I learn from every experience

By Anajah Woah/Young Scholar

As I get older, I realize that just because you lose doesn’t mean that you lost in the grand scheme of things.

As a high school student who is involved with different programs, there have been many shots or opportunities that I took not with the intention to necessarily sweep the competition out of the gate but to gain knowledge and experience for myself.

I’ve learned that even taking the initiative to put my foot in the door says something about me and just because everyone doesn’t see my vision doesn’t mean that there was never one there.

I wish that everything I shot for I got every time. It would be so nice, wouldn’t it? But, the process of slowly building something and making it your own craft that took trial and error to create, makes it more beautiful.

This mindset for me doesn’t come easy, but when I’m able to sit with myself and realize that I may have not hit the big goal but the steps I took to reach mean just as much.

There is a quote from Nina Simone, who was a civil rights activist and a singer that says, “I have to constantly re-identify myself, reactivate my own standards, my own conviction about what I’m doing and why.”

I hold this quote so dear to my heart because it shows the constant state I am in as someone who wants to be great and grow. The focus of the quote relates to me because it is all on yourself; it doesn’t draw on anyone’s opinion. You are not proving yourself to others; you are proving yourself. You are the standards you hold yourself to.