I was born on a snowy dawn, December of 1989 in a Jewish hospital in the Stuyvesant Town section of Manhattan (pretty descriptive). Three years of lost (possibly fascinating) memories went by and then I went to pre-kindergarten, the beginning of my long venture in the Jersey City Board of Education. Around kindergarten, I also started going to Chinese School in Chinatown on Saturdays. This is what I did on Saturday for the next 13 years.
In elementary school (K-8), I began to develop a new persona. People went to me for advice. Though it was in school and kids “tried to get the right answer” through help and guidance, it was not all academic instances. As we got a little older, and hormones began to develop, adolescents also went to me for advice in other departments, for reasons I still I don’t understand why. But anyways, I was well respected in elementary school and deemed a “genius” (though I am not) by my colleagues.
In the sixth grade, I got jumped on an October afternoon outside my house by two special-ed kids, who I recognized from my gym class. One of those kids tried to be “the hero” and did all kinds of ineffective things like slamming me into houses and cars. The other kid just hit me once in the face and that was much more effective. Anyways, the take-home message here is that this experience changed me forever. Though I was still a rather happy kid at the time, I started to gradually change mentally.
Sixth, seventh, and eighth grade were fun years and then I graduated. I did a salutatorian speech, which to this day is probably the biggest speech I have read. I went to an unusual high school with some of my friends from elementary school. This school was very unusual because it was public school but we had a dress code. And we had to take the PSAT for admissions. This school had a million other rules I am not going to talk about but the school did provide a decent learning environment other public high schools in the city lacked. And for that I am forever grateful.
In high school, we all develop different personas and I did as well. I did not really have a solid persona, I was like amorphous metal. Firstly, I was no longer salutatorian material, as the high school pooled the city’s smartest kids into one institution, I stood no chance and sent that pipe dream into oblivion. Secondly, I began to develop the gimmick of a pessimist. Maybe I read some books and life kinda guided me towards it. I don’t know. Thirdly, everything was different. Not only was school a lot harder but life was as well. Unnecessary drama stemming from people, family, college began to creep in, like corner infielders charging a bunt. Things got complicated. And though I honestly did my best to make life as simple as possible by avoiding unnecessary drama, it never goes away.
High school was in some senses an Enlightenment period. I began to like music a lot more and explore new genres of music. I began to learn more about religious and philosophical beliefs and learn how they influenced society. I began to get into sports like baseball and football, and actually picked up favorite teams. I began to get creative, as I got involved in creative writing and working on movie scripts. I began to learn a lot of outside stuff (what I call auxiliary human capital). And I also learned a lot of science. Related to science is the Science Research program, the only real club I was a member of for all four years. Science Research was a long, albeit rewarding experience overall and I was glad to be part of all the “excitement.” I was also on the baseball team for the first two years. It was the most fun I ever had and I had fun doing bad in everything. It was an Enlightenment after all.
Overall, I felt that I did alright in high school. Though I wasn’t really outstanding, I got along with everyone and almost everyone knew my name. Another graduation approached and I was there on the street taking pictures with some people and saying goodbye. I actually did not see everyone I wanted to say goodbye to but that’s how it goes sometimes. I did not stay real long there on that street to take pictures and say goodbye. Something within me told me it was time to move on.
And that’s the way it is in most cases with high school. Like running with a bucket full of water, most of the water gets lost. Though Facebook does exist, the human connection with past friends and colleagues is gone. Depressing albeit true.
The next and current cycle of my life is here in college. And though I am still undergoing complex metamorphosis, I can predictably say that things are very different. As my first year in college comes to a near end, I discover that Johns Hopkins is a very special but weird place. I am still discovering it myself and have a lot more to go. So I will stop here and continue to gather more in the future. That’s all.
