The Credo That I Claim
The Credo That I Claim
By: Akeel Dixon
Prompt: What is your personal credo?
I have discerned that every person usually has a certain credo such as: “Live life to the fullest,” “Every person has evil inside them,” or “Practice makes progress.” I myself have never truly thought of a message that I decided to live by but I thought recently that it would be interesting to come up with one based on my thinking in the past and present. If I look into myself, something I live by would be, “Every decision that is made has a good consequence and a bad consequence.” I was first taught this lesson by my parents at a young age when they were teaching me to make good choices to avoid significant negative results. Whenever I get older I always look back on my life and specifically my choices, both good and bad. I notice many decisions I regret because of their negative drawbacks but some of them have allowed me to see some small benefits. This same cognizance also applies to good choices I have made, where I can see negative effects for being where I am today academically, socially, and mentally.
An instance I recall where I thought I had made a good choice with a bad outcome was going to Uni. I like my school because it allows me to take honors classes, experience what it is like to be in the U of I, and I get to meet people with similar interests to me. However Uni does have a multitude of negatives that a part of me wishes I had considered before making the choice to go here. Despite Uni being extremely diverse with many enrolled students being minorities, it is hard for me to find other people who are like me. This is not to say that it is impossible as I have met many other black people at Uni and go to LBC Club (Latinx and Black Coalition Club) which has allowed me to meet the few that do go here. However, when it comes to being an African American male at Uni that number is incredibly small and with the four or five of us (including me) that are here all being in different grades it becomes hard to collaborate. I think this is one of the most significant drawbacks for me personally of enrolling into Uni, however I’ve met many people with similar interests as me as well as a rigorous curriculum that suits me here; this conveys to me that this credo is veracious.
Before Uni I made a bad choice I made with a positive outcome. When I look at bad choices I have made with good repercussions the first thing that comes to mind is when in Cross Country at Next Generation (my previous school) some of the athletes would run out of sight from our coach and we would all play a game of hide and seek sometimes. I participated in this multiple times and even though it was wrong to disobey our coaches training program I got to have fun and see my teammates in a completely different light. Occasionally once a few of us had been caught I was able to talk to my teammates and learn new things about them and it became very sad for me to leave them when I got into Uni.
Whenever I see the results of my credo in real time it encourages me to keep it in my mind and live by it. Sometimes bad things that we cause or end up happening to us can be our biggest game changer toward something else. I now understand this credo’s value and why it means so much to me. I’ve been making many amazing decisions that have assisted my life recently and I look forward to seeing how these negative consequences can be overcome.
Hi Akeel, I really enjoyed reading your essay and being able to see deeper into what you believe is important for decision making and how it affects outcome. What I find really interesting about your credo is that you take care to mention how every action has both positive and negative responses to it. Talking about Uni the way you do is a perfect example of your credo, it both helps and hurts you in some way but you also understand how those things apply in tandem. However, while I really enjoy the content of your essay and the way you describe your experiences, sometimes your wording can get kind of repetitive. It's very minimal but around your transitions and examples it can feel like you're reusing the wording: x choice with y consequence, as though you're writing a thesis statement for your paragraphs. Ultimately, it's very minor but that small change could give you a little bit more room to talk about and reflect on your experience instead of transitioning to it. Good Job! :)
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ReplyDeleteHey Akeel, nice blog! I really liked your blog, mainly because I also use the same credo sometimes. You talk about the decision to go study in Uni, and I got to say that I kind of have the same decision last year and just like you, this high school indeed have some problems and as you said is a little bit hard to find somebody relatable, but I think it is also a great academic experience and for me that's fairly enough. You're way to tell us the narrative is really good, but I think that a more objective storytelling here would fit really nice as well. Great Job!
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