This week in journalism we were assigned to take photos using new techniques. So, playing off of that, I thought I would take the opportunity to write about snapshots of my week for this column. Stick with me.
Snapshot 1: Monday: Outside
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This weather is wacky. It’s cold in the morning, but then turns into these bright, nice, sunshiny days. This can’t be October, but I guess it is. As soon as I’m ready to break out the sweaters, scares, and cozy Christmas socks, the sun decides that he misses summer and throws a party with an 80-degree day. I really don’t know what to make of it.
Snapshot 2: Wednesday: Inside
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We had a guest speaker come into our class and talk about his life as a professional journalist. He talked about how he started off small and worked his way up. He got interviews with the best sources because he was kind, not critical. To get anywhere he had to be easy-going, open-minded, and fair. His interviewees chose to spend time with him because they knew he wouldn’t rip them to shreds.
Snapshot 3: Thursday: Worry
A representative from the USC admissions department came to our school. We talked about average GPAs, test scores, and what they’re looking for in a Trojan. It got me thinking… What am I pushing towards? Is it college? What comes after college? A job? What job? Is my goal really just to make a lot of money? What am I actually working towards? I don’t know. Is my GPA all that really defines me? No, of course not. That’s a silly question. Then why do I beat myself up about tiny things that go into the grade book? Maybe it’s because all of the little things add up.
Snapshot 4: Friday: Perspective
Football Friday. Sequoia traveled to Menlo, a private school I thought about attending. I have friends that go to Menlo, friends that have gone on to go to great colleges. Their school has iPads. That’s okay. Sequoia was my choice. I don’t need iPads and small classes to get a great education. I just need to have an open mind and be willing to learn. I like how we have announcements in English and in Spanish. We don’t stop learning when the bell rings for lunch. Diversity gives us an advantage, an advantage to learn about different kinds of people every day.
Snapshot 5: Sunday: Reflection
It’s been a long week. True, it had the same hours in each day, the same number of days in the week, but a long week nonetheless… so much homework, so many projects, so many presentations and due dates. But I made it through. Another day, another week, done. I’m that much closer to the finish line.
I might break down in the middle of the week. I might get frustrated with myself. I can’t do it all. No one can. I want to be great and succeed at everything I try, but then again, that’s not a reality, just a Laurel fantasy. I wanted to catch that pass at powderpuff practice, I wanted to get an A on that English test, I wanted Sequoia to win that football game, I wanted to go back and re-do that moment... but so does everyone. I’m not the only one who messed up this week. I’m not the only one who wishes they could do it over.
When I look back now and I think about my week and think that there was nothing special about it, I have to stop myself. There were glimmers of greatness. Watching the Giants win with my family, laughing with the kids I coach on the pool deck, curling up in bed at night and reading our new issue of the Raven Report that we, as a journalism staff, worked so hard on.
These are little things that make up the big picture. I might mess up some of the little things, and yes, I might mess up some big things too, but I will succeed more than I screw up. Sometimes the sad moments blur the beautiful ones, but I need to convince myself to not lose perspective.
The big picture is a beautiful one. Let’s not be mistaken. And all of our snapshots play a part in it.
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