Life (and a little rant)

Life is crazy.
Life is fun.
Life is exciting.
Life is ever changing.
Life is new experiences.
Life is weird.
Life is scary.
Life is unknown.
Life is everywhere.
Life is fullness.
Life is emptiness.
Life is joy.
Life is sorrow.
Life is insane.
Life is perfectly ordered.
Life is a plan.
Life is a pattern.
Life is loud.
Life is quiet.
Life is bright.
Life is beautiful.
Life is unpredictable.
Life is the subject of this blog post.
Life is everything.
Life is alien.
Life is all we know.
Life is everything we don't understand.
Life is contradictory.
Life is logical.
Life is wonderful.

We are all born into this world. Though we have different experiences, face different giants, achieve different triumphs, endure different heart-aches, and jump for different joys, we all have this in common: we are alive. And what more could we ask for?

People not appreciating life is a main reason for many of the troubles in the world. Life is full of choices, and all of these choices have outcomes. These outcomes shape a person's life, and thus shape them, as well. We are the choices we make.

I have a theory. Everything we do has short term and long term repercussions. This often boils down to instant gratification, or long term gain. A simple example involves money. When a person receives a paycheck, they have to make the decision of what to do with it. One could take the short term path: buying a new t.v., or entertainment system, or some other doodad. This would instantly gratify the buyer. The long term option, however, would go like this: one save the money in a bank or invest it. While, this wouldn't do much for the person at that moment, the money will eventually grow into an amount that could be spent on something much grander than could have been purchased with just the initial amount.

That demonstrates another part of my theory: the long term gain is almost always greater than the short term gain, at the expense of time (or effort) needed to achieve the future benefit.

A more relevant example:
A high school student who plans to go on to college has the choice of taking easy or difficult classes [in high school].

Easy Classes
Pros:

• Not much effort required
• Little to no homework
• Easy to acquire good grades
  

Cons:

• Will learn less
• Poorly developed studying skills
  
• Difficulty coping with difficult college courses
  
• More difficulty getting into college of choice

Difficult Classes
Pros:

• Will learn more
• Better chances at getting into college of choice
• Better prepared for difficult courses
• Better development of study skills

Cons:

• Actually requires (*GASP*) effort
• More homework
• Hard to acquire good grades

The easy classes, while 'fun' for a while, would not be as beneficial in the long run. Conversely, the difficult classes , while hard and time consuming initially, would be much more beneficial in the grand scheme of things.

This is what annoys me about people who are capable of taking the hard classes, who don't. They just don't want to work for it, or don't think they can. Newsflash: if you don't do it now, you'll just have to do it later.

Going through high school never having to study for anything is just bad. College isn't like that. Studying is pretty much required. If little Billy lallygagged (wow, that's actually in spell check) through school, never having to review for anything, than he probably won't know how; or at least, an effective way of studying that works for him. That would make college that much harder for him. He'd have some serious problems.

This is what happened with my mom. Though she took the most advanced classes she could, they were still all pretty easy for her. She didn't learn how to really study because she never had to. So going to college resulted in quite a shock. The classes went faster; the material was more difficult. She couldn't just remember everything off the top of her head any more. Accordingly, she had a lot of problems.

While at her high school she was a 'smart kid', her she was surrounded by other 'smart kids', essentially making her average. She didn't make the grades she could have. She had to take summer classes. She almost lost her scholarship.

She still managed to successfully graduate, but a lot of frustration and headache could have been avoided if she had learned those skills in high school.

While me mum didn't have the option of taking upper level classes, Apollo students do. We have AP and IB courses. A lot of schools don't offer them. Which is why it bugs me that people turn down these opportunities.

This year, I have the worst grades that I have ever had in my entire life. But I'm not dismayed; I'm not completely stressed out. I'm actually kinda glad. It just shows how much harder I need to work.

There's more to this thought, but I'm kinda tired. Perhaps I'll continue later.