Analysis Essay

Unit 2 Writing Assignment: Learning Narrative

Lifestyle in a rural area can be way a lot of different than towns. I grew up in a small village in east Asia. It may amaze to you all about the description of my hometown. Basic needs like electricity, drinking water, transportation, and education were not well developed. We used to face more than twelve hours of load shedding per day. The availability of pure drinking water was rare, and modes of transportation have deteriorated. The people of a society engulfed by conservative beliefs. Everything was challenging for me. The society around me changed me a lot without me realizing the fact. We become what we are from our experiences of struggle, happiness, and pains.

Describing myself, I would not consider a great guy in my childhood. I was an annoying little kid who knew freedom. I had lots of village friends. We had an innocent friendship that no money could buy. Among all, I had a friend named Dipesh. He was a close friend of mine. The time and situation changed it all. We have this culture in our society that one who is the topper of class or school is a good student and a good son/daughter. This basic seed was implanted to all of us when we were kids. It is just a basic idea, but this idea can leave a great impact on the mind of a growing kid. It is well said that the mind of a child is clay; it takes any shapes as desired.

When I was lifted from primary school to secondary school, I was driven by the fear of competition. My goal was not to learn but to prove that I was better than the rest of all. I was an average student at primary school. I was told at my home, even at my neighbor's house about the success stories of my friends. I was always compared with them. "He scored a top position at district levels"; "He is the national football player"; were basic statements that I used to hear from my parents and the neighbors. Those statements had a great impact on me. I started questioning my own existence at that early age.

The success stories of my friends started giving me lots of pressure. I did not consider as equal to them. I had the feeling of inferiority. It started haunting me in my nightmares. I used to question myself: "Why I am not like the rest of my friends?"; "Why I do not receive any awards?", "When I will be considered as equal with my bright friends?". These questions would not let me sleep at night. I had this consistent fear of losing myself. I had to do something about this situation. I was under immense mental torture when I was a teen.

I had to improve myself from every aspect. My handwriting needs to be beautiful than others. I need to complete all the assignments first. I had to ace every test with better grades. I had to participate in all the competitions and win them anyhow. In gist, I needed to be Mr. Perfect of the school. It was not an easy task for sure. I spent my restless nights studying hard. I used to cover lessons before the class itself. I used to spend the most time at the library exploring new ideas. I explored new challenging books to sharp myself. Interactions with teachers increased daily; I used to bring challenging questions and get answered to those. In my first exam, after all of the effort I had put on, I was able to secure the second position in the class. My parents were proud of me, so were my teachers. Of course, I was not happy with it. I needed more and more with my life. I studied harder for my next Final exams and got the First position. All these efforts seemed worth it.

I might have gained respect from my teachers, parents, and neighbors; but in doing so I lose one of the important things in my life. It was the innocent friendship we had. We were all in the rush of pointless competition; we forgot ourselves. All we cared about was the winning stamp that was entitled by someone upon us. Today, I question myself: "Was it all worth it?". Those ten precious years of life was it that important not to enjoy it. Was being superior at class was all that mattered. I blame the society that poised us with this seed that destroyed a friendship. We used to sit together, but we were no less than enemies for each other. Maybe, we used to participate in sports as a team, but there was always a sense of competition among us. We could lose a very important part of ourselves due to useless so-called society made a set of rules.

Gautam Buddha, a philosopher and a religious leader, one of his greatest findings reflects is relevant to my story. He was a prince and had any luxuries one can imagine. Despite it, he was not happy at all. He decided to seek the truth of life. After his close evaluation of life, he concluded the truths of life. The cause of all sufferings is the desire for something more. And it can be solved by self-satisfaction. Once a person realizes, one he needs to compete is himself, not others; he can be the happiest person of this planet. It is not worth being jealous of others. He should be happy with what he has got.

To conclude, let us be ourselves not to be shaped by other's opinions. It is completely useless to go on the competition with others without any solid purpose. One should improve by competing himself. It is not just my opinion, but the final words of many great philosophers of all time. We need to learn to live at present. We should not forget what matters to us most in our life. The greatest pleasure in our lives is not gained by defeating others, but it is self-revelation.