A Year From Now

  Hopefully in January 2019, I’ll have a few notable things to congratulate myself on.
Ones that I’ve already accomplished are getting the lead in Musical Theatre, my first solo role in ballet,
and winning the first round of Poetry Out Loud. These are all very big in my eyes, because just two years
ago I was one of the most shy and introverted people you would meet. I had next to no friends because I
wouldn’t reach out to anyone, and I was absolutely horrible at any public speaking.

But now, most of the major things that I’ve accomplished are related to presenting myself, vulnerable
and open, to so many people, in a multitude of places. I’ve opened myself up at school in Musical Theatre,
which includes performing in front of both complete strangers as well as my peers that I see everyday;
in Kinderballet, I show my dancing to a multitude of random librarian patrons. Just last week, I even signed
up for the school talent show. In my opinion, the fact that I chose to participate in all of these events
willingly is more impressive than however well I do in them.

     I also want to be able to congratulate myself on things I do this coming year-- the ones that haven’t yet
happened. I hope that I can be proud of how I do in both theatre and ballet, and the performances that
come with them. Even if they aren’t perfect, it would be enough if I did the absolute best that I personally
could manage.

    I want to be able to appreciate the effort that I put into Poetry Out Loud. I hope to continue onto the
next level after the competition at the end of February, though I have no clue how it’ll turn out. But, once
again, as long as I have tried my hardest and put my best foot forward, I think that’s worth congratulations
in itself.

    I hope my grades remain good, and I continue to turn in my homework on time. I haven’t missed any
assignments yet, and I don’t plan on it. But I do need to stop procrastinating, not just for my grade’s sake,
but for my mental health as well. I always stress myself out by waiting until the last minute to complete
things. It’s not because I don’t care; in reality, I probably care way too much. This only adds to the
aforementioned stress, because when I try to do all of this work at once, I also do more than the
assignment calls for. I pride myself on quality, but this vicious cycle probably isn’t very good for my
well-being, both physically or emotionally.

   So I hope that a year from now, I will be able to say that my stress levels have gone down, and that
I stop procrastinating as much. Neither wish will probably come to fruition, seeing as how it’ll be my
Sophomore year and I’ll be as busy as ever; but, a student can dream.