Change

\‘ c h ā n j \

noun

The act or instance of making or becoming different.

***

     The journey of becoming different often corresponds with changing the past. Individuals frequently dwell on situations to help themselves become better and be the person they want to be. One dilemma, one question or one opinion could lead to a change in the future. The question that can be brought up is how did an individual change to become who they are today. One might stop to answer this simple question, but never get through the reasoning. Change occurs every day, although people may not notice, because it often could be small. A single person could agree that individuals do not resemble the person they were five years ago. What mark left such a big impact on each individual that lead them to change who they were then and now?

Fear

\’fir \

noun

An unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain or a threat.

***

     Everyone is brave in their own way. To be courageous, one must overcome fear. People’s fears could range from spiders, to death, to being alone or to clowns. Everyone at some point gets scared: it’s life. However, how and why play big factors to each individual’s fears. Facing scenarios that result in shock are common. That could’ve been from seeing a scary movie at six years old and growing up to have a fear of dolls, or riding a hot air balloon and looking down at one’s biggest fear: heights. Overcoming fear may be difficult, but it is possible if one puts the effort into facing their own battle.

     Sophomore Elkanah Gahima’s biggest fear was being alone.

      “It came from me not having friends, not having good friends to be around,” Gahima said. “Feeling left out was the biggest component of me feeling alone.”

      Elkanah believes having the fear of being alone has shaped him to the person he is today.

      “I’m going to stay strong, try to find people who enjoy me as a person and love being around me,”  Gahima said. “I’m going to stay with those people, even if it’s a small group of friends. It’s better off having a small group of friends than having no friends at all.”

    After facing one’s fear, it’s common to feel a change within themselves and develop more positive outcomes in their personality and personal life. Fear may be a cliche topic, but in another light it’s what could affect change and help people view themselves differently.

Friendship

\’fren(d)- ship \

noun

The emotions or conduct of friends, the state of being friends.    

  ***

A part of growing up is having to face countless scenarios where one has to be social to make new friends, memories and be apart of something bigger than themselves. Today’s generation is so involved in technology that they often forget how to be social and have a proper conversation with another person. For people who never interact with new individuals, it’s hard to get out of their comfort zone and join clubs, sports and other activities. Changing how one interacts with others is a battle; being shy or an introvert could be difficult in a world of outgoing people. Overcoming shyness may be a difficult task, however it could be reduced with the help of trusted adults or a social gathering that involves oneself to open up.

    “Coming here to Antioch, I didn’t know anybody because I went to Round Lake and I grew up with everyone there,” sophomore Paul Valdivia said. “Just being myself made it easy and coming here to a new school and environment made things harder because I was [an introvert] for the first few months.”

    One could change after they face a situation that causes them to act differently. Becoming social may have to deal with meeting new people and making friends in a new community.

    “Going to a new environment is really hard, but it’s so easy to adapt if you are actually pushing yourself and trying to make yourself comfortable in a situation where you are super new and want to make friends,” Valdivia said.   

    Pushing oneself and getting out of usual habits is a way to change who someone is as an individual. Going from being an introvert to becoming an extrovert can be a difficult task for people, sometimes impossible, but these challenges form what they become to this day.

Family

\’fam- lē, fa-mə- \

noun

Any group of persons closely related by blood, as parents, children, uncles, aunts and cousins.

***

       The meaning of family is often misunderstood. There’s a majority of different families, although one could view them in another way. According to the Pew Research Center, 46% of children today are living in a family with two married parents. With that said, there’s foster and adoptive families and there could also be no parent at all, where grandparents or others play a role as a parent.

       Through all the diversity, there’s no such thing as a picture perfect family. All families have problems, but the way conflicts get resolved may differ from family to family. Relationships between a parent and a child correspond with how the family acts physically and mentally toward each other. Families may often face issues with finances, jobs and lack of communication. Parents may often target their anger and frustration at their children causing conflict within the family. A situation could change a child’s lifestyle and create a butterfly effect once they’re married and have children of their own.

      Although hardships may defeat a person; they are meant to make an individual grow and create their story, for their hardships define their chronicle leading to a happy and healthy life.