Since the beginning of the class, I kept thinking about what should I do for the 30 days challenge. As for me, I want to do something big, something that I could be proud of, something that I could tell my mom, saying: “I did it!” I thought about going to 30 different places and film it to a video, I thought about drawing a huge picture of Seoul city, I thought about developing a typeface on my own. None of them was working, when this assignment finally started. I still struggled two more days to figure — what the hell I want to do.
I talked with people around me of my confusion and stress, but people seemed very easy at this project. They say: ”Well, you start going to the gym since you are only 45Kg.” “Well, you can keep saying ‘I love you’ to your parents or someone that is important to you.” “You can keep singing whenever you take a shower, make your life happier.” “Just quit bubble tea for 30days, man you have an addiction.”
“Why not start with something small, do some down-to-earth work.”
That was my “Ah-ha” moment, instead of holding those fantasies, I think I shall do something small, but the thing I truly wanted to do.
Then “Writing” comes into my mind. I started my 30 days writing challenge. First of all, it was a challenge, and I was ‘kicked out’ of my Freshmen Writing Seminar class due to my poor writing skill. Also, I am in no way a native English speaker, and I barely had any proper English education in the past. My friends from Asian Study major and Political Science major all know that I am a terrible writer.
But, to be no shame, my dream is to become a writer — specifically a tech-journalism writer. And I know writing is not only about writing itself but also include the ability and skill of observing, feeling, reading, thinking, etc. I want to improve my writing skill, and I also want to build many other groundings for it too.
Then I started, begin from November 9th, 2018. Naturally, it is all about me to practice writing, additionally, publish them in my blog on Medium. Alongside, I shall learn how to discuss issues, how to state my opinions, how to write interestingly, how to read, how to think.
As for how I carried out this project,
Basically, “Write, write it down. But before start writing, think, think more.”
Every day, I collect or think a (/an interesting/debatable)topic; I share a pool on my Instagram story to hear what others think of it and then start writing my own thoughts on the matter.
Here in the past 30 days, I had all these topic discussed.
“Why not press the button to become perfect.”
“Why the world needs superheroes.”
“How can a Tree travel around the world.”
“Why we need lies.”
“Why shall we share all the knowledge with everyone.”
“Does our dream take us to another dimension?”
“Why I drink the witch’s soup?”
“Shall we kill an alien egg or give it birth?”
...Look back; I am so glad that I can have my thoughts written down. And of course, in the process of doing this challenge, I had difficulties.
One of the biggest difficulty is time. Frankly speaking, I don’t have time to write long pieces every day, and sometimes I don’t have time even to write a word. It comes with reasons, I have schedule conflicts, for example, other assignments, group meetings, etc. Also, I have my personal life, college party is inevitable, although I rarely rarely attend any. Even if I have the time, but some days, “the flesh is weak” — unable to do what I hope to do. These were all my limits, I admit and willing to make it better next time.
What did I learn or gain out of this challenge? There is too much to tell. I’d begin with something sweet, LMAO!
“Who do you think all these pictures come from??????”
Writing helped me express my emotions; I have let my thoughts to flow, my memories to spark. Every time I write, I feel my heartbeat. It feels wonderful to have someone who understands.
Another thing, very obvious. I practiced my writing in the past days, although still pretty lame. Every writing practice comes with I have read more words. I started reading more than I used to be, I built a regular reading habit for myself. I read lots of different things, from politics to art; and all kinds of journals, reports, stories. All of that contributes to expanding my knowledge, and broaden my vision.
And a lot more, writing made me focus more in my daily life, in a way, I felt my daily life, even I spend seven days only on campus become more vivid. The little happiness — when seeing Halloween cake in a bakery; when viewing ginkgo fruits fall into the ground; I appreciate a lot.
I treated this challenge seriously, I learned how to be responsible, I kept reminding myself — hey! It’s time to write something. I learned how to manage my time better, sleep a bit earlier, get more done by reducing some screen time on my phone…
For this challenge, I think it is also about what’s beyond the 30 days. My writing journey is not stopping from here, practice may not always make perfect, but it does help me making progress to achieve what I wanted.
We shall all start with challenge ourselves. That doesn’t have to do with big, doesn’t have to do with what you can’t. You can even do what you are good at, just to make it better.
“Hard work pays off.”
I deeply think so.
Thank you for reading, hope my poor writing didn’t bother you that much. Have a wonderful day, my friend:)
