Life After Graduation

“Congratulations class of…”… and there it is. That moment you’ve been waiting for. You and your graduating class celebrating together one last time. Not knowing if you’re actually going to see each other again. When you think about it, it’s pretty wild… but unfortunately sad. The next question to ask yourself is… what now?

Reflecting

Looking back in my past was something I did often. Maybe one too many reminiscing moments. But it wasn’t always a bad thing. I got to appreciate the good times I had when just about everything was so much simpler. Smart phones weren’t around then. Plus, I had almost no responsibilities compared to what I’m dealing with now. I don’t pick my nose as often. Boy, that was something! I constantly picked my nose when I was younger. Never ate the boogers though. Anyway, I kind of grossed myself out a bit.

There were many great things about my time growing up. For instance; most household had one telephone, which was a landline. So, if you were trying to get a hold of someone, you had to actually wait and see who would pick up the phone before having a conversation. It was that or we would go over to the person’s home to see if they wanted to hangout. You could have an interaction with almost every family member of the person you’re trying to see. And thinking back at it now, that is pretty cool. Especially if you’re the type that likes to make conversation.

Speaking for myself, but who knows, maybe many of you would agree, that what I miss the most when I was going to school was… pretty much all of it. Even though my mindset seemed to be elsewhere, because I’ll be honest, I did not care for half of my classes. For the most part, I really wanted to build relationships, have friends, and never ask out most of the girls I was crushing on. Best way to put it, I was easily distracted, which explains why my schoolwork was subpar. Thinking back at it, I’m pretty sure I had A.D.D.

What Now?

However your time was spent during your school years, let’s just hope you made some fond memories. Of course, that will always come with some bad ones. Which is just a part of life. But school isn’t just for education. It’s an experience. Making friends, falling in love, and in those unfortunate times, getting bullied or doing the bullying. Let’s just hope lessons were learned and to those that did the bullying, it stopped. Otherwise, that’s on karma.

Even though I was nowhere near the best student in my class, or the most popular, I did enjoy my time when I was in school. Apart from a lot of mistakes I would change, but who wouldn’t make changes? What happened happened and we have to accept it. Learn and grow from it. But I do appreciate the school I went to for even providing me with an education. And not just an education, but for the classmates and teachers that have come in and out of my life and most importantly, the memories. It’s the memories that define us. How we use it in our everyday lives from what we learned from it.

So, whether you have chosen to continue your education further into college, or to do something else, consider that a new chapter in your journey. There’s so much world out there. Make the most of it!

A.D.D. And Its’ Origin: The Simple Version

Whether it’s ADD or ADHD paying attention to many things can be difficult. I have a theory that how we are disciplined growing up affects our learning, not just with school, but with life as well. Let’s take schooling for example, I’m in class and the teacher is talking forever and it just seems like it’s never going to stop. The only thing that I’m waiting for next is when we get to start doing an activity. Something where I can be more hands on… but that moment never happens. At least in certain subjects of school. We go straight to paperwork, and I have almost no idea what I’m supposed to do next. This tells me one of two things, that I learn better from doing activities and possibly group projects. And then the other is communication. The style in teaching doesn’t seem to help me out a whole lot and I have to look at it from another perspective.

Blah blah blah then something about the parents or guardians (see what I did there?) of the child and how they are being raised affects their learning in school. Now, it depends on the teacher to point out which of their students are having a more difficult time learning in class. I want to assume that’s why we have Parent/Teacher Conferences. And that’s when we get to things like Extra Curricular activities. Instruments and other things of that nature that doesn’t necessarily involve words to learn opens up one’s skillset. Back in elementary school, I loved learning about pianos and keyboards. Through time, I taught myself how to play a beginner’s version of songs like the Titanic’s My Heart Will Go On, those nursery rhymes, and some of the hockey music you hear at the games. The reason why most Asians are good at math my guess is they were raised more disciplined. Words were not a strong suit of their elders. That’s why when you see in movies and TV shows, nothing the child ever does in school is enough to please their parents. I will say that is a little far-fetched. At least it wasn’t that way in my household.

Another good takeaway from this was when I was watching King of The Hill. There was an episode about how Bobby was diagnosed with ADD and it just hit me like a sack of potatoes. Bobby could not focus or pay attention in school. What he lacked was that verbal interaction and bonding time with his dad. Hank was always trying to avoid doing things with him that didn’t seem to pique his interest. So, pretty much what I’m informing is as a former child of my parents, learning was difficult for me as well. Some subjects I was great at and others, not so much. The lack of communication that I had with my family made it hard to pay attention in school. But I won’t blame them for any of that. I think I turned out alright. At least I can say that I’m well aware of it now.

But it’s not just school…

It’s one thing to speak, to say words, but it’s another to understand it. What do I mean? When I was younger, a child, and I didn’t get to have things my way, I would pout, I would cry. Sometimes I would get hit for making a scene (I was a very dramatic person without realizing it). The thing is, I never understood why I didn’t get the things that I wanted. That was my discipline. I believe that a lot of Asian cultures were like that, and still are probably. The use of words wasn’t a big thing as to parents wanting their kids to graduate from school and get a job or go on to get a degree from college and support the family. Don’t get me wrong, I still want to do what I can to support my family. It just has to be my way, doing what I love, and not having to work until I’m in my 60s at a job with no future. Another thing is we buy each other a whole bunch of scratch-off lottery tickets and hope for the best. After so many years of being disappointed from this, I know that’s not the way I feel I was meant to make a living and be successful. There’s so much out there, and I just want to capture the dream!

School’s Out, But What About Work?

It’s summer, and if you’re a student or you just graduated or even got your degree, what’s next? Assuming you’re old enough to work, figuring out if you’re actually ready to work or not is another question. Maybe you’ve got a planned vacation and need to save up some money. Or even to do things with friends and family with all sorts of activities and events. And if you’ve been working, you already know. There’s no time off from work. Man, being responsible sucks. From keeping a roof over your head and your stomach fed, there is no summer break… and with that I say, “Welcome to Life.” Whatever choice you make with the money you work for, just remember it’s your decision on what you get to spend it on. Just be sure to balance out all your expenses and priorities first. Sure, people can put their 2 cents in and opinions on telling you what to do with your money, but it’s only 2 cents. If you ask me, I’ll give you my 10 cents in what you should do. Which is a lot more, but definitely not as much as 50 Cent. He’s a baller! Where was I going with this?

And if you need money, “call JG Wentworth! 8-7-7-CASH-NOW!” Sorry, I had to. There’s a lesson in here somewhere. I just don’t know what it is… Make money. Live your life. Make your own decisions. And you should never have to wonder what would happen if you let someone else decide for you. But if you need the help, then by all means, look at it as a guide towards a better life.