Dustin Cong, Period 2, 10/5/20, Day A

 Dustin Cong

Modern Mythology 

Ms. Fusaro 

10/5/20

At this current point in time, what specific goal(s) do you have for yourself? Why

I know at this point in time all seniors have the goal to complete their college applications and get into the schools they dream of, but I want to write about a goal I've always wanted to achieve for a really long time. I've always hated my body image and it is my biggest insecurity. In the past, I really never tried to improve on myself. Instead, I tried to hide it with baggy clothing and hunching my back to make my chest fat less noticeable. When I went to school or to family gatherings, it felt like everyone was talking about how fat I was, but it was all in my head. When family members did comment on how much I ate, I tried to hide away the pain with a smile. But all of my fears and thoughts came true when I was bullied in middle school for how I looked. I felt like there was no solution to this problem other than cry and the real solutions I needed to do, I had no will power for. I finally started to try to make a change when I couldn't take the insults and self-hate anymore. I went to the gym and played more sports, but I never achieved the body I wanted because it seemed like there was never enough time. In the present, I now have all the time I need because I'm stuck at home in quarantine. There's no longer a reason to make excuses like "I don't have enough time" or "Maybe I'll start in college or sometime later." With all the time I have to myself now, I'm determined to learn to love myself and achieve the body I want.

How do you demonstrate resilience towards achieving this goal? (or these goals?)

Setting a goal for myself is the easy part. The hardest part is actually getting off the couch and doing what I say I will do. I've created a workout schedule and set I would follow every day. Everday I decided to workout from 4:30 to 6:00, working on a different set of muscles. Day 1 I put as working out abs and doing cardio; day 2 is working on shoulders; day 3 is working on chest and back, day 4 is working on biceps and triceps. I repeat this schedule every day and make sure I do my best to follow it consistently. Diet is around 70% of the work you need to do in order to achieve a fit body. I've decided to eat a lot cleaner by staying on a calorie deficit of around 2000 calories and eating healthy sticking to grilled chicken, vegetables, and one bowl of rice for my meals. The struggle with achieving this goal though is having the right mentality. There have been so many times where I've wanted to just quit and eat the junk foods I like and stop working out, and to be honest, I have broken my diet and stopped working out for a few days before. But what I learned from past experiences in sports is that failure and success all depend on what you do when you fall down. In order to achieve my goal, consistency is key, but if I break off from it, I know I will get back on the horse and keep trying.

How does the world around you affect your perception of this goal? (or these goals?)

The world at the moment is changing and although it sucks being stuck at home, it is actually helping me achieve my goal. School has been shortened and instead of having to wake up to get to class at 8 am and coming back home at 5pm because of extracurriculars, I now have so much time for myself. My classes are from 12-3, so I'm able to do a lot of work before class and after so I can workout at 4:30. Another way the world around me affects my goal is that I'm not the only one trying to achieve this goal. My sister was actually the one who first started to work out during quarantine and she pushed me to start too. At first, I was always stuck in my room either doing homework or watching TV, but she kept dragging me to the basement to workout. I got so used to this routine that I go consistently by myself most of the time now. At the moment we don't know what the future is going to look like, but no matter the circumstances I'm hoping to achieve my goal by the start of next summer.