It was during my last day of classes as a Senior in high school that my Spanish teacher, Señor "Guapo", as he called himself on most occasions, told us that he had to teach us one more thing before we all graduated. He was one of the best teachers in the whole school because of his comedic sense of humor and teaching style. Learning Spanish was a lot of fun because of him. With that being said, many of us were surprised that he was giving a lecture on the last day of school, but at the same time, we knew whatever he had to say was important.
It was only one PowerPoint slide with eight short statements. Over time, I've realized how these quotes applied to my life especially during my first few months in college, and I'm sure they apply to you to a certain level as well.
Out of everything I learned during high school, these eight statements were the biggest takeaway because they summarized my whole academic experience. Now, college continues to support them. I do not remember his own explanations for each, but here's my own interpretation of what the slide contained.
1. Time you enjoy WASTING is not wasted time.
It actually took me a while to figure out what he truly meant by it. Then again, the quote is pretty self-explanatory. When you think about all the times we procrastinate, those times were spent doing things we enjoy like being with friends or watching that new season on Netflix.
Of course, there are still times that we have to bite the bullet and really get to work, but we simply do it so we have more time to enjoy wasting in the future. There are two types of days, easy and hard. For every hard day comes an easy day, and for every easy day comes a hard day. We still need those easy days to help conquer the hard ones.
2. GROWING UP doesn't mean you should stop doing CHILDISH THINGS.
Obviously, I don't mean act like a child to the point of immaturity, but let's face it. Most of us wish that we were a kid again, and we all loved not having that much responsibility in our lives if we had that luxury.
When we all get older, we may lose our inner kid because of all the additional responsibilities, but it is important that we let that kid out to play. There's nothing wrong with doing many of things we did as a kid especially watching Cartoons. Me personally, I always try to watch an episode of Spongebob or two just to experience the nostalgia which is in a sense, a necessity.
3. Don't be so focused on your DESTINATION that you miss EVERYTHING along the way.
Another life lesson and the purpose of road trips. Life is supposed to be a journey, and we all want to keep experiencing that journey as long as possible. There are certain things that we get to experience once in a lifetime, and it's important to treasure them when they do come. The future will always be something we look forward to, and like the past, the future will never truly come. Only the present can be lived. Therefore, we should take advantage of it. As comic Bill Watterson once said, "Know what's weird? Day by day, nothing seems to change. But pretty soon, everything's different."
4. Find somebody who can be your MORAL COMPASS when you have lost your way.
The importance of friends. We all know we're not perfect, but the problem is that we never know when we're going to make mistakes. Our mistakes could very well be harmful to others ourselves and our values. They can come whenever they please.
That's why we need people who we can truly trust to guide us back in the right direction toward success. Sure, our decisions that lead to mistakes have our best interests at heart, but sometimes, our intuition slips. Therefore, we need someone to put a wet floor sign and help us clean up the mess.
5. Learn HOW to argue.
The world is very dangerous and full of dangerous people. We have to prepare ourselves for the worst life has to offer, and learning how to argue is the best place to start. Arguing is simply a defense mechanism for the sole purpose of defending your beliefs and values with legitimate evidence respectfully.
As we have seen especially during this election, beliefs have been challenged constantly, but it seems that many have not been swayed. However, some of the challenges have turned violent. It is impossible to please everyone, but a simple opinion or observation that leads to an argumentcould very well save a life.
6. There's always TWO sides to every story.
This returns to the idea of empathy, being able to share the feelings of another. Nowadays, we always get caught up in our own ideas and egos to forget what the other person is going through. Doing so never ends well.
There are times where we have to simply listen to the other story in order to end conflict peacefully. However, many people use their mouths a lot more than their ears despite the fact that we have more ears than the mouth. Twice as much when you think about it. Same goes with our eyes too. Life would be so much better if there was a little more empathy.
7. A good apology has no buts
In other words, be accountable for your actions and accept the consequences. The moment you say "but" you immediately place the blame on something/someone else. Without any proof, that does not help you at all. Actually, it does the exact opposite. Having a "but" takes away credibility from your apology. You may as well not apologize at all. Consequences will always find a way back to you, and maturity is the only way to cope with them regardless of what they are.
8. UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.
It's actually simple. When you care, you begin to act, and hopefully, things begin to change for the better ho. Even when things don't get better despite what you do, it is honestly better than doing nothing. When you act, you learn which will make you act better in the long run. However, when you stop caring, things eventually do get worse and will continue to do so unless something is done about it. Change starts by getting up and acting.
Gracias, Señor Guapo for being an amazing teacher in not only in Spanish but in life as well.
