If I Were Self-Reliant...

"There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better for worse as his portion..."

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Self-Reliance"
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       Today, the world has become full of people who would treat you based on the number of personal servants (i.e. maids, drivers, cooks) working for you. If your house is swarming with them, you're the boss of the crowd. If you lacked any, you're the latest joke. On whole, the concept of having people take care of you isn't one encouraged by a self-reliant person. Such a person would prefer independence and personal comfort in handling his or her general life matters over leaving this responsibility to someone else. Another concept a self-reliant person would most likely dissuade is the establishment of fashion trends. If every person were to follow the "latest" fashion trend, the world would be dreadfully mundane. If you try to stand out, you would be breaking the rule, and any attempt to break the rule would make you an outcast. A self-reliant person wouldn't care less and would eagerly make it a point to break the rule.

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Advice from me: avoid acting on the last sentence when present on school grounds. You wouldn't want to earn yourself a couple of detentions, now would you?




***Image source: http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/299/f/8/break_the_rule_by_mn9x-d4e2oq9.jpg

I'm Back!! Not on Enthusiastic Terms Though...

*Laughs deeply*

Remember when I said that I "may" post stuff on my blog?
Man, it's just funny how I'm such a slacker.
Though I DID mention that I will post school-related stuff.
So, the following essay, dear reader, is an SAT practice essay I wrote a week ago in response to the following assignment:

"Can loss be more valuable than victory?"

And here goes my response, which had the liking of my amazing English teacher, Mrs. Mariam, and earned me a nice, neat score of 6. Enjoy *doubt dripping from the word*!

It is undeniable that man’s greatest joy lies in achieving victory. Moreover, victory differs from one person’s perspective to another’s, whether this victory is beating an opponent in a chess game or prevailing in a war. Usually, the consequences of such victories drag along a sense of both triumph and utter joviality to its claimers. However, as proven in many instances in both literature and history, loss can actually bring about as equal triumph as victory does.

One striking literary work that serves as an example in support of the view presented above is Anton Chekhov's The Bet. In this story, a lawyer and a banker seal a deal in which the lawyer abdicates fifteen years of his life in imprisonment in exchange for two millions given to him by the arrogant banker. And that's what happens exactly: the lawyer is cut off from all sorts of contact with the outside world while being locked up in a cell in the banker's house garden, provided only books--a great lot of them--and various musical instruments, all of his very own choice. However, during his fifteen years of confinement, the lawyer acquires a great deal of knowledge and insight through the hundreds of volumes he so patiently read, and, therefore, is led to believe that money is not worth a fraction of the wisdom he was blessed with gaining. Thus, the lawyer's loss of the money was in fact his greatest gain.

Rosa Parks makes another great epitome of valuable loss through her famous bus experience. When she was ordered to clear her seat for the white man, she didn't budge, fighting for her right as a current claimer of the seat. As expected, she was arrested for violating the laws and disobeying the police officers who kept ordering her to give up her seat. However, as evident in the history of the African Americans' success in earning their rights, her loss to the police officers and arrestment were powerful motivators for her fellow African Americans to launch the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which eventually led to the victory of African Americans in gaining their long-awaited rights of independence in riding a bus.

All in all, loss can indeed serve us good and prove valuable and even moral in many of our lives' experiences. Although the word "loss" has a generally negative connotation, it can have counter effects than those implied by its mere sound. After all, it's not the idea of an occurrence that matters; it's all about the aftermath.

Hope my essay proves helpful to fellow classmates who face difficulties in SAT essay writing!

Until then, fellas!

(Last time I said that, "then" was more than thirty days later... Wonder how many days will it be equivalent to now?!...)

...But first, let's get to know me!

       You know, I'm one of those people who wish to be unique someday, but are resorting to conformity for the time being. Yeah. Not cool.

       So, since I'm out of words suitable enough for a proper introduction, I'll  just sum up my current life as well as my fabulous identity in the following story...

A Not-So-Successful Start
   
       In the confines of a jail-like building, far, far away (from where I live, that is), a plan has been devised to suck every drop out of the lives of this oh-so-blessed year's juniors. Among those poor, innocent (yeah right) earthlings, a hopeless damsel with an imagination as wide as the seemingly endless universe stood out, greatly anxious about what she will be facing in this blasted year.

      (Okay, so she may not have been the only junior who faced a similar internal battle, but that's just beside the point. Moving on...)

        She is a servant to the one and only, Allah. She comes from the land of the Pharaohs. She has been existing for a decade and a half. She has an unhealthy obsession with the free-eBook community, wattpad. She seeks guidance in this life. She despises cats with a passion...?

       "Hadeer" was that damsel's name (pretty, I know). An Arabic name with the humble definition of "the sound of the vigorous sea waves." Never would anyone hear her name correctly from the first time, mistaking it for the more commonly used name "Hadeel," which means "the sound a pigeon makes" in Arabic. However, our damsel never minded that; in fact, she loved how her name had some uniqueness to it, for one day, she will rise and stand out to the world, etching as equal uniqueness to her personality as her name!

       Her classmates, though, had quite different views on her naming. She had a variety of nicknames that a whole list could be formed out of them. The following list includes some of them (yes, only some 'cause those  are not enough humiliation for me, and believe me when I say that they're actually countless):
- Deer (derived from her own name, HaDEER);
- Captain Hooke (origins better remain unknown);
- Tweedle Smart (NOTE: nickname has been altered to match up the real identity of the nicknamed. Nickname originated from Mia Wasikowka's duplicate, or rather, our second "Alice in Wonderland"; actually more like "Malice in Thunderland", as she is gladly called...);
- Hagress/hadress (created by a couple of losers who have equally stupid nicknames; hagress/hadress being the name of an Arabic sitcom's gullible character, shown below):

Some considerate friends I have, huh?

- Hadeeroomi (a combination of her name and the Arabic word "felfel roomi", which means "pepper"; some things in life better remain a mystery, like how in the world this nickname has been created);

- and last, but definitely not least, LITERATURE BOOK.

       As you can see, dear reader, the last point explains the logic behind this blog's incongruous title. However, the taunts and mockeries don't end at that; in fact, they further extend to a point where she has become deemed Morgan Freeman's daughter. (A/N: Well excuse me, dear friends, for having to communicate with you in fancy language your nut-sized brains fail to register! There, all out in the open!)

       Junior year has started out for her in a most disappointing fashion. Having been a high-achiever for the past years of her life, she has found major difficulties in dealing with the stress of schoolwork and so began her year with scores below her average. This was critical for her since both junior and senior years are all that mainly count for her acceptance to highly-esteemed universities and colleges. Despite that, she knows that she shall counter all the plans targeting her and shall succeed in rising up again from this painful fall! 

       YES, SHE WILL!!!

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       Now, back to reality.

       In this blog, I will be posting about random topics, most of which will probably be related to my lovely school *chokes*. With time, I think I might come up with more interesting topics to write about, but for now, I'll resort to writing whatever idea that pops up in my full-to-the-rim head. 

       Until then, fellas!

 -bows in all humbleness-