Hi, I’m Johann Tan, a first year Political Science student; and I had understood from the start that this was not my first option as a path into college. Nevertheless, now in my 2nd Semester of college, I have come to learn so much, and understand that there is so much more to learn for this upcoming semester, including the areas of my life I realized had brought me up until this day.
First off, I discovered that I can NEVER have a single-sided, one-dimensional outlook towards myself. I have reacted to similar situations in different manners, especially when taking into account context and perspectives. One such case is that in my table; which for me reflects my personality. All the things in the table: wallet, laptop, notebooks, Bibles, earphones, they won’t usually be in the same place as I last put them. Yet, whenever I fix my things, my concern is that it is always easily distinguishable and easy to find, because these are things I realized either I have to bring when I go out, things I must do to stick to my routine or if I have no need of it at the moment, ultimately leave at the table. With that, I understood how my mind declutters and organizes my personality especially based on going to school versus being at home.
This somehow amazed me. I lived with a messy older brother for the past 2 years in High-school, who often kept tokens and random materials in order to research how to recycle and reuse them (which has hardly worked out much of the years.) My mother tried her best to educate my brothers and I; and unfortunately unsuccessful with one; whose habits started to rub off on me by accident. The environment, especially with him, his stuff, and I only around the house, made me understand the importance of being organized, however the environment got to me as it was his mess and him around me. Of course, I can’t entirely blame him, but back in High-school, that was the struggle; being organized even if there is a great mess to make me drop my standards in cleanliness. Taking into the Progress-Person-Context-Time model of Bronfenbrenner, I almost understood immediately that in High-school, it took more effort to fix my area than it does now especially when I need less things and now that my brother moved out. In time, I progressed into cleaning when I can. It still needs work, but I’m getting there. As a person, I realized I was sophisticated, and I tend to overcomplicate my decisions and my thoughts. In the context of my things, I had not much of a standard to keep, that’s why I was so messy then, but now I wanted to adjust. And over the course of time, with my parents and I left in the house, I am someone who can make decisions based on the values that they once taught me.
I learned that I was susceptible to inheriting different qualities from the people I often spend my time around. I also learned that the difference in what is messy and what is clean “enough” for me covers a large range and I am able to improve my habits based on such concepts. The way I organize; if there was a way to put it in my writing and my thought process, it would indeed be a very powerful and capable asset in my academic works, and also in real life as I relate with my peers and my environment.
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