Good Old Days

When I was younger, I looked at the teen years with glorious envy. I couldn't wait to have six different classes! With six different teachers! Driving? More options at the school cafeteria? The possibilities seemed endless.

Now that I'm 17, things are different. It's always weird to watch Disney channel reruns and realize that in some cases I'm older than the main characters. Now we have APs, club elections, and overall so many more pressures in life. So in looking through my baby pictures this week, the nostalgia hit. One thing I realized is we'll never be content. When I was 7, I wanted to be 17, and now I miss the days when I could just watch PBS Kids after school instead of lift my ten pound backpack to the study. There'll always be something better, it seems.

Although I myself have this mentality sometimes, it's definitely not the right one to have. Different times of life have different benefits. Before I had much more free time, now I have much more freedom. Glorifying leads to nostalgia, to "man, I don't know where the time went". This goes back to my first blog post (real ones know) about the difference between nostalgia and simple memory. Nostalgia will always go back to the conclusion that those were the best of times. But in reality, we are constantly making memories that, when we're old and wrinkly, will look back on with the same fondness. Even school, which I constantly complain about, is something I miss during the summer. Like Andy Bernard said,

Right now, although it might not seem like it, we actually might be living our "good old days".

The Recently Examined Quest for Success

The quest for knowledge, aptly summarized by Chet Raymo, is "hemmed with peril". This viewpoint is also applicable to the quest for success. In our high school, students join clubs like HOSA, Model UN, take difficult AP classes, sit through hours of Kabir all in search for success.

However, as Raymo states for the quest for knowledge, the quest for success is also hemmed with peril. For example, this weekend I was at a Model United Nations conference hosted by Michigan State University.  Since I've been attending this conference since freshmen year, I hoped I would finally prove myself and get best delegate. However, in the end, I got honorable mention, essentially third place. Thus, in deciding to write today's blog, this quote instantly reminded me of MSUMUN. 

My quest for success in Model UN has been hemmed with perils: the effort and exertion and time consumption spent on preparing for each conference resulting in... not what I've hoped for. However, it's also been hemmed with memories: from watching Bollywood until 3 A.M., to finally tasting the heavenly Insomnia Cookies, to screaming the lyrics to "Partition" on the streets of Lansing. Would I trade anything for those? Would I even trade the highest award for those? The cheesy, yet honest answer is no. Admittedly, achieving the latter and former would be the best of both worlds, but since I haven't reached that point yet, I stay firm on my notion. Although I have been on a four year mission for Model UN success, it's been a pretty enjoyable climb. And that's what marks the difference between the quest for knowledge and the quest for success. The quest for knowledge, according to Raymo, is mostly hemmed by peril. In my viewpoint, however, the quest for success, although definitely hemmed with peril, is also "cross-stitched" with threads of good times, greater people, and overall unforgettable experiences.

gang 

No One's Real

In discussing the Fearless Girl controversy, one thing that really irked me was the shameless plug the SSGA Gender Diversity Index put on the plaque: "SHE makes a difference". SHE as in the symbol the SSGA Gender Diversity Index trades under. The irony is clear: a statue with the supposed purpose of raising awareness on the ruthlessness and sexism and greed of large corporation is funded by.. a  corporation.

 It's frustrating. Why can't it have the same ragged origins as the Charging Bull? Originally thinking the statue was well intentioned and aptly placed, this now seemed faux to me, inauthentic. It seemed just like those extra commercials these days that try to be deep, but at the end of the day are still commercials (*cough* Dove https://eliyastaan.blogspot.com/2017/11/an-expose.html ... Yes I just advertised my own blog while trying to be deep. As they say, form meets content)

Anyways, turns out the plaque was removed the night Fearless Girl was supposed to be expired. Thank God, but it's not for the reason we think hope. According to Fortune.com*, it was just done after the statue got inducted to the NYC Department of Transportation public arts project.

Thus the question arises: Is anything genuine? Fearless Girl, although interpreted by the public as a feminist gesture, has its origin in corporate advertising. Similarly, the writing prompt in class described how politicians "create a faux sense of intimacy" with their constituents. These days it seems like inspiration, and straight up amicability, are only employed to achieve a certain goal, usually money or power. Like I said, it's frustrating when you realize no one (or no statue) is ever really real.

Drake said it best.

*http://fortune.com/2017/04/17/fearless-girl-statue-nyc-plaque-she-nasdaq/