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5 Lessons I learned In 2018-2019 School Year

The 2018-2019 school year has been overall quite good. I have changed a lot compared to last year because I now participate in more types of activities outside of school. Before, I was restricted to few activities. Some of these lessons can be found in my older posts, but I find it nice to summarize my entire school year.
All of the pieces of advice I list here sound very obvious and cliche, but I just wanted to connect these experiences to my own normal life experiences.
1. Failure in the beginning is normal
Before, I would take failure very personally and think that there was something wrong with me as a person because my project wasn't working well. I avoided these hands on projects because I didn't want to end up building something that didn't work. After doing Science Olympiad, my attitude changed a lot. Despite the obstacles I faced in Science Olympiad I learned that they were good signs that I was being challenged. After being involved in such activities for 4 months, I got more used to experiencing obstacles and failures. In a project, whether it be engineering or art, failure is a natural part of the process. I became more resistant and understood how nothing goes in the straight path. Before the project, I thought it was possible to perfectly make a flute once. It wasn't until I had to do it myself that I learned that that wasn't even true. Sometimes you make progress, but then you walk backwards. It took me around 3 times to make a good flute. 
2. Giving up is not a bad thing 
In one of my earliest posts, I talked about how I made the decision to stop spending time on problem solving math. Initially, I was really reluctant to quit this activity because I was told throughout my entire life that you are a failure if you give up and that winners never quit. However, this popular advice can be destructive if you are like me who takes such advice literally. I kept going but did not feel any source of intrinsic motivation. I was doing it more for the sole purpose of not quitting. It wasn't until I read a book that made me reconsider my choices. 
3. Be truthful to yourself 
Going back to my math issue, I surprisingly was able to lie to myself by believing that I enjoyed problem solving math and I should keep going. I would convince myself to keep going by saying that I was really interested in solving math problems. As a result, I ignored the visible signs that told me I did not genuinely like it. For me, competition math was stressful and gave me anxiety. I would feel more frustrated than feeling satisfied. In short, I learned that it is worth listening to intuition and emotion instead of only listening from the brain. 
4. Be open minded
I have the tendency to be quite rigid by planning out everything without leaving any room for new activities or explorations. In the fall semester, my mom said that I should attend USNCO (U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad) study sessions after school. At first, I was complaining and thought it would be a waste of my time. I wanted all my energy to be focused on Science Olympiad and other pursuits. The first session was boring because I was not in AP chemistry. However, I decided to stay for a few more sessions to see if I would like it. It turns out that chemistry wasn't such a boring subject after all. In summary, don't limit yourself to areas that you enjoy by assuming that other activities are not your type. That type of thinking is quite narrow minded because it prevents you from exploring activities. After all, you have to explore activities to find out what you actually like. You can't say that you don't like something until you are involved in it for a short period of time to make a judgment about it. 
5. Embrace digital minimalism 
This one isn't as general as the ones that I previously listed, but I found it to be quite important. Before, I had some vague idea that I should spend less time on technology, but I never found or heard the word to describe it. After reading blogs and a book about it, it made me reconsider what I should do with my time. Digital minimalism changed my small daily habits and tendencies that gradually had some effects. You can find me talking about it, but that would include checking screen time statistics on iPhone on a consistent basis, using Cold Turkey, charging in another room, and putting the computer in another room. 

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