little bitty girl

My parents are redecorating our family home and part of the re-decorate is dismantling my childhood bedroom. It's been a little traumatizing having to decide what I no longer want to keep especially since I was such a pack rat. I came across some of my old high school assignments and it was funny looking back on past tests and essays. Here's one that I thought I would share.

It was my final assignment for one of my three graduating English classes where we had to write a 20 page essay comparing two books. It was our prelude to writing hard core essays for university. Fortunately for me, my English teacher appreciated my inner nerdiness and permitted me to write a 40 page essay comparing three books. In my notes that I found, this was what I wrote for my opening paragraph-

For every individual, the ritual of life is unchanging but the outcome remains the same - individuals are born, they live and they die. Although every individual's physical state of being reaches the same destination; the same cannot be said for every individual's understanding of themselves and of the world around him. Life can be seen as a road, a path that we travel on. How we travel the road naturally effects the outcome of that journey. Experiences are what gives our lives richness and colour, they beget memories and knowledge, it is what gives our lives value and meaning. The ultimate goal of each traveller is to reach personal enlightenment through these experiences, In A River Sutra, The Famished Road, and The Roller Birds of Rampur, the authors illustrate the journey each main character takes and how the journey is often effected by struggles of life, spirituality and human emotion.

And then on the side, there were more handwritten notes on this stating -

Life is full of surprises. Rather, it is a riddle and to every individual the riddle is different. Perhaps the answer to life is not necessarily wealth, professional success or false happiness. But the answer is how we as individuals, overcome the unhappiness and struggles of life.....in order to find inner peace. Perhaps those who are happiest are those who follow their heart and learn to adapt to their circumstances the best way they know how.

All I can say is -

Who is THIS girl? I can't believe she was once so wise at 17.

Why don't I stick to that second thought more?

I am curious to see what my other papers will tell me about me back then.

I wonder where the heck those books are as I would love to reread them and see whether I think the same things that I thought back then. Especially now that I have more life experiences under my belt.

I really miss going to school.