Jolie Huang, Period 2, 4/13/21, Day A

Jolie Huang
Modern Mythology
4/13/21

Period 2

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

A goal I’ve made for myself during the past week is to read these three books on architecture that were recommended to me by an older friend of mine. I planned to read at least one of them before I enter architecture school later in the year. However, this goal actually jumpstarted my longterm resolution of reading more often in general. Lately, I’ve been trying to prep myself for what comes later on in life, and to do it in a way where I have no regrets. I’ve counted too many times where I look back on my past self and wish I started earlier. I resolved that setting a goal to finish these books benefits me in that it will teach myself to think like an architect and be ahead of the game in college, and to also ease myself into becoming more interested in reading. Another specific goal is that I want to read more highly-acclaimed books in the near future. I’ve already begun this by starting “Sapiens: A brief history of humankind” 2 days ago.

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

Limiting myself from social media demonstrates resilience toward my goal of reading more. However, I believe this came naturally because once I’m invested in something, I don’t mindlessly scroll on the internet anymore; I’m more excited in doing something new instead. Additionally, reading more things that I enjoy is another way that I could potentially demonstrate resilience. It’s a bit hard to get into reading as someone who doesn’t do it consistently, so instead of forcing myself to read something that doesn’t interest me, I should first ease myself into reading for enjoyment, then shift into reading denser texts that require a trained and focused mind. I watched a video the other day where the youtuber mentioned that there shouldn’t be any stigma in not finishing a book - A book isn’t a sacred object that needs to fully be internalized, and we should rather treat them like we would with blog posts in that it’s ok to just skim it and to not finish it.

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

When Ms. Fusaro reached out to me the other week after class, she gave me some words of wisdom that still stick with me to this day. She said that in order to ground herself when she’s not feeling her best, she says to herself “if I don't try, I will still be where I am.  Is the amount of work I need to do worth the possibilities?”. That really helped me in changing my mindset, and that trying a bit is better than not trying at all. I can’t convince myself that I am capable of doing something if I don’t actually put the effort to bring out results. I can’t live with an open mind, develop my mind as an aspiring architect/designer, or live a fulfilling life if I don’t expand my horizons. Starting with the simple goal of just reading more is something that I could achieve even now as a young person, but I believe it’ll definitely benefit me in more ways that I could imagine in the future.