It's a wrap!

       I always wondered what it is like not having something that you really enjoy doing. Is that even possible? Apparently it is possible. There are students out there that do not know what they want to do and have the lack of passion to do something with their lives. 
       I will be using a variety of sources for passion and education which include my blog entries from blogger, the movie, The Passion Project, made by Chabot Students, and the book, Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer.
This paper will mostly consist of education and having passion. First I will introduce the movie The Passion Project and how it relates to me, after I will talk about this amazing guy from Duncanville High and share what he has to say about teachers and education. I will go into privilege a bit in the sense of education that ties in with the book Into the Wild a bit. After that I will talk about some deal breakers in college and a possible way to overcome it and finally what is success and what it means to have success to me. 
         Everyone has a passion towards something, but sometimes people do not know that they can have a passion or do not know what they are interested in. In the movie, The Passion Project, students talk about having passion and education as well. The Passion movie is really inspirational and very true. Sometimes I do feel the same way how these students felt and I can completely relate to them. When they get to the part of teachers not being passionate about their work and seem very dull and boring, it makes students just want to sleep and not attend that class at all. I actually had a math class that was extremely boring. Normally I can deal with math, but this teacher was dead. I would fall asleep in that class so much and I don't fall asleep in classes. On the other hand, I had this history teacher last semester and she was amazing! No joke. She made history come alive and every day I had that class I looked forward to attending class and want to learn and hear what she has to say. In the movie, The Passion Project, Ray says, “In order to love life you have to find your passion; you have to find what truly makes you happy and when you find what truly makes you happy you gotta chase after it; you gotta take those risks.“ This movie line loud and clear to me in the sense that I am a dancer. I have been dancing ever since I was about 6. Whenever I dance, I feel so free and stress-free. It's my getaway from the world of stress. I feel like I'm soaring on my feet along to my partner. I have tons of fun dancing and messing around with friends. There is nothing better than to dance and at the end receive applause from the audience. It makes me happy to be able to perform in front of people and watch as they smile and record the performance.
Another example of an unmotivated class is the teacher from Duncanville. A student gets up, tells the teacher off, and then is forced to leave, but he leaves not because he was told too, but because he is fed up with the teacher not motivating her students to learn. Who would have thought that a student who looks like he might not care much for school and dresses like a gang banger for that matter would actually stand up to a teacher? Once again Ray, from The Passion Project, says that, “Students have to feel like they’re home so if they wanna be comfortable they gotta get comfortable with the teacher and we gotta feel like the teacher is real, like he or she really truly wants to help us.“ This could not be anymore true. This guy from Duncanville High brings up a good point about how there are students who don't learn by doing worksheets and having teacher that pretty much doesn't give a crap if there students learn or not because quite frankly, they get paid either way to teach whether or not their students learn. It's quite depressing really. Ray says that, “A great teacher is always like a student because they’re always learning so they’re always learning new and better ways to do something.“ Students need a teacher that makes education fun and gets the class excited and eager to learn every day. Just by listening to how the teacher talks back to this student you can tell that this teacher really doesn't care and just wants peace and quiet from the class. Well Ms. Teacher, news flash, students will not learn anything and will fail because students are not robots and will not process the information without being taught. It is one thing to do worksheets and a completely other thing to actually explain and help students understand what they are supposed to be taught. If there were more students out there that would stand up to teachers like this, the world of education may just be a better learning environment. 
There are times where teachers who are fun and exciting are just not enough to satisfy a student to learn. It takes more to get a student to want to learn, but with the proper push, any student can be excited for school. As students, we just need that extra push of motivation. There are many students that can't handle the school work and eventually drop out. I think this video connects with what we have been discussing in class because education plays a huge role in people's lives. With education, people get better jobs and more income as well. This plays along with the passion video and the student from Duncanville High. Students need to be motivated, we need, no; we crave that motivation to keep us going. Many students give up when they receive a terrible grade on a test or exam and feel like they can't compete or are not good enough, or have an excuse to why they did so poorly. This woman though, encouraged a student that got two points out of twenty that they can do better. That student was then filled with motivation and wanted to do much better. If students are constantly put down then don't expect them to get up anytime soon. Students victimize themselves. It's true, we always blame someone or something else and never blame ourselves. Say you have a test to study for on Monday morning. A student has the weekend to study and prepare for that test, but instead they decide to go out and hang out with friends or play video games all day long. When test day comes, and find out that they failed, they either blame the teacher for not teaching them well enough, complain that the test was too hard, or maybe that they didn't have the time to study when they actually did but chose not to. If teachers can't motivate students and students can't motivate themselves, then who will?
Education may have a little something to do with privilege. Not necessarily that white people get the better classes or anything, but when it comes to graduations, white families do go out and celebrate and make a big deal out of it. Of course graduating college is a huge step because that is when your life truly begins outside of schoolwork and teachers. In the book, Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer, the main character Chris McCandless has graduated from Emory University in Atlanta and his parents want to buy him a brand new car. Now, some students have the privilege of having their parents buy them a car and others have parents who refuse to buy their child a car because it is expensive so students end up saving money to buy their own car. Chris has parents will want to get him a new car, but strangely refuses a new one. Everyone that I know would love for their parents to want to buy them a new car of the year and everything, but Chris on the other hand does not and even says, “I can’t believe they’d try and buy me a car” (21). I was surprised that anyone would ever say this. Then again he already has a car and Chris prefers his “beloved 1982 Datsun B210, slightly dented but mechanically sound, with 128,000 miles on the odometer” (21) car. I see Chris’ point though. His car may not be the newest model or the shiniest, but it holds memories that a new car will not have. It is like giving away your favorite shoes because they no longer fit you and you have to buy a new one. It just will not be the same. Although, Chris’ problem was not the fact that his parents wanted to get him a new car, it was more of the fact that he did not want to be given things easily. He wants to earn his stuff on his own without needing the help of others to help him survive. A brand new car was something he did not need since the car he already has still runs perfectly fine. 
Chris wants to start a new life without the pressures of his family and peers. There is nothing like being able to do whatever you want when you want and not having to listen to someone to tell you that you can or cannot do this or that. He wants to get away from materialistic things and sets out on his own adventure to survive in the wild. Someone as young as he is, who actually wants to live in the wild without anything is insane. No one would want to do such a thing at that age when you get the freedom to be who you want to be. It is almost like when you first enter college and do not know what to do at first because you are so brand new to everything. If living on your own in the wild is hard without any supplies just mother nature, then college must be a whole lot easier having many resources and people there to help you, however; sometimes college can be a bit of a pain when obstacles stand in your way.  
When going to college, it is hard when you are on your own for the first time and no one is pushing you to get your act together like in high school anymore. There are many obstacles that can stand in the way if you do not figure something out that works for you. There are many deal breakers when you go to college, whether you go to a community college, UC, or CSU, there will always be some challenges and obstacles in the way. One deal breaker for me is my after-school activities. I have dance practice for two hours twice a week, then I have piano lessons for an hour on Wednesdays, not to mention that I decided to take up an English class this summer to get ahead which is good-bye mornings three times a week, and lastly my driving lessons. There is so much for me to do plus my school work. It is hard to balance school and your social life. So many obligations or maybe it's just something that you love to do so you may not want to give it up because it keeps you from going insane from all the school work professors give out. 
       The way I try to handle all my responsibilities is by finding unused time whenever I can and do as much as I can. Take for example a bus ride. The bus takes FOREVER to come by so you can use that time to read, study, or look over any quick homework instead of using your phone and checking your instagram, twitter, facebook, etc. Even in the bus you can continue doing some work. It also helps if as soon as you get home, start homework immediately! Most college students say, "Oh, I'll do it after I eat" or, "I'll get to it when my television. show is over". It never happens until it is late at night and then students realize, "Oh crap! I forgot to do my homework!" and then stay up late at night just to finish. I know most students want to relax after a long day of school and listening to teachers talk, but if we as students are able to get to work sooner, not only would it save time, but also since we just got out from school and learned the lesson, it is fresher in your heads than if we wait later in the day.
Another deal breaker is finding a good spot to study. As a college student, we need somewhere quiet where we can study in peace to do our index cards or any helpful notes for that quiz or exam. Sometimes college students can't find a nice place to study because their household is too loud or they have siblings that never shut up! ....Or bug the crap out of you. Maybe even both. There is also the fact that there can be so many other distractions. 
       The way that I handle this is by going to my room and shut down all electronics. That includes phone, television, laptop (unless I need it for typing), or any other possible distractions. Once everything is shut off I can work in peace knowing that nothing will interrupt my studying besides maybe my parents...or sisters. Sometimes the house isn't the best choice though, however; there are other resources. The library at school is always available and it is pretty quiet for the most part and there are not many distractions. It would be even better if you had a study group. Another possible place to go is to go somewhere in the outdoors like a park. You can sit at the bleachers or at a picnic table and study when it's a nice day out.
Once you figured out what is troubling you in your education, besides teachers, and being unmotivated, you want to be able to succeed in whatever you want to pursue. Success can be different for everyone. Some people find success in material things, wealth, health, or completed goals in their life. In the movie, The Passion Project, Emily says that, “We still have that mindset where we need money to survive…“ Many college students do think like this unfortunately because in this world, everything is money and without money you might not get very far. We need to get rid of this mindset about money and Katrina from the movie mentions, “I need to survive so I need to get money enough money so first [we] think about that. [We’re] thinking about surviving--and passion--it could come after I guess.“ This as well is very true. Most people do think about how they are going to survive and not whether or not they like what they are doing because they are doing it for the money and survival. However, there are those few people who work in a place that they like and enjoy and get paid for it. I do not like how people get stuck in a work place just to keep on living and earning that cash. There is no passion in that environment because you are only there for the money and after that you could care less. For me, success is happiness. If I am happy then everyday is a great day. 
Who needs diamonds when you have a smile plastered on your face? A smile is a girl's best friend as the saying goes. Be happy with your life that you are living in. There are so many things to smile about just as there are things to be sad about, yet never yet the bad times ruin that smile. Just by walking down on the side-walk and smiling can bring a smile to another person who may be having a bad day or just by looking at you makes them smile. Be silly! Be yourself! Life is too short to sit around being sad and miserable. Get out there and venture out, see what life could bring. Always have that bright smile on.
I have mentioned earlier that I love to dance. Dancing brings me joy and it's a good way to exercise too! And I'm not a big fan of exercising by the way. When you do what you love, you are happy. When you are happy, you enjoy life. When you enjoy life, everything is 100 times better. It's a chain reaction. Doing what makes you happy gives you positive energy to put up with the stress in your life whether that is school, homework, family, friends, boyfriend/girlfriend, etc. Don't give up on what you love because it makes you happy and keeps you sane as well!
Everyone has their own goals that they want to accomplish in their life. I have both short and long terms. I like keeping a list of my short term goals because well, their short and easier to achieve. Every time I reach a short term goal of mine I get excited because it's one less thing I have to accomplish. Getting through all my goals will be something but I still have a lot to go through and a ton to live for. I like to think of my goals as stepping stones of my life. It's my road map to my life that will soon begin when I grow more and more independent as each and every day goes by. One stepping stone at a time right? 
In the end, your passion is supposed to inspire you to do what you love and even if that means your passion kills you, not in a bad way, but your passion is your motivation to keep going. With passion, you can do almost anything because it is something that you love and possibly cherish as well. It is not about the material things or how much money you have because money does not buy you everything or happiness. The most precious things in life or unseen and are usually felt with the heart. Money can only buy so much, but just being happy is the best way to live a happy life and doing what you love the most.