Navigating high school as a sophomore, after relocating from Maryland to Georgia, I was like an inexperienced pilot armed with only basic flying skills. I settled in with new teachers, made new friends, and aspired to ascend to great heights, yet I suffered a turbulence at the cusp of my junior year. After returning from a week-long trip to Washington, DC, for the National History Bowl competition and a band concert, unexpectedly I felt as if I had descended into a dark valley. I lost my grip on reality and mismanaged my time and energy.
All I wanted to do was immerse myself into anything not school-related. Gradually, I became careless about turning in assignments and project, and became the master of procrastination. I was on a solo flight, oblivious to the incoming storms. My life was on autopilot. My worried parents and teachers struggled to understand the decline in performance. When they questioned my mental health, I was jolted out of my daze of indifference. I expected myself to always be competitive and driven, yet longed to be grounded in contentment, not an emotional turmoil. Living with this dichotomy was a …show more content…
While there, I experienced an exhilarating cultural exposure. Viewing the Roman architecture at the Coliseum and the Renaissance art at St. Peter’s Basilica in contrast with the modern streets, shops, and restaurants, made me appreciate what I had learned in history class, the journey of Western civilization through the ages. However, the true highlight of the trip was a night in Rome, during a leisurely stroll with my father. While my thoughts drowned in the melodious street music, I felt an odd sense of detachment. The stress of school grades and future goals was stripped away. Life and friends back home, Facebook and Skype...everything dissolved. Being unplugged, being expunged of an ever-murky subconscious, feeling so alive at that very moment, was an amazing fresh
All I wanted to do was immerse myself into anything not school-related. Gradually, I became careless about turning in assignments and project, and became the master of procrastination. I was on a solo flight, oblivious to the incoming storms. My life was on autopilot. My worried parents and teachers struggled to understand the decline in performance. When they questioned my mental health, I was jolted out of my daze of indifference. I expected myself to always be competitive and driven, yet longed to be grounded in contentment, not an emotional turmoil. Living with this dichotomy was a …show more content…
While there, I experienced an exhilarating cultural exposure. Viewing the Roman architecture at the Coliseum and the Renaissance art at St. Peter’s Basilica in contrast with the modern streets, shops, and restaurants, made me appreciate what I had learned in history class, the journey of Western civilization through the ages. However, the true highlight of the trip was a night in Rome, during a leisurely stroll with my father. While my thoughts drowned in the melodious street music, I felt an odd sense of detachment. The stress of school grades and future goals was stripped away. Life and friends back home, Facebook and Skype...everything dissolved. Being unplugged, being expunged of an ever-murky subconscious, feeling so alive at that very moment, was an amazing fresh