excuses like getting to class late or that the person will be fine by themselves. Both of those may be true and maybe getting to that class is more important than helping someone with a door, but sometimes you feel worse walking away than staying to help. This is where "not my problem" comes in. People use that phrase as a way to make themselves feel better and to worry less. The person at the door to you is dealing with their own problem and doesn't need you to interfere. "Not my problem" is an excuse to not help another person or get involved in an issue. Sometimes you can get away with it, like the door problem, but for other things like climate change, it's going to affect you some way or another. People who help others are able to push away those feelings of worry and embarrassment. They may also be having a good day themselves. They find that the joy of helping someone outweighs letting the person struggle alone. They may empathize or sympathize, leading them to want to offer assistance. I can see myself in almost every single example in this post. I've been in the "not my problem" category as well as the person who helps and the person who is left alone to suffer. I feel terrible after not helping someone when I could have easily done so. When I help someone with the door, I feel better and my day is often more positive. I feel lonely when people leave me to deal with my problems after clearly seeing me struggle. I'm grateful when someone notices and takes action. I hope this article helps you figure out which category you're in and how you can act in a more positive way. See you next month!
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AuthorI'm Darcy Ridge, creating stories that all revolve around family and identity in a myriad of ways. In the past, I have shared multiple stories and published a novella online. You can find me on Wattpad and many other social media websites. They/them [Image Description: black background with the words "Social Justice and Mental Health Resources" in white in the center /end ID]
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