Luis Rivera

Period 7

Ms. Russell

The definition of wisdom varies a bit by person to person, but in my opinion it is

the accumulation of three things knowledge, good insight relationships, and good

judgement. Wisdom is arguably one of the characteristics of a person that takes years,

and decades to obtain. Even once you attain it theres so much more that you can get

through experience. During these four years I havent become wise, but instead wiser

through failure and making mistakes.

When I came into freshman year I came into school as an extremely

conservative kid whose favorite pastime was to play call of duty for four hours straight

after school, then sleep. This would happen everyday of the week, and during the

weekends my addiction was worse, playing upwards of seven hours. I know it sounds

crazy how playing video games was an obsession, but it just became a part of my daily

routine. Also, since Freshman year was a transition year, most of my classes were easy

where I could afford to not take time on school work. This of course would change in

sophomore year, where my grades really took a hit and the struggles of taking AP:

classes came in. My previous schedule of school, games, and then sleep was not really

cutting it, so I did the terrible in school. Even knowing this I continued playing. This cycle

would last the entire year until the transition to junior year where I took even harder

classes with even more work involved. The two classes that were the most content
heavy classes that I took, in junior year, where Ap:psychology and AP: US History. They

were both taught by one teacher, Mr. Segado, who is the person who had the most

influence on me that year. I do not know why, but I felt like I had to please him

especially since I saw him in class twice a day. The amount of time I spent in his class

was tremendous, and I respected him more throughout the year as he was relatable. He

was awkward like me, and loved rap music which made him approachable. Due to my

respect to him , during the first quarter I cut off gaming entirely. I actually tried at school,

and was successful at it until next quarter where I started my addiction again.This is

when I stopped playing games, and for a period of time I was doing great again, but

again it creeped on me in junior year This of course reflected on my grades as it had

before. Mr. Segado took notice of this and pulled me out of class one time to discuss

why my grades had taken a turn for the worst. I knew why, but I guess I was in denial

and just uttered some gibberish about something else. During the summer though I

stopped playing games as heavily as before, and I did have some success. The secret

to success in my case is to not cut off my obsession completely, but instead just

minimize the time I take doing it in order to be successful. If I cut it off completely and

get back at it just like I did in junior year it will take control of my life. Just playing a little

is alright, but finding that right amount was really troublesome for me. Even today

sometimes I get on gaming sprees, but I also have times where I just dont feel the

need to play.

I was the freshman who never ever talked not even to his friends, but instead

stood there silent. In the start of high school I never talked unless I was addressed and
even then I was quiet when speaking. This was something I had to work on, and it was

a serious problem in class and with making a good relationship with my friends. During

presentations I would be very quiet and feel extreme butterflies in my stomach. The only

time I was comfortable was in small groups or in one to one discussions, but never in

big groups of 5 or more. The two classes that helped with that was spanish and speech

and composition. Those two classes forced you to go up in front of the class and

present a skit, or a speech. The spanish teacher, Mr. Caraballo, was very intimidating at

first, so I tried my hardest during skits to make sure they were at least somewhat funny

and entertaining. In speech and composition going up in front of the class helped me

desensitize me from getting butterflies in my stomach in front of the class. These two

classes helped me not be a total disaster, while presenting projects to the class. Even

with this though I would only be able to talk if I had to. What helped in making me able

to talk to peers who I didnt know or in a big circle of friends was Ivan DeLeon. In middle

school we were really good friends, and while we werent as close in high school due to

not having many classes together he helped with my social anxiety. He would always

question why I would never talk in our circle of friends, so I just tried to a little by little to

get comfortable with talking in a big group. Being able to talk to others with no anxiety

would also allow me to show more of who I am and I am grateful to Ivan that he helped

me become more normal and be able to talk to others without needing to be

addressed. It made me better in making relationships, and I feel that being able to make

connections is what one sense of wisdom is.

 Not only is wisdom helpful in school but in religion wisdom is in the epicenter of

their beliefs. Wisdom in catholicism is knowing knowledge, knowing what is right/wrong,

and most importantly having faith in what you believe in. While not being quite the

believer, I do feel that religion does help you in making morals, and helping you in what

you know whats right and what is wrong. With that said I had a tough time believing

what I was taught in the catholic church. I had up to my 16 years of living in this world,

just followed what my parents said and never thought how I felt about my religion. On

everything from being asked what religion I was to filling in that bubble that said I was

Catholic, but I asked myself for the first time in junior year in my head am I really a

believer. This of course was a no the first time I asked myself, but I recalled this one

conversation in spanish where Caraballo said why he was not a believer. He said that

he doesnt believe there is a higher power, and that if he was not taught by his parent

about catholicism he wouldnt had been one in his younger years. When I remembered

that conversation I really took time to see if I believed in god or if it was just because of

my parents that I started to be a believer. It really was hard to tell because I have been

in the mindset that I had to be like my family and be a Catholic. In the end though I

realized I really didnt believe in a higher power, and that I believed more in science

than the belief that god made earth and everything in it in six days. To me that was the

first time I feel that I took a belief of my own, because I believed in it. That to me is

wisdom. Knowing what you believe in and why is an important question.

The accretion of knowledge is detrimental in gaining wisdom as knowledge and

experience helps you make decisions in the future. Kipp King Collegiate was a place in
which I find out more about myself, and also learned new topics. Through this I gained

not only experience, but more about myself than at any other period of my life. I found

my voice, belief, and how to deal with obsession during my time at Kipp King.