Brandon Luo, Period 5, 11/2/20, Day B

Brandon Luo

Period 5

11/2/20

Day B

Modern Mythology 2021

Goal Setting & Growth

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

The specific goal I have in mind right now is to determine which colleges to apply to which will best fit my interests. I feel internally conflicted upon which colleges I wish to go to because my parents want me to go to a specific college in New York City, Macaulay Honors, and only focus on that one university. However, I greatly wish for not staying in NYC because my parents have always decided which paths I must take since I was small. From whatever school I must go to, to whichever activities I can participate in, my decisions have always been under the direct control of my parents. Now, I am becoming an adult, and I hope not only to have independence but also to rely on myself. If I stay in NYC, I will probably have to live with my parents and not have any freedom by relying on them. Nonetheless, my parents definitely do have some good points such as Macaulay Honors being completely debt free and my brother being able to help me in college with his experiences in Hunter. I certainly agree with them to a great extent that it’s financially irresponsible to go to college purely for the experience and to ignore the ever increasing student loan debt. However, if I take the specific path that they drew out for me, I believe that I won’t be living my life, but rather, my parents’. Thus, I am ultimately trying to strike a balance between relying more on myself and paying as little student loan debt as possible. 

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

Since I was small, I have listened to my parents for almost everything. Now, I am trying to make more decisions by myself and rely on my parents less by asking less and less for their help and depending on myself more. I understand that in the end, I am the one that chooses which college I want to attend and my parents cannot convince me otherwise if I insist on choosing to attend a college they do not wholeheartedly support.

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

When quarantine started, to now, I began to realize how suffocated I feel in my own home. I am not complaining about living in a house, but rather, since my house has 4 people and is quite small, I feel as if I have no sense of privacy or sense of self. The more time I spend in lockdown and around my family, the more I realize how much I want to go out and have freedom over my own choices. I have also come to the ironic conclusion that because of the quarantine, the experience I am searching for in college will most likely not be the one that I expect. Rather than having fun with friends or even going outside, the lockdown will prevent me from being able to go out the dorms in college. Nevertheless, I still believe that going to a college outside NYC during the lockdown is the best path for me to take.