Thanksgiving Post

When people ask me how senior year is going my immediate response is always about teachers, work, and dance. And while those things are interesting, the truth is, I wouldn't be able to do any of it without my classmates, my friends. They help me so much, not just with grand gestures of companionship, but through all of the little, everyday things.

The first, most obvious, most persevering classmate that deserves my acknowledgment is Adina. Adina, you have been a better friend than I could ever hope for. For six years, you've showed me what it means to care about others. You've given me unending amounts of support, even when I seems like a lost cause. You don't judge me, at least not outwardly, but the few times that you did you were so convincing that I felt immediately motivated to change my actions. Most of my friends are friends of convenience, but not you. More often than not, our relationship has not been convenient. We've probably had a grand total of about 3 classes together, yet you always made time for me, and I will always make time for you. I am deeply thankful for everything that you are. You are more than a classmate, more than a friend.

Classmates are also important for creating uniting forces against unreasonable teachers. I will not name specific teachers, for that is disrespectful (not to mention its on the never deletable black hole we call the internet). But Izzy, you know who I'm talking about. And girl, you keep me sane. Without your voice of reason holding me down all year, I surely would have been driven crazy by now. I am so thankful to have you close by every day; you help me more than you know.

I am thankful for the classmates that tutor me. If you didn't know this, I am very bad at being wrong. When I don't understand something, I am hard pressed to admit it. But it does happen. And when it has, there have been a few select students who have been able help me understand things. They were able to accomplish either a) what the teacher has failed to communicate, or b) what my brain has failed to teach itself. I am so happy that these people exist because they show an obvious passion and creative way of thinking and communicating that inspire me as well as our other classmates.

Lone Travelers

It amuses me greatly that while this is the third class in which the teacher has shown Into the Wild, but I have yet to see the full movie. But that's ok, seeing a movie is somewhat less important to me than the things I was doing while not in class. :)

To me being alone when choosing what path to take in life is, if possibly nonessential, most definitely important. People have more influence over one another than they sometimes realize. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Yes. It surely is. But imitation is not self. A moment in which you discover that your actions mimic someone else's more than they do your own is the time when you must choose a new path. You must choose a path that is entirely you, and being alone is the best way to assure this.

I see the people that do travel alone as having a very pure form of confidence. I recently finished a book that was all about what confidence is and how it is displayed. Essentially I view being comfortable in your own skin, and being okay with being alone as the root of confidence. A journey into the wild-alone-is, among other things, a search for confidence. There are of course then the spiritually enlightening moments of knowledge that stem from this.

The thing is you don't have to actually be in the wilderness to be in the wild. What is wild is what is unfamiliar, untamed, uncontrolled. Simply by not letting others decide which path you take and not influencing what you do along this path is going into the wild. Traveling into the wild, the wild of a city, of a town, of a forest, or desert, is an opportunity to learn, and to gain confidence. Confidence to have peace of mind. To find om.