Growing up, I was always involved in plenty of activities. My parents, like any who would want their child to explore all the possibilities available to them, signed me up for every sport and activity imaginable. But as I stood stupidly under the basketball hoop and picked dandelions in the outfield, I learned to decrease the amount of activities I did to the few that I enjoyed and excelled in.
My list of extra-curricular activities eventually boiled down to a few school clubs, scouting, piano lessons, and running. In eleventh grade, as I ventured off on each endeavor, I found myself falling into the evil path that I think every adolescent of this generation falls into at one point or another when it comes to following their passions. I tried too hard: too hard to be super smart, too hard to be super involved, too hard to be super fast. In doing so, I lost sight of the reason why I started doing it all in the first place: to have fun. At some point in time, all these things that I once did because I simply enjoyed doing them became my fuel to "succeed," that is, in the modern day sense of the word.
Our generation is often referred to with insulting names such as “The Facebook Generation,” or "The Me Generation.” My name for our generation is “The Under-Achieving Overachievers” because we’re constantly battling the weight on either side of a thin tight-wire, bobbling back and forth between what makes us happy and what makes others happy. More often than not, and more often than we probably should, we all lean to the latter end.
We take these things that we love to do and we corrupt them, take the fun out of them, and use them to please others. High school students nowadays take on sometimes five or six AP, honors, or other such advanced level classes at a time -- not for the sheer joy of learning, but to impress college administrators. Parents encourage their children from young ages to be super smart, super sporty, or super gifted, as we can see from all the child prodigies who appear on talk shows such as the Ellen Degeneres Show. Even here on Odyssey Online, we're encouraged to produce an article each week and share them on every single social media platform imaginable to gain views, shares, and attention.
What ever happened to learning things for fun, and taking classes because we were interested in the topic? What happened to kids choosing what activities they like without the pressure from their parents to overachieve? What happened to writing blogs just for fun; when did it become all about the shares?
When I was a kid, trying out all the different activities I did, my mom would always tell me that I was "a jack of all trades, but a master of none" and it usually made me upset because I wanted to over-excel since that seemed to be the norm. Now, though, I proudly proclaim myself to be a "jack of all trades, but a master of fun." Since eleventh grade, I've learned that I'll never be the best at everything I do. I'm not the smartest writer nor the fastest runner but I still love to write and I still love to run. So as long as I love what I do, I'll keep on doing it, whether I'm a master or a jack.
As all of my articles tend to sway in a similar direction, the lesson of this one is the same: do what you love and as long as you love what you do, you may never be the master of one but you sure as hell are a master of fun.
