2017 Goals

2016. Today is New Year’s Eve. Tomorrow, it will be 2017…a new year.

Last year, my goals–some, crucibles of the depth of my character–were to be unhindered and incandescently persistent towards my goals, loving myself for who I am, and being appreciative of what the world has to offer for me. I’ve been subtly building these characteristics throughout the year and I’m quite proud to be able to reflect and say, I think I’ve attained these goals of mine.

So 2017. Here I am. I don’t know where this year will take me, but I’m sure it will be quite far from where I am now. I suppose some of these goals are far-fetched and somewhat chimerical for someone my age, but I’d still like to set them as goals.

1. Build a better relationship between Self 1 and Self 2. I began reading The Inner Game of Tennis a few days ago since this vacation I’ve played a few tennis tournaments. I’ve consistently found that during tournaments, I don’t play as well as I do in practice [a common complaint], and I tighten up. I find self inflicted vitriol targeting the quality of my playing. I tense up…I double fault on the serves…my shots don’t go as deep…I take less risks with the sidelines…I’m just a complete mess on the court. Timothy Gallwey, the author of The Inner Game of Tennis, says that players often say, “I’m talking to myself” when they make a mistake. I need to stop doing that. When Self 1 (‘I’ or the criticizer/teller) takes over my game, Self 2 (‘myself’ or the doer/executor of the shot) is messed up by the criticism of Self 1. I vow to work on my mentality this year…it is a must. Trusting myself is something I’ve never quite demonstrated emphatically as a strength, and this year, I’m finding it more relevant to success in my life, from test taking to tennis tournaments.
2. Be less self-denigrating. This was a goal of mine for eighth grade and I must say, with the guidance of my friends and advisor at school, I think I’m becoming better at forgiving myself. It almost ties hand in hand with building a better relationship between Self 1 and Self 2 because of the involvement and incorporation of avoiding criticism and being too hard on myself. When I feel this down, daunting sensation, I try to think about what I’ve done well instead.
3. Raise education qualities/bring awareness in less fortunate states. Seems like such a big, vast and endless resolution for 2017 and it might as well carry into 2018. However, I’ve been doing research in my free time about the education systems in states like Mississippi and causes for the prevalent poverty. Mississippi is a state whose education consistently places 50th in the United States. I believe that historical events and current cultural systems have detained this state in particular, from growing as rapidly as its competitors. Cultural constructions are hard to shift, but I wonder whether online education benefit would benefit these students.

Happy New Year!

Mona Lisa

The Da Vinci: The Genius exhibit is currently showing at the Museum of Science, and yesterday, my Mom and I visited.

Da Vinci was more than just the illustrious painter of the Last Supper and the Mona Lisa. He was an architect, an inventor, and yes, at one point, even a fashion designer when he was called upon. At the Museum, models of the military weapons he designed [like the catapult] were displayed and his sketches sat alongside.

The exhibit was very broad in the sense that it touched upon many of Da Vinci’s accomplishments, yet also highlighted his life and his career. The most eye catching–and controversial–part of the exhibit for me was probably seeing the analysis of Mona Lisa and her features.

I have known the Mona Lisa since I was young and I believe it is considered the most famous painting of all time. It was so famous that in first grade, I even tried to copy the painting on 11x9 paper, which to my disappointment, did not resemble the version I saw on the internet. However, I must confess, I have found myself questioning the glory of the Mona Lisa, as people have described it. I’m not an art critique and I probably don’t understand enough about the significance of the art itself, but after seeing the exhibit yesterday, my question is, what’s the big deal?

Da Vinci was not the first artist to exist, he was not the first artist to create a painting of a woman, he was not the richest man of his time and Mona Lisa, in my opinion, is not significantly different–or better–than the portraits I have seen wandering through art museum galleries.

At the Museum of Science, the Mona Lisa analysis took up ⅓ of the exhibit. It highlighted some very interesting details that I would not have noticed myself, like her lack of eyelashes/eyebrows, the position of her left hand and how it differed from Da Vinci’s first draft of the painting. The exhibit also compared of Da Vinci’s initial drafts of the Mona Lisa to his final.

Yet there was a panel on the wall titled 25 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Mona Lisa. I don’t remember all of them, yet there is one that has most definitely stuck the most with me. I’m paraphrasing, but it was something along these lines: the observation of the dark smudge of paint on the contour of Lisa’s chin and corner of the left eye contradict people’s hypothesis that Mona Lisa had high cholesterol. That last part really stunned me. People initially–and many still–believe that Mona Lisa had high cholesterol based off a painting? For me, that’s crossing the line between reality and extremity.  

My question is whether society has socially constructed Mona Lisa to be the most famous painting. I would answer yes. Many art analysts and critiques have made observations about the painting [which I totally accept], yet many are using these observations and alluding to extreme possibilities for why Da Vinci may have done this. For all I know, the smudge on the corner of the left eye, or the lack of shading on the right side of Lisa’s nose may not point to

How could a smudge on the left eye suggest this?

high cholesterol, but perhaps an application of too much water/paint on that particular area of canvas. I feel as if anything could be suggested about Mona Lisa through the painting. I could even say–though I’m not art critique or analyst–that Lisa doesn’t show her teeth in the painting because she never had braces as a kid and therefore, has crooked teeth.

Plus, we still don’t know who the painting of Mona Lisa is really depicting. Some people say it’s the wife of a wealthy merchant, others say it’s Da Vinci himself in feminine form. In that case, how could we correctly hypothesize that she had high cholesterol? There are many layers to a painting and I find it controversial that many are forming hypothesizes from looking at the surface.

Departing question: Do you believe that society has socially constructed Mona Lisa to her current fame, or is there something that differentiates this portrait from others?

2016: A Reflection

2016. It’s coming to an end. There won’t be another 2016 [at least not in my lifetime], and I am grateful for the ways I’ve been supported to grow and I am anxious to see what 2017 has

to offer.

A year captured in reflections:

Favorite quote shared→ “The more you respect and focus on the singular and the strange, the more you become aware of the universal and the infinite.” ~Gail Godwin

Favorite book→ How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

• Favorite principle from How to Win Friends and Influence People→ Show genuine interest in other people

Favorite movie→ The Prestige

Favorite newspaper→ The Washington Post or Science of Us

Favorite post→ So Similar, Yet So Different

Greatest observation of the year→ Time

Most memorable adventure→ Canadian Rockies

Greatest way I’ve grown→ Understanding that I am my best competitor

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: in a nutshell, and my favorites

Leadership is influence.

That must have been the greatest thing I’ve learned from reading John C. Maxwell’s, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. This is one of the first principles Maxwell introduces in this book, which many people frequently misconceive as positional, management, entrepreneurship and knowledge leadership. But truly, leadership down to its skin, is influence.

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership is written as one whole book, but I like to think of it as two parts. The first half I would title “Self Leadership”, and the second half, I would title “Growing Beyond”. I would say that “Self Leadership” is more focused on how the reader can build him/herself first in order to start the company/organization on the right foot. The “Growing Beyond” section is more focused on how to continue a legacy and how to grow the company/organization once it has been started.

The greatest–and probably most applicable–law that I read in the “Self Leadership” half, is the Law of Magnetism, or you attract who you are. Therefore, the law states that one would have to develop characteristics he/she would like the people working around him/her to possess. Maxwell uses his personal example of working at Skyline church. His predecessor was a man named Dr. Orval Butcher, who was a very talented pianist and was blessed with a resonant Irish tenor voice. When Maxwell arrived at the church, he states that it had “a solid reputation for fine music. It was nationally known for its outstanding musical productions” (91), primarily because Butcher’s enjoyment for musical had attracted others with similar interests to Skyline. Yet when Butcher left, Maxwell found that many of the musicians followed him out. I suppose in a way, the Law of Magnetism works not only in that it attracts people of similar interests, but it also binds them together.

My example of this in real life action is during the high school admissions process at my old school. I no longer attend Belmont Day School, but I know I originally chose to attend the school because I was attracted the teaching style and the students at the school. Currently, the students at BDS are in the process of applying for high school and after talking to a few of them, I found the common interest was in Concord Academy. This is an example of people with common interests being attracted together in one community, but also travelling together as they moved forth.

In the second half of The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, or the “Growing Beyond” section, I couldn’t decide whether the Law of Empowerment of the Law of Explosive Growth was more striking to me. Yet the similarity between these two laws is that both of them focus on growing and raising up other people, leaders specifically.

The Law of Empowerment states that only secure leaders give power away. Giving power away is important because it’s quite impossible to do everything forever. Empowering the leaders around you will ensure that a legacy is left. What Maxwell does a fantastic job doing in this chapter is explaining the three biggest barriers against Empowerment. One of them is job security.

I remember that I was someone who felt this insecurity in the classroom. I felt that if I gave too much power to the other kids and let them do whatever they wanted, they would eventually “overpower” me. Yet Maxwell shares ways to overcome this feeling from a different angle. He says that “the only way to make yourself indispensable is to make yourself dispensable…if you are able to continually empower others and help them develop so that they become capable to taking over your job, you will become so valuable to the organization that you become indispensable” (126-127). So beautifully stated.

The Law of Explosive Growth illustrates a different take on empowering others and leverages the importance of developing leaders. Maxwell refers to something called “Leader’s Math.” As I talked about above, leadership is influence and the ability to move a company or an organization in the desired direction. In order to do this, leaders need to develop leaders, not just followers. By developing leaders, one will be able to influence the leader, and those who follow the leader. This will create a stronger organization. Here’s an illustration:

Figure 1: "Adding" growth

OR

Figure 2: "Multiplying" growth

The second method illustrates "Leader's Math" since one would be "multiplying" the number of people and the effectiveness of the company/organization. Figure 1 illustrates an "addition" method.

***

So I’ve reached the end of this book. It took me months to read and absorb, but I would 100% recommend this book. It has changed my outlook on leadership and I’m anxious to put these new principles into action at school when I focus on the progression of an initiative I started last year.

For those of you curious, I plan on reading You Can Negotiate Anything by the World’s #1 Negotiator, Herb Cohen, next.

Rain or Snow?

Yesterday, Boston was hit by snow, which I would say piled up around 2-3 inches. Today, I was awoken by the pounding of heavy raindrops on the roof of my house.  

Taken on a hike in New Hampshire

It snowed heavily in the morning yesterday, which was the catalyst for the abrupt cancellation of my piano lesson. I’ve never particularly enjoyed the cold, and I remember preferring rain over snow when I was younger. But know, I’m questioning my initial opinion.

I was making holiday cards yesterday. I made 12 to be precise, but there were only 10 postage stamps at home. I wanted to mail all the holiday cards before most of my friends departed from Boston for travel, so I walked a mile to the Post Office to purchase more stamps.

Somehow, the town did not shovel the sidewalks, so my walking was impeded by the depth of the snow. Yet when I walked, I felt this strange lightness, yet simultaneously plodding sensation in my legs. The feeling reminded me of first grade, when a couple of my friends and I used to pretend to live in the arctic and be hunters. I was one the hunter’s dogs, and I remember crawling on my hands and knees around the snow. My snow pants, though they were “waterproof”, became so worn from abrasion of the rough ice, that the jeans I wore underneath were often soaked from crawling on my knees. I remember lugging sledfulls of snow around, as this was the “food” my hunter had killed, back to camp. It was then, dragging the sled around, that I experienced the sinking sensation into the snow. It was the same feeling I felt yesterday, trying to walk across non–firm snow. A sinking, plodding, yet simultaneously light and springy feeling in my legs.

I suppose snow isn’t as bad as I’d once perceived it to be. It’s beautiful when it covers the trees and it reflects the street lights at night, making my whole neighborhood glow a hazy yellow color.

What do you prefer? Rain or snow?

When you don't even try

The picture in the background is beautiful and this quote is inspiring. A few months ago, after finishing our first projects in art class, my art teacher asked us to post a picture of our work on a shared Wikisite. We were also asked to attach an inspirational quote to the picture. One of my classmates attached this quote.

This quote will take me far. I can already feel its power encouraging me to take more risks and be more daring to put myself out there. I hope this finds a place in your mind as well.

20 Minutes

Winter break is approaching slowly. The mindset of most people at school is just five more days! Push through it! As I approach winter break, I see it as a time to reflect upon the year thus far.  For me, I’m reflecting upon the importance of time management and how it is vital to my success. Certainly, this will carry on through high school and for the rest of my life.

20 minutes. It’s no longer just 20 minutes. 20 minutes is the amount of time it takes to complete my foreign language homework. It is ⅔ of the time I spend practicing the piano, or

the time it takes to complete ⅓ of my english homework.

It was only a few years ago, perhaps only sixth grade, or even seventh grade, that I found myself promising to take 20 minute breaks after doing homework for 1.5 hours. I find myself saying this less frequently. In sixth grade, I used to run on my treadmill for 20-30 minutes for a break between different subjects of homework, even if I’d already had athletics that afternoon at school. This no longer happens. My exercise regime is limited to the hour I have at athletics at school.

It scares me how my perception of time continually changes with age. Sometimes, it seems as if time is the only thing stopping me from finishing all my tasks each day. Other times, I feel it keeps me on task. One thing I never feel, is that I have enough. So as winter break continues to encroach, I shall continue to consider 20 minutes and how I can spend it more wisely in 2017.

Passwords

What annoys you the most? What frustrates you the most? What’s your pet peeve. For me, it’s either reading long emails that have no visible paragraph breaks, or remembering passwords.

Recently, my need for more accounts has emerged. In a way, this is another aspect of my Revolution and part of maturing and growing up. It seems as if every website needs its own account. School email, Google accounts, device login, sports locker passcodes, online language textbooks, infographic makers, bank accounts [obviously:)]. It’s a downside to the world where technology rules. Over the previous few months, I’ve needed to create multiple accounts at once, and now, I’m stuck with multiple passwords to remember.

My parents use SplashID to remember their passwords, which is smart, since the only password you need to remember is your device login and your SplashID password. That’s two passwords to remember. Reasonable.

Over the summer, my dad installed the SplashID app on my computer. We set up an account, I created a username, a password and I explored the app and its functions. My dad told me to log out of the app and try logging again. I was positive that I had remembered my password to this password remembering software, but apparently I was wrong. Somehow the password I had created several minutes ago had been forgotten and I was unable to log in again.

This aggravated my dad. How could I not remember the password I had set merely minutes ago? My dad deleted the SplashID software he’d just installed and reinstalled it again. However, when he tried to reinstall it onto my account, the formatting was incorrect and the functions weren’t complete, which was quite peculiar. We spent an hour trying to help me remember all my passwords. An hour later, I still could not remember my passwords.

Wellness Collaborative 2016

This past Thursday was the annual Wellness Collaborative Night at the Middle School. Each year, starting in seventh grade, one class is given up for a week, so that Will Slotnick, a wellness expert can visit BB&N and educate us on drugs, substance abuse, mindfulness and stress management. This past Thursday, I attended the Wellness Collaborative Night, which is a two hour long event where parents and students from different families are mixed into different discussion groups to talk about their perspectives of drugs, alcohol, mindfulness, and the progression of society on these issues.

I think one of the beauties of this event is that you’re separated from your parents. Kids are put into different groups than their parents so that the sharing of beliefs is not altered by influence or pressure from a close adult. In my group, which was composed of four more adults than eighth graders, one topic of discussion that has stuck with me in particular, was the word disappointment.  

The discussion facilitators posed a question to the group. I can’t remember the exact wording, yet I remember it was along these lines:

If you somehow got into drugs and alcohol, who would be the first person you would talk to for support?

Surprisingly, I’m going to admit, I didn’t say my parents, though many of my group mates said otherwise. And here’s why, in the past, I’ve felt that it is difficult to admit wrongs in front of people who are very close to me. Perhaps it is because I know they are constantly around me, but perhaps it is also because I know they can control me and it wouldn’t be considered “unethical” for my parents to yell at me. So this is why I responded to the question by saying I would talk to my best friend’s mother, who is likewise very educated and very supportive.

Yet one word I used when I voiced this opinion to the discussion group was disappointed. I wouldn’t want my parents to be disappointed in my actions. I’m disappointed in you hurts more than I’m angry at you.

Then, the conversation began to turn a path and one of the parents asked what they could do to encourage their children to ask questions. I replied, ‘by being careful with words.’ From Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People, I quoted his first principle, ‘Don’t criticize, condemn or complain.’

This is important, but this is really not the point. What has remained with me from this deep conversation at the Wellness Collaborative Night is the subtle depth, power and terseness, of the overused word disappointment.

Birthday

This past week, I turned 14.

When I was younger, I used to see my birthday as a momentous marker in my life. I remember thinking, wow, now I’m eight! I received more presents as a kid [I asked for books most years]. Don’t get me wrong, birthdays remain important to me, because they are a reminder of time, age, responsibility and how much closer the future I envision is. Yet this year, something inside me was different. I didn’t make 2 tin boxes of rice krispie treats for my homeroom as I did last year and I didn’t purchase 60 chocolate chip cookies as I did in sixth grade. This year, I intentionally wanted my birthday to be more subtle. My friends remembered this day and they sang to me as I walked in the door to school at 8:00. I’m grateful for the reminder that there are people out there who care for me. Thank you. I’m also grateful for their reminder of the significance of the date…since I almost forgot myself!

There’s also a part of me that still wonders, I’m just a day older than I was yesterday, yet today, people [including myself] begin to put more pressure on me. Really, I’m just a day older than I was yesterday, and somehow, this short, 24 hour period brings about a whole new chapter of responsibilities.

Subtle birthday celebrations, almost too subtle I nearly forgot myself. A 24 hour difference. I’m confused, but as always, amazed by the beauty of time. I suppose this is more recognition of my Revolution.

A Black Friday

It had rained the previous night and even in the morning, the roads remained damp. My family was coming home from Black Friday shopping in Natick yesterday. Our car was driving up a slight ramp, and there was a slight turn to the left. I was sleeping in the back of the car, but I awoke when I heard a sudden shrieking in the back wheels of our car as my dad stepped on the breaks. Although the breaks were being stepped on, the car continued to move uncontrollably. When my eyes opened, I saw the head of our car swiveling from the farthest left lane to the farthest right lane and in a matter of seconds, we were back in the left lane, but our car had turned 180 degrees. Everything happened so quickly, but sitting in the back row of our car, I felt like the trunk on my side of the car would slam against the railing of the ramp, but for some miraculous reason, it stopped right before contact.

This was a miracle, no crash, no cars around us [if there were any cars around us, I’m sure there would have been a multi-car accident since we swiveled from left lane, to right and back to the left again], and the fact that our car was driving on a ramp instead of on the highway, is something I’m really grateful for. I guess I’m kind of in shock right now. I don’t know how the car stopped right before contact with the ramp and I continue to wonder whether there is someone, somewhere who had saved us and was somehow controlling our fate. On Thursday, I published a poem noting the things I’m grateful for. I must add something, and that is life.

A Thank You

Last, year I wrote a letter to each of my parents for Thanksgiving, telling the impact each of them has played in my 13, nearly 14 years of life. This year, I’m trying something a little different. I’ve written a poem instead [which I haven’t done in a long time], about what I appreciate this year. Here I go.

“Thank you to…”

It is during this day of the year,

that the streets are nearly devoid of noise.

It’s the silent sound of the outdoors that astounds me.

I don’t know what everyone does at home, but I do know this:

It is a day when I genuinely reflect and be

grateful for all the privilege I am given,

grateful for all the people in my inner circle,

grateful for all the support I am given and sometimes take for granted.

Thank you to the postman,

who not only delivers mail to my box everyday,

but closes the lid when it rains.

Thank you my doctor,

who subscribed me FloVent,

and mitigated my symptoms of asthma early past spring.

Thank you to authors of self improvement books,

who try to bring out the best in readers,

who are selfless in sharing their own experiences. *

Thank you to my advisor, who is also my science teacher,

for supporting me through applications,

and for always being on top of answering her student’s questions.**

Thank you to all my friends,

who spread positive energy, thoughtful ideas

and bring friendly competition.  

Thank you to my teachers,

whose ultimate goals are to bring new perspective into their student’s lives,

and strive to challenge their students.

And the biggest thanks of all to my parents,

who work tirelessly to support me through school,

and inspire me daily to establish my morals.

Thank you.

~Ava Long

Happy Thanksgiving!

__________________________

*Self improvement/business books link.

**I sent an email asking a question at nearly 9 PM, not expecting a reply until the next morning, but sure enough, there was a reply 8 minutes later.