Life's Bibimbap

          Normally, you don't choose what options are available to you - not directly at least and most of the time what choices you have are chosen for you, such as by the people are around you and what miracles and travesties that occur and how people react to you. Going into high school, there were times when I was reluctant to befriend or even talk to those in my own age group, since my mind of thought was something along the lines of, "I don't want to be here, it's required I come here. I don't know why you are asking me these questions, you deal with me and I'll deal with you." It's the polar opposite of what I'm like now (can you believe it?). What on earth could have made me change my perspective? It certainly wasn't an overnight menopause, I can tell you that.
         Out of my many extracurriculars, my favorites were the ones with an eclectic mix of people of different ages, nationalities, and styles! These were the clubs where everyone was accepted, where no one was left behind, and no matter how small or how big their contribution was to the table, they were still a part of our ohana (family). Just like Korean bibimbap, a club starts out like bland rice and then conjoins into hodgepodge of ingredients to make something delicious and unique.
          I just wanted to make this article with the point of talking about having an open mind. It's a crucial part to just about everything in life. I won't give you a lecture about how today's generation is a total 180 from my generation. I won't give you a lecture about how easy it is to be open minded. It's really not an easy thing at all. It's - excuse my language - damn difficult. I would love to spin you a tale about what a paradise life is, and how I'm doing well in all my endeavors, whatever they may be, but in the words of Dolores Umbridge - the most loathsome antithesis, this article is where "one musn't tell lies." There's two things about being open minded; what we wish so and what is so - the dream world and the reality. I believe that wherever you are comfortable and whatever balance you have between the dream and real world is the best way. Just the same as how homeostasis is different for every living being, so should be the balance between dream and reality. As you come to realize, there's some really underhanded stuff going on in every system you can find; like my school system where you only learn about government and economics and take a stance your senior year so that whatever corruptions you see in your own school or community it's too little and too late to change them. When it's not something like that, it's one of your friends or family backstabbing you. There always has to be some obstacle that life chucks your way but the only thing you can do about it is how you take it on.
       From what I've observed, many people tend to take stand with whatever opinion they have been exposed to the most. Here's where it gets a bit sticky. Take a moment to remember a time when you unknowingly stereotyped someone. Where do you think you got that stereotype from? This is why I love living where I do - California is one of  the most diverse places on the map! I am able to be exposed to different opinions, perspectives, personalities and get the knowledge and experience myself, instead of letting others decide for me.
        Everyone know's Harry Potter right? I love J.K. Rowling (she's brilliant) but one thing that really stuck out to me throughout the whole series is the idea of expectation. The expectation that all of Slytherin is evil, Ravenclaw= nerds, Gryffindor is full of heros, and Hufflepuffs are duffers. Many of the excited first years would often hear from the older students about the other houses. The expectation was that the students would believe whatever was told to them, simply because they didn't know any better. It's similar to being a monkey, monkey see monkey do. Although I don't wholeheartedly agree with the idea of segregation, I do agree that it's a method that works to endorse competitiveness between select groups and foster a camaraderie inside respective groups. What I really enjoy about what J.K. Rowling did was many of the characters she exposed us to were round characters: they have different sides to them like a folded paper and show only as much as they want to. Each respective character is multi-dimensional; we thought Snape was evil from the very start, when his intention was to protect the one he loved. It's funny how little we knew and how quick we were to pass judgement on these characters and even people in real life.
      The whole point is without an open mind, you can't really mix perspectives and create a delicious bibimbap. You really do miss out when you use someone else's expectations to judge other people - and even worse, yourself. It's fine if you can't be exposed to the other sides opinions because of your situation, just don't let others decide for you because they are not you - you decide what you think.

Until next time dreamers-sweet dreams,

Marilyn Nguyen