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Driving question of the project: Who Are You Going to Be?
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Ever get that feeling after finishing a good book and you don’t know what to do after? That’s how I felt. The Bite of the Mango is a powerful memoir about Mariatu Kamara’s life. At the age of twelve, she witnessed the horrors of the war in Sierra Leone. When she was confronted by the rebels they brutally cut off her hands and left her to die. The story recounts her journey to survive and despite the challenges that she faced she found the strength to keep going. Every page felt purposeful and it didn’t feel like there were any wasted words. The underlying messages of perseverance, resilience, and forgiveness were a reminder of what is truly important to me. You can read my book notes here!
More often than I like I find myself wallowing in the what could-have-beens. Mariatu was told to keep looking forward and focus on the future ahead of her. I am trying to have that mindset of looking forwards but it’s hard. I have things I can be excited about like camping and hanging out with my friends and I do look forward to them. But sometimes I get into my head too much. I am not gifted in math and I can never remember things in socials so I am stuck thinking what will I do with my life? What university will I go to? What career am I trying to work myself up to? I need to remind myself that there are people who can help me navigate what I want to do and although I am not math smart there are other ways to go in life.
Despite the fact I don’t always get the grades I desire, I always work hard for them. The percentage I get in math doesn’t mirror the work I put in to get there. My mom tells me “If you’re stressed it shows you care about what you are doing” and it does. It makes me feel better knowing that she understands I am trying my best. Well my grades change I hope that one thing remains constant. My desire to be someone who is motivated and resilient.
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When I was writing what values I admire in others I realized that I strive for those same values to define who I am. Regardless of what is ahead of me, I want to be someone that others look up to and trust. I am so grateful for the people around me who have made me who I am today and I want to be a positive influence on people later in life. Also, I want to be able to use my voice and stand for what I believe in. Right now I don’t speak up a lot so I am trying to get better at speaking in class. Whenever I speak out in class it doesn’t come out how I want it to which is a bit discouraging but I still am happy that I tried. I hope future me can have more of a voice!
I was scrolling on Instagram I came across a cool idea where every day you write down something fun that happened or something you were grateful for on a little piece of paper. Then you put the piece of paper into a jar and at the end of the year you get to read all the notes you wrote. I was going to create one but I procrastinated a little bit and I still haven’t done it yet… (dear future me stop procrastinating pretty please).
In class, we did something similar where every day we would get a sticky note and write something we were grateful for. I have a lot to be grateful for like the trees around me, the places I get to experience, the education I am able to have and the people around me.
This is what 3 weeks’ worth of what my class was grateful for looks like ⬇️
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In the end I hope that I am a happy, hardworking accomplished person. I hope my values don’t change and I become the confident person I want to be. I hope I persevere through the challenges in life and use my mistakes to boost me up. Most of all I hope that I can look back on everything I have done in life and be surprised and proud every time.
So good luck future Kira I wish you the best and I hope you get to go to New Zealand one day!