As I Continue To Grow

While we are all now Seniors in High School, I think to myself all the time, what next? I find myself searching for answers that may not be there. It is ok to not know every answer, but something has got to give. I have trouble asking for help sometimes. I am very independent and try not to get too dependent on anyone other than myself. With college fast approaching, I question everything. I quesiton how my hair looks every day, how my jeans or sweats look, how my stupid acne looks. I am always asking questions, wether it is at my house, at my job, or just general questions. I do not think any questions are stupid. I’ve always tried to realize that regardless of how dumb a question may sound, it might not be to the other person. We all interpret things differently, and as a result of that, we all have different and unique questions. There has been many times where I have felt like a question was dumb, and so I was afraid to ask it. I have spent years of my life, struggiling and not knowing which way to fall because I was afraid to ask that “stupid question”. Math class was difficult for me, so was science, and english. I was always too afraid to ask and I was shy, and it only made things harder for me in the long and short term. So, always ask. If there is something that you are not sure about, it does not mean that you are dumb. It means you are curious, and there is nothing wrong with that. Being curious has always been one of my strengths, always been something I’ve been able to conquer. I hope to teach others the way I have learned. As I continue to grow, I learn more and more every single day. Learning always leads to questions.

While at work, I try to teach others everything that I know. I have been at my job for a little over a year now, and I know a lot. I train most of the new hires, between giving tours, showing them the POS system, how to put the money away, counting drawers, showing them clipboards, transfers, correct sku’s, etc. I try to avoid having them make mistakes. While mistakes are ok, and something that happens often, it is ok to recognize those mistakes and attempt to correct them. I have made my fair share of mistakes, and I’ve recognized them. The more I teach, the more I want to learn. The more questions I have and the more mistakes I make. It is an endless battle, but always ask.

I remember when my parents, brother and I were building our camp. It was super complex to me and I had no idea what they were doing. For some reason, I had always had questions. I made sure to ask questions along the way so that I could learn some new things but also be a better helper. We went up every single weekend, a 2 hour drive there and a 2 hour drive back. It always gave me time to think about questions I wanted to ask. Or something like why we were bringing up some of these odd random tools. I was always curious about things at camp and why we built them this way instead of this way. Sometimes it would spark some arguments but other than that we got through it and we built our camp successfully. Now, 4 years later, camp is complete and is as homey as ever. We have a spiral staircase, all wood furnishing. We have deep oak and black hues that come together in the kitchen, and of course your average, “Let’s Go Fishin’ ” plaque on the wall.

My point is, if you do not ask questions, and sit there and continue to wonder about things and can never figure them out, it is not going to help you. I had to learn the hard way. There will always be someone in the back who has a question, so always reach out and make sure to raise your hand to be called on, so you can ask that question. Lots of times, we are scared to ask a question or give an answer, mainly because we feel if it is wrong, we will look dumb and or stupid. This is the stigma we’ve all created. By laughing and joking, there is other kids who do not feel as valued and feel like they can not speak without being judged. Who cares, ask the question.

“Sunrise” by Diganta Talukdar is marked with CC BY 2.0.