The Year 2002

We all have a time when we find ourselves and discover how tangible of a person we are; for me, the year was 2002 . I was a freshman in high school and since my family moved to a new city, making new friends in the new environment was a must. Surely and to my own surprise I made friends despite how quiet of a person I was and how socially awkward I was capable of.  Part of the reason why making friends was not difficult was that freshmen, in general, are eager and enthused to form a group of friends they can be around during lunch and at break times so the effort and the willing to make friends were in everyone's DNA even if it was never their intention to do so and the reason is that making friends was a survival skill, not just something we do passively.  Not only did I made friends, my friends were smart and academic oriented; they introduced me to the idea and helps me see the importance of an education and college and the honor classes that would help us, freshmen, prepare for the rigor of the college curriculum.

In addition, the world was perfect in my young and innocent eyes.  I was doing great in school, made friends, and most importantly, my favorite singers were successful--though this one is not important to many matured minds, but to my young mind, it means the whole world to me.  In the late 1990s, my goal was to be become a pop singer and my worship of the pop artists such as Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, N'sync was evident by how much hours I spent downloading the music videos online (YouTube was non-existent back then) and how many replays of the music videos on my big and old-styled Compaq computer.

Don't get me wrong, I went through some tough experiences just like any other teens.  Despite how limited English I speak back then, I was able to understand when a Caucasian kid called me ugly near a locker aisle and which made me cry my eyes out when I got home.  I struggled in the classes since many students were much better at absorbing the teaching materials than me and had way better study skills than I did.  In addition I felt lonely at times during lunch time because I was not able to fit in a group at the start of my high school experience. 

Despite some of the bad experiences, the year 2002 was filled with self-discovery and I would take any opportunity to relive. Maybe we should enjoy every minute of our lives because when we look back, we might find the silver lining in it despite how harsh the experience was. Sometimes just enjoy the moment, whether it is bad or good, helps us find ourselves and deepen out understanding of the world.  Maybe it's just accepting and living the world is what  help us to become who we are supposed to be.