A Moving Journey Journey Chelsea Claire D. Parado Creative Nonfiction

12 HUMSS 1

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Understanding Who I am "I am brave, I am bruised, I am who I’m meant to be, this is me". My life has been a journey of several experiences that have shaped me into the person I am today. Through these experiences, I have gained different knowledge, several realizations, and multiple lessons that will be treasured and instilled in my mind until I get old.



I am just a teenager who goes with the flow of life. When I was in elementary school, I was the kid who only talks and talks. I was the talkative and extroverted child at the back of the class who always finds a way to talk nonsense to everyone even when the teacher is discussing in front. All I thought was elementary was just pure fun and games. Basically, I did not take my elementary school seriously, everything hit me when we were in grade 6. It was our graduation day, and we are called one by one. All my friends are called, and they have a distinction after their name, I was shocked and a little embarrassed by myself since I did not know that there is such a thing as “with honors.” I feel so low and dumb, all my friends are “with honors” and I am not. That is my turning point, it is the time when I said to myself that I need to step up and focus on my studies. Junior High School started, and I was in grade seven. I was determined to change my habit and do better, I studied so hard, dedicated my time and effort to school, had sleepless nights, and so much more. All of it was worth it, I was “with honors” at last.



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From then on, I have been a consistent honor student. This experience of mine taught me how someone can change if only they want to. I learned that no one will help you but yourself, if you want to be better, then do it, no one will do it for you. This just shows that aspiring for something or having a goal and determination will lead you in achieving your dreams and getting what you want. Summer came and it was our break, my parents decided to enroll me in a taekwondo class, I was shy and nervous at first, but day by day I was doing so well in our training and that is the time when our coach saw my potential and asked me to join a competition.



It was a sunny afternoon, the droplets of sweat were coming down from my forehead, but it was not because of the heat. I was anxious and nervous because it was my first-ever taekwondo competition. I was breathing rapidly, trembling, and praying to God for protection, hoping that I would be safe and win the championship. The match finally started, and all I was thinking about was finishing this and hopefully winning my first-ever competition. Unfortunately, I lost. It was my first big failure. I was sad and disappointed in myself. Suddenly, my coach came out of nowhere and congratulated me. He was proud because even if I am just a beginner, I get to compete in the championship. And from that moment on, I realized I should always celebrate small things, even failures. Life will not always be on our side, but failure will teach us a lesson to strive more, which will be beneficial for us in enhancing and gaining a better understanding of ourselves and for us to be better in the future.



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My life is a whirlwind of emotions. I have encountered different challenges and triumphs that hinder me from achieving the happiness I want and my goal to succeed, but despite it all, I have overcome and undauntedly faced my battles. With the help of God, who strengthens me every day, and the love and support of my family and friends. They are my source of strength and will always remind me to keep going and move forward to be the best version of myself. With that, I realized that I should not take them for granted. They are my everything, my support system, my adviser, my shoulder to lean on, and my happiness. There might be times when there are misunderstandings and petty fights but at the end of the day, they are still my family. I learned to value them even more and appreciate the moments I have with them because we never know when life will end. I cherished and enjoyed every moment of our late-night massage bonding, food trips, road trips, and storytelling where we reminisce about our past experiences.



I have grown so much and developed a lot of things. But that does not mean that my journey ends here, I have a lot more to learn and there will always be room for improvement. I am delighted and proud of the things I have accomplished in life. I know that there are still a lot of things to achieve and some triumphs to face, but I know that through the grace of God and my determination to succeed, I will bravely overcome it and successfully reach my goal in life. That is to graduate college and be a successful lawyer that can help others in need. This is a moving journey of a girl who has big dreams in life that she will soon conquer the world and achieve the goals she has. With that, here are the four aspects of my development that will tell how I have grown throughout the years. My physiological, Cognitive, Moral, and Psychosocial development. This will let you have a piece of me.



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The aspect of my development Physiological Development Through the years, I have gone through different stages of puberty, and at some point, I have struggled with my physical appearance. Before, when I was going through the pubescent stage, I struggled with my body. I hate how I look; I bully myself, I self-pity, and I have come to a point where I am paranoid about everyone because of the things that they might say behind my back. I am bothered by the thought of me being their topic and them talking negatively behind my back. I was very insecure about my body and ashamed of what I looked like. But that changed when I started to appreciate myself and love my body. I realized that people will always have a say in whether you do and look good or bad. I began to feel and love myself more and value it more than I used to before. I learned to embrace myself and love my curves. I changed my mindset and instilled in my mind the word "confidence," and I am proud to say that I appreciate my body and I am rocking it now!





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The aspect of my development Cognitive Development It all started in my sensorimotor stage, when my parents said that I was stubborn and very clingy to them. I developed the five senses, but I wasn’t talking until the age of four. In the pre-operative stage, my parents said that I love watching cartoons, and I keep on imitating them. For my concrete operational stage, my way of thinking starts to improve and my inductive reasoning starts to kick in. Lastly, for the formal operational stage, I was able to understand what was happening in my community and communicate properly. My abstract reasoning was enhanced, and here is the stage where critical thinking and analyzing skills were developed. I was able to think of my goals, dreams, and what I am passionate about. I have matured and gained more knowledge about many things as time and experiences have passed. I also learned to think about my long-term plan for my goal in the future and the possibilities that may come my way.





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The aspect of my development Moral Development I was raised in a household where we corrected each other and really taught us lessons when we made mistakes. That is why, at an early age, I learned to distinguish between what is right and what is wrong. In today's society, it is essential that we recognize what is good and evil because there is a lot going on in our society that can deceive us and lead us to believe that something is good when it is not. I've established moral rules such as respecting, helping, and treating everyone fairly. As a result, I became more conscious of my rights and wrongdoings. I also instilled the golden rule in my mind and practiced my integrity by doing what is right even when no one is looking.





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The aspect of my development Pyschosocial Development Since then, I have been an optimistic kid. I was raised with the idea that life will be lighter if you see it in a positive light. The people around me, especially my family, influenced me to become more open to trying new things and feel more confident about myself. Through my interaction with different sets of people, I became an outgoing and extroverted person who will always make you feel that sense of belonging. Also, I learned to consider many points of view and respect others’ opinions. I get to socialize and know different behaviors and characteristics. With that, I get to share more of my life and maintain a positive outlook on life.