Rihla #16

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A mountain that i think I have climbed since being at UICCP was reciting a monologue in front of UIC judges. I had never done any acting or monologues before, so I was excited to try this one. I am familiar and confident with my presentation skills, but reciting a monologue is different. I had to put more emotion into it and I wasn't so sure how. I practiced in front of friends, my dad, and my teachers. I thought I knew it, and I was on my way to the top of the mountain I had a sort of downfall. I did recite my monologue but I stopped midway because I couldn't remember the rest. I started to shake and my mind went blank and I left apologizing to the judges the whole time. I climbed my mountain, not well, but I did it. I tried something I had never done before and I was so glad that I did it. I immediatly joined acting class afterward because I was so proud that I had climbed my mountain even though I didn't so as well as I had hoped.

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Nothing would be more tragic than to stop at this point". ~MLK

An immediate mountain in my final semester as a senior would be not giving up. It's the last semester and I am really ready to leave high school and start college. I have a lot of credits and a lot to be proud of and I have already gotten accepted to a lot of schools. At times I feel that I can just stop and take it easy at this point. This is my biggest mountain of my final semester because as Dr. King would say "Nothing would be more tragic than to stop at this point". I have done so much this far and if I stopped now, it would be tragic. I have to keep this mindset in order to keep going. I will need help from my school teachers, friends, and my dad. I need people who will keep pushing me to continue doing what I'm doing. I will stay in the honors and college classes, and I will keep signing up for enrichments.

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I create mountains for myself all the time because I feel that life is better if you try to reach high goals. I don't always succeed, but I try. One mountain that I would like to set for myself is to read all of the books that I still have not read in my home library (that's about 100 books). I think that I can do it if I read everyday and I love to read. I might not be able to reach this goal, but even if I don't I might make a decent dent in the number of books i still haven't read.

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