Looking back but walking forward

As a human being, learning is an essential to growth and becoming a functional member of society. If I was to stay the same as I was 10 years ago it means that I wouldn’t have progressed as a person; I would have learned nothing because I’m not the same person I was 1 or 2 months ago, everyday is different and provides new opportunities to learn and adapt . I learn in the most common ways which are reflecting on past experiences, studying/ reviewing topics I learned, and observing people’s actions 

The first form in which I learn is reflecting on past experiences and investigating what impact it had on me, and how it makes me grow as a person. It  was a regular Saturday afternoon just spending time with a family at a cousins house, and we received news that our family dog in the Dominican Republic because my oldests cousin’s husband didn’t feed him during the time he was staying at the house that the dog lived in. Dogs are my favorite kind of animals so when I heard about this calamity I was devastated, and filled with anger against the person responsible; I made the decision that I would despise him for the rest of my life. Looking back this experience made me realize that if I don’t let the hate I had for that person go then I wasn’t ever going to get over it, and I would have just always identified him as the guy who “killed the family dog”. I understood that to heal I had to forgive and forget because it wasn’t worth it to hold on so much hostility for someone who most likely forgot what made me mad in the first place. Holding that strong grudge against him always railed me up but it was time to forget because what is done is done and certainly it was not his intention to hurt the dog in the first place. This old memory molded me to become a laid back person which keeps me in check so that I don’t act impulsive at the wrong times; before my experience I would just hold a grudge without thinking about it, however now I try to look at what benefits I am getting by indulging myself to hate someone, and If i can’t find any then I will tell the person responsible or to myself mentally that i have forgiven them and what happened stays in the past. 

  Continuously studying or keeping in mind something is my way to learn for education: In my Ap classes in High school I would study materials daily for my exams because I wanted to assure that I would get a good score (I got a 1 on both tests). What I would do is take notes of what the teacher said in class and compare them to what the textbooks said so I can get different perspectives and explainations on both sides. This habit made me learn and memorize the content I was consuming because I kept refreshing my memory of what I was learning in class and learning a bit more of what wasn’t covered. This studying method helped me to understand that I can learn or memorize anything if I keep it in my mind by reviewing the materials/evidence no matter how hard it is to understand the topic. Soon enough it prepared me more and more for pursuing my college degree because unlike high school I have to remember what I learn because of my major of architecture . My studying habit allows me to fully understand but also refresh my mind of what I learned so I can get better at retaining information which makes me ready to learn more difficult topics. 

Last but not least, I learn by observing people’s actions and learning from their mistakes: In my moms side of the family there’s always arguments between my mothers sisters which turns into a fight because of their strong confrontations and bickering. Their actions between each other like arguing or fighting always resulted in strong family drama, and conflict between the involved, and the ones who aren’t involved. We inevitably had to pick sides because if you were around both sides then you didn’t seem loyal and were seen as an enemy. This helped me comprehend that I have to be careful with words when I argue with someone that I love or I am fond of because if things get too personal then I can end up breaking the relationship I had with someone as if I have never known them before. Now I know that I need to be careful when talking with people and solving arguments more rationally, and I do this by asking myself if what I’m about to say is hurtful, unnecessary, and if it’s one or the other then I won’t say it and will keep a respectful tone. Thanks to this experience I’ve improved when I speak to new people, people who demand respect like teachers, parents, and of course people who are older than me. I now know how having a hateful tone and using my words to hurt others is only going to create bad blood because no one likes to be offended; It’s a common trait. 

In conclusion the main reason I was able to learn all these things was by going through these many experiments to guide me to a realization of what and how I can learn from it. I’ve learned by reflecting on past experiences, Studying and refreshing my mind on things, and observing people’s actions and learning from their mistakes. Although I know more of the ways I learn there are still so many more ways I can learn and soon there will be moments in the future waiting to reveal them to me.