March 2011 – Hi, I am Monica Moran

A lesson learned from someone

For most of my adolescent years, I’ve always lacked confidence in myself. Lacked confidence in my abilities socially and academically, even though I had the capabilities to succeed in both these fields. I remember the moments where the first thought that crossed my mind before and after an exam would be “I will/have fail[ed].” Furthermore, I Not exactly the best attitude to approach things. I remember my friends and parents constantly telling me that lacking confidence is a waste of energy, and that in order to take risks for the future and be successful, you have to always believe in yourself.

But then something happened. Something that allowed me to step out of my shell and shape me to become the person I am today. In 2008, when my grandpa die, I watched my grandma battle grief and sorrow. She had spent the peak of her years with my grandpa; he was her companion, loved one and friend. Loosing him was one of the hardest moments she had to endure. Yet as I watched her overcome this obstacle in life, I noticed the immense amount of confidence she had gained; she was not afraid to speak her mind, not afraid to try new things and undertake new challenges despite her age. Her strength and bravery allowed her to move forward in her life because she believed that she could accomplish just as much on her own.

My grandma taught me the importance of believing in yourself despite the various challenges life hits you with. Academically, it will allow you to take chances and grab the opportunities that come my way, study smarter, and achieve better grades. Socially, having self-confidence will garner you respect from others as people would admire the respect you have for yourself. Being in college now has opened my eyes to the vitality of confidence. Living a halfway across the world from my family, having to fend for yourself in the first few weeks of university, and fight your way to the top requires confidence. Starting university wasn’t easy at all but that confidence I manged to develop in myself made things more bearable, and in the end, I survived.

Something that I believe sums up the importance of self-confidence is a quote by E.E. Cumings. He said that “once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experiences that reveals the human spirit.” And based on my experiences thus far, confidence is a beautiful thing.

2 months feels like 2 years

What happened to time? I feel like my first year of university just flew by. We’re so immersed with everything that’s going on in this world we call university that we aren’t even aware of time. I remember the dragging oh-so-very-long-classes in high school and it’s not even comparable to this. Over there we wanted to hit the fast-forward button, and now here we want to hit that pause and rewind button. So for now, let’s just pause for a minute and rewind.

Two months has gone by and so much has already happened. Where do I even begin? Well, lets start with that new commerce class that has everyone on edge. That beloved class we call Financial Accounting where we’ve already made such joyful memories (insert sarcasm here), from endless nights in the library memorizing debits, credits, t-accounts etc etc. You now the drill. If you enjoy the course (probably just 1% of the entire 1st years) then I applaud your intelligence. If you don’t, don’t worry…you’re not alone.

And then there’s the other part outside of the academia that we like to call “life.” In such a short span, I’ve already experienced a hundred unforgettable moments that can’t even begin to be captured in words. Moments where you’re balling your eyes our because of non-stop laughing; moments where you can’t help but blush and smile because you’re in the presence of someone you care about; moments where you feel like you’re finally becoming an adult because of the new challenges you had to face (e.g. apartment hunting) during reading break. You get my point.

And I guess, that’s how I would like to describes these past 2 months of university: moments. Moments that can be found in pictures but only you knowing the meaning behind that smile. These are the things that shape you and it finally feels that I am one step closer to discovering me.

Cheers to you, 2011, for starting the year off with what I would like to call moments.