Throughout The
Grapes of Wrath we are introduced to Steinbeck’s philosophy, which has
evoked my own philosophical feelings. As
a junior, and during life itself, many different obstacles have been thrown my
way, but yet I, like many others, have found the will to keep going and survive
the ever strenuous cycle of life. Everyone
remembers the Disney film, Finding Nemo, and those famous words “Just keep
swimming”, and that is what I have learned is best in life. Throughout my life, that quote has seen to be
true and has helped me through some pretty difficult times.
My early years of life were relatively easy for a
kid, go to school, go to swimming, come home, sit around with my mom, and
sleep. This constant cycle was what I was
used to and what I was happy about, but one day the rather unsettling news that
my grandparents were coming to move in with us. Long story short, my life along
with my parents’ was, and continues to be, drastically changed. Although at first it was very hard to adjust
to this new lifestyle, we had to trudge through it because we had no other
choice. We accepted the responsibility,
somewhat unwillingly, and now we had to deal with the consequences, so no
matter what we are forced to continue our life, and keep going, no matter how
hard it is.
Countless afternoons have passed where I have done
absolutely nothing, and yet when it comes to 8:30pm, I start freaking out, and
soon enough when it hits 10:30 I actually start going into overdrive and begin
completing my numerous assignments. Granted,
I did know what I was getting myself into when I stared lifelessly at a talking
sponge five hours prior, but yet I did not, and probably will not, have the willpower
to start my homework before 5pm. Eventually,
however, the lack of sleep and low quality of work produced after midnight does
catch up to me, and I end up feeling like, simply put, shit. In an adventure to
pull up my grades before the grading period end, all while having my parents
breathe down my neck about colleges, the SAT, APs and many more, it begins to
feel impossible. Sometimes I will just
sit there wondering, is all this effort, all the rigorous courses, all the
extra time outside of school, really worth it in the end, will all this work right
now pay off later in life? In order to satisfy my compelling questions about
the meaning of life, I am self-obligated to mush through the semester.
As life continues, I am taught to jump over any
hurdles, climb the highest mountains, and ultimately conquer the world, no
matter how hard it is. In the beginning,
everything seems difficult, sometimes impossible, but with perseverance
everything is possible. So, that’s why
my motto is to “just keep swimming” because you never know what is on the
other side, until you get there.
The route as shown on the left .jpg)