I watched a press conference Eileen Gu did after she had won two silver medals and one gold at the XXV Winter Olympic Games. She said, “You can control how you think, and therefore, you can control who you are.”
On a day-to-day basis, though, we often fail to realize the deeper implications of positive thinking. With neuroplasticity on our sides, the way we think, the thoughts we have, quite literally mold our brains. As Gu goes on to highlight, you can literally become exactly who you want to be.
In my four years here, I’ve had all sorts of experiences. Prep and
Lower Mid year were especially difficult. Coming to Hotchkiss felt like leaving an old life behind. I had a crippling lack of confidence and would quit things if I felt I wasn’t good enough at them. For those reasons, I look back on those two years with more distaste than fondness; in retrospect, I was my own obstacle.
Upper Mid year saw a small shift. Though notorious for being one of, if not the hardest years, I stayed pretty happy. That’s not to say I didn’t get swamped with work, quarrel with people, or have late-night breakdowns. But slowly, after every math test I bombed, every bad interaction with someone, or every sigh I made after seeing my acne in the mirror, I would divert my attention to the things that were going right in my life.
I didn’t notice in real time, but implementing positive thinking
and gratitude in small moments like those increased my overall
satisfaction so much so that I’d classify Senior fall as one of the best times of my Hotchkiss career (hot take, I know).
High school is not supposed to be easy; when things get hard, the easiest thing to do is to wallow for days (bonus points if you get your friends to join in). There are hundreds of things at Hotchkiss you could complain about—but there are equally as many wonderful things about this place that we take for granted. Your experience is a product of what you choose to see. In fifty years, when you look back on your time here, I guarantee you do not want work or college results to be the only thing you remember. Do what you love, be who you want to be, and try to find beauty in everything.
