No one ever explained to me how college will be nothing like the movies. I thought college would be like Pitch Perfect where I, the talented and standoffish character, would find an abundance of friends who share a common interest, and all while befriending a cute guy that’s ridiculously interested in me for some reason. So far, college has been this: tears, doubt, premonition, and hunger (not drive). Most guys are as banal as me, so relationships are scribbled off the wish list.
I don’t have what it takes to be the main character. The “one in a million” quality. Every day, I get dropped off at campus by my coddling parents to take classes, take my breaks in between, and then take my ride home. Most college events don’t interest me, and then when they do, they sell out in 37 seconds.
I have some non-online friends. Now, what’s a non-online friend? To me, a non-online friend is someone you see in-person who can pronounce your name and you see yourself spending summertime with them. I have two. I’m not sure if one of them can say my name, but she’s really nice.
I was assigned to read an article about Filipino storytelling for my Mass Communications Independent Study class called “The Desirability of Storytellers” from The Atlantic. I’ll sum it up- in the Philippines, men that are good at telling stories are seen as hot. This made me think of something. If narrate my life through a non-banal lens, can I make myself the ravishing main character in whatever movie this is? Of course!
I’ll change my perspective. I previously said, “Every day I get dropped off at campus by my coddling parents to take classes, take my breaks in between, and then take my ride home.”
Now, what if I said, “I unbuckled from the back seat. Cramped. The buckle clicked as it slung backwards, and the rasping belt still caught on my bookbag. I yanked it off. 9:29. Class was almost starting. My cold, tightened hands gripped the handle and pushed the door open. As I placed my foot on the ground, my bookbag grasped, anchoring my arm. It weighed a hundred pounds. I tugged at its body from the dark seat. A big pull. It swung and punched my back in one deep blow. My mother stepped off and tried to hug me. I scurried off…” It’s just as lame, but now there is worthy story. My life appears more interesting.
I wish I could tell other students to write life chapters for exuberance, but most students don’t like to write. Most students write because it is mandatory for school. Many students don’t understand though that we as people are natural writers because we are natural thinkers. We think as soon as we wake up in the morning. We contemplate whether we want scrambled eggs or Fruity Loops for breakfast.
On the way to university, you peer across the highways and judge other drivers’ looks and think “oh, her hair looks nice,” or “he looks like Nick Robinson.” We fidget our fingers over the radio toggles or press the forward button aggressively on our iPhones. We think of the song lyrics as we listen, with the verses swirling our minds as we envision the music video, the artist, or ourselves pretending to in the music video. I can remember quite a few times I’ve been Lana Del Rey from the back of a Toyota.
Remember the Filipino story I mentioned? There was another part of the article that mentioned how storytelling also hold people back too. There used to be tales revolving around human anatomy that constrained women, and only benefited men. I’m not going into the details, but you can two and two together. Not all stories should be told. Not all ways of thinking should be believed.
Many of us think too negatively about ourselves. We don’t know our own talents. A talent can range from smiling every day despite trauma to reading an entire book in a week.
Here’s my method on how to discover your talent:
· Take one day from your week.
· Then take an hour.
· Split it.
· Turn off your phone.
· Make a list called “My Favorite Things to Do.”
· Make sure to list at least ten activities (you’ll find ten, trust me)
And BOOM. There’s your talent. If you like drawing, try animation. If you like helping people, try to be a United Nations diplomat. If you like math, be a mathematician, an astrophysicist, a chemist, a phlebotomist, or anything that involves numbers.
I guarantee this list will work, so try it. Or don’t do it, you can go on TikTok, but that’ll be fulfilling for fifteen minutes, and then you’ll get on Instagram for two hours, and you’ll be back on the cycle of unproductiveness, and you’ll be just like those people who are too lazy to read until the end of this sentence.
We are constantly thinking. So, try to think more positive. Complete your list and know your talents. You will begin to think highly of yourself and contemplate your dreams. Do you want to be a doctor, engineer, designer, filmmaker, or humanitarian? Start with the list, and then write about what you like about yourself now and what you want for your future. Your “future” can be as simple as tomorrow. Make a list of your plans. Anticipate them. Write about what happened later, and then maybe you’ll write good story that makes your life more interesting.
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