And Still We Rise Assignment 3

My dad works for the State Department of the American government. As the daughter of a government official, I have had to deal with a lot of change. We move every 2-3 years, and while this has blessed my life in many ways -I have lived in several foreign countries whereas many people spend their entire lives in their hometown or state- it can also be difficult. The fear of being the new student never backs down, whether it's your first move or your ninth. Because of the experiences I have gone through due to the government lifestyle, I believe that my talent is the ability to cope.

Mililani High School is my fifth school in five years, and so it goes without saying that I have dealt with a lot of change in my life, let alone the last five years of it. However, regardless of where I move to, I have learned to deal with whatever life throws my way. Whether it's going to the counselor's office regularly because my schedule keeps getting messed up, or having to find someone to sit next to at lunch time, I have somehow learned to keep my head high and deal with it.

Many other students that I have met in the past don't "just deal." They make a huge fuss and generally make the situation worse than it needs to be. While I have "fussed" in the past, I usually am able to figure things out even when it seems like life just really sucks. It is this attitude that I have that I think is my strongest talent.

With this talent, I know that I will be able to be an active member of the community when I get older. I plan on being an English teacher, and I know that being a teacher comes with more stress than many people realize. I, however, can cope. I could focus on the importance of teaching, regardless of the attitude of the class. This talent will also help me regarding serious issues such as the current state of the economy. An English teacher doesn't make much, but I can cope with cutting back on what I buy. I can cope with the stress of paying my taxes. I can cope with whatever comes my way in the future.

Miesha's talent is perseverance, and I think that our talents have a lot in common. While I haven't had to live in a poor income family or neighborhood, I too have had to deal and persevere with things that could cause someone else to have a total nervous breakdown. Miesha and I book understand that to succeed in life one has to understand that yes, bad stuff does happen, but if you freak out about that and don't keep moving forward, you aren't going to get anywhere in life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Parable of the Talents:

I think that Jesus' point is that everyone is given a talent or multiple talents. If we waste them by "burying" them, or in other words, never exercising them or growing with them, then we will be a disappointment. There is no purpose in being given a talent if it's not going to be used. This connects to both Miesha and me because, both of us have been in situations (albeit different ones) where we have had the true need of exercising our talents. By my third school in three years, I was getting tired of moving and tired of the stress, but I kept with it because of my talent. If I hadn't bothered developing my ability to cope prior to that time, I probably would have crashed or flipped out, and would currently be in a regular english class as opposed to an AP one. For Miesha, despite the many trials that faced her, she persevered. If she hadn't, then she for sure would have been in a different situation. She likely would not be even entertaining the idea of college or AP classes, but instead be caught up in the trials of life. For the both of us, exercising and constantly drawing on and growing through our talent has helped us to succeed.

This story works on many levels because, on the one hand, it's the clear idea of a guy gave a bunch of others some money and one idiot buried his instead of investing it and getting something more from it. When you don't use money (or your talent), and you just bury it away, it's just money. It has no purpose. It's just taking up space. In the same way, your talent shouldn't just sit idly. You should actively use it, whether it's for music, sports, or like mine, it helps you survive those stressful all-nighters. That is the reasoning behind the parable of the talents.