Choices….By Noah Parets

By Noah Parets, age 12

Choice: the power, right, or liberty to choose an option. Over the course of life, you are presented with many choices. Making the right decision leads to success while other options oftentimes do not. It’s all about choices. As a twelve-year-old, choices don’t come easy; in fact most choices are made for me. Parents, family, teachers, and  the government choose for me and this doesn’t always turn out the way I wish it could. Sometimes this limits what I can do as a kid of my age.

Some of my choices, however, have impacted my life. These include: having a good attitude towards writing and reading, being a good overall student, and becoming a dancer.

Having a good attitude towards writing and reading has brought me so much more ease in school. Every subject in school includes writing and reading, which is effective in all my classes. Also, books outside of school have become more interesting and even fun to read because I respect the books and can learn from them. I can get into the story and be sucked in for hours at a time. This attitude change has allowed me to get involved in books like the Harry Potter series and more. These books have hundreds of pages, yet I am able to finish them in a timely manner while feeling good about myself.  Also, writing has become a breeze. I can now write an essay in an hour or two, confident to pass it in for a grade, and I can even think of intriguing topics for fun, free-wheeling stories. Whether it is a short poem or a full-out novel, I am now able to step up to the plate and put the pencil to the paper. I now don’t back off from the assignment because I’m scared or think I am not good enough to fulfill the criteria my teacher is looking for. Now, English class can bring me joy and help me learn to be better at actively reading and effectively writing.

Along with my newfound talent of writing, I’ve decided to be a better student all around as school begins to be tougher. In all of my classes, I really need to make sure I’m being very attentive so I absorb as much information as possible. Taking notes vigorously, I am able to do very well in math. In science however, I just need to suck in every piece of information as my teacher vocally gives me our vocabulary and concepts that need to be understood. But in Spanish, social studies, and E.L.A., I need to finish worksheets and class activities to gather the day’s lesson. So, for each class I have a different strategy for learning. Everyday, as I walk home from school, I plan out my day to make sure I have plenty of time for homework, for it’s vital to making sure I understand the concepts of the past day’s classes. Also, getting it done could be the difference between a good grade and a great grade. Doing homework will only benefit you in the end. Study habits are important too. I choose to study until I know every bit of information that I believe I need. This is because I take pride in my work and I want to prepare myself for high school. At this point, high school is still foreign to me but I still want to be ready.

The last and greatest choice I‘ve made is to be a dancer, a male dancer at that. Yes, many people think it’s a “girl sport”, and maybe people even call me names or whisper behind my back. But dance is just as physically demanding as a sport, so no one that’s on a sports team should be saying that I’m a wimp. Nothing anyone could ever say or do could stop me from dancing. When I dance, there’s no feeling like it. A rush of happiness flows through me and I come to a state that makes me feel unstoppable. I’m well balanced with my dancing, studying many styles including ballet, jazz, modern, and tap. All styles help me strengthen my technique in the other styles. Ballet focuses me with French jargon, while jazz and modern loosen me up and help become more flexible, and tap keeps my rhythm in tune. Dance means so much to me that I decided to quit gymnastics for it which at the time was very important to me because I believed it was my talent,. But then I realized that it just wasn’t right. I needed to dance. I hope for dance to carry me through life because it’s my “sport” and my passion.

 Choices, options, can be really tough like “Should I go to medical school?” or easy like “Should I eat the lollipop?” But, either way, they are one of the many things that keep the world spinning around. The average person makes hundreds if not thousands of choices per day, which proves how our world wouldn’t work without them. Thanks to the opportunity choices have given me, I’ve been able to make a few really great decisions including having a better attitude towards reading and writing, becoming an all around better student, and becoming a dancer.