Mi est visum

Advice freely floats around in everyday conversation, from the simple reminder to put on pants before leaving the house to choosing whether one should buy the house he or she really likes but cannot afford.  However, the hardest part is not seeking sound advice but rather deciding whether or not to follow the recommendations.  I often wonder if a person really has my interests in their best intentions and whether or not they know me well enough for the advice to actually be applicable to my situation.  While I have received and followed advice from others, I do not hold them in as high a regard as the guidance I receive from my parents.  I know, undoubtedly, that their advice will always hold true within the limits of their knowledge.

As a child, I perhaps was a little egocentric and thought I was the smartest of the class.  I could read and write before entering kindergarten.  I thought I was great, considering that I knew that the word “know” was not spelled like how it sounded and was proud when a parent thought I was brilliant for knowing that.  I even distinctly remember telling the teacher I was the best reader in the class, which is now embarrassing to admit.  While my parents did recognize my fast development, they kept on advising me that I should be aware of the people who were better, smarter, and stronger than me.  In my childhood, I regarded myself as one of those people who were better, smarter, and stronger than the rest of the population and did not really believe in my parents’ advice.

When more years passed, I started to realize my limitations.  People were just inherently better at me at some things than I was.  Some of my peers were more athletic, more musical, or more intellectually inclined, and my parents’ advice to always know that there were these types of people in the world resurfaced.  As I crossed the boundary into middle school and then into high school, I could not keep this statement out of my head.  I found that its purpose was not meant to shame me into thinking that I was the worst person out there and not as good as everyone else, nor was it meant into making me think I was a member of the elite group of people who were the best, the smartest, and the strongest.  Rather, it taught me to be self-aware and analyze myself from a third-person perspective.  I started to recognize my position with respect to other people, which sort of niche I belonged to in high school, and where I fell in that small group of people.

A very fine line exists between knowing one’s abilities and being arrogant and egotistical.  While I definitely recognize the extent of some of my abilities may be greater than those of other people, I also know that I am not the best and am actually very far from being it.  I am fully aware that I do not possess the skills and abilities that other people naturally have.  Even though people may perceive me to be arrogant and conceited, I am very aware of what I can and cannot do.

Even though I hate to mention it, the college application process, which is in the minds of many, if not all, of the students writing this assignment, has strengthened my belief in my parents’ advice that I received when I was five.  Every time I answer one of the questions that ask what attribute of my personality I am most proud of or what is my best accomplishment, I have to evaluate myself and become aware of role I fulfill, or, in other words, know who I am.  I have come to the realization that the accomplishments and skills that I am most proud about myself will not be impressive when compared to some super-student who has the same interests as me but has done everything with ten times the success I have had.  Still, I should not not apply just because someone looks more spectacular on paper than I am.

While it may seem like my parents’ advice to always be aware of those who are greater than I could ever be makes me feel inferior, it actually has contributed to my motivation and determination to always be moving forward, learning new things, and discovering new concepts.  The knowledge that humans can split the atom and build a space station (things super smart people figured out) gives me the hope that maybe I can do something amazing in my future, and I aspire to do things I cannot do now.  Even though I may not ever achieve something as big as developing the nuclear bomb, I work hard toward having the possibility of doing what others innately are able to do.  I just wish to reach the upper bound of my reaction range.