@ircat.idek

When reflecting upon my current and past self, my future self will contentedly say, "Thank you, all of your work and sacrifice was worth it."

When I first opened my National Geographic Atlas, my eyes were immediately captivated by the majestic spires of the St. Petersburg Cathedral. The bright colors blended perfectly together, the foreign architecture style, the surrounding landscape scenery, everything about it captivated me. I turned the page. Taj Mahal, Buckingham Palace, the Palace of Versailles, all of them (and more) entranced me. Since I opened that Atlas in 2nd grade, my passion for travel ignited. In 8th grade, I began studying German. With the help of my teacher, German and language as a whole became another passion of mine. With language, you would understand the culture, which lets you better immerse yourself when traveling. Since eighth grade, these two passions formed my college, career, and life goals. Unsurprisingly, my bucket list is dominated by languages and travel, as these two passions go hand-in-hand. At the top? Visit the Vienna Opera House. The iconic, gorgeous golden roof is the city's pride. Second, become fluent in German. It took five years of non-stop studying and practice, and I have finally become fluent this year. All of my dedication has been for something. Check. Then, visit Salzgitter, Germany. I was supposed to study abroad here for my Junior year, but due to COVID-19, I never got to. I have to go to experience a part of what I missed. After that, learn Italian. Both sides of my family have Italian origins. It seemed natural to learn Italian next. Although I began studying earlier this year with a tutor, I've already made notable progress. Check. Visit Sicily, where my dad's family came from generations ago. My family has talked about it. Despite being a mere snapshot of my bucket list, the trend is clear. There is one notable outlier: Graduate college with minimal student debt.

Despite being one of the most basic tips, I've found that starting small investments is beneficial not only to me financially but also personally, as it teaches me that I cannot simply expect overnight results. From a practical, financial perspective, starting with small investments can show you many things, such as the stability of the investment, the profit return over time, and even knowledge for the future. These factors allow me to determine whether or not to continue with the investment (and other similar investment methods), along with granting me investment experience. Currently, I invest in a hedge fund, making an initial deposit of $500. Within a month, I made back the money I had deposited, so I knew this was an investment to continue. Despite inflation, my investment's value has risen at a consistent rate, showing me that not only is the investment stable and growing, but it can yield a relatively fast profit. Doing small investments also prevents me from suffering the all-too-common disastrous losses that come with larger investments. Furthermore, this advice has helped my personal growth. For starters, I now consider my financial status in the long run, in addition to the short run, allowing me to weigh my options, a skill not just applicable in the fiscal world. Furthermore, due to the conservative nature of my investments, the profit returns are subtler and, in order to see considerable profit, I must build my patience. I now understand not to expect overnight profit, but profit over time, another skill applicable to life. This simple "start small" tip has allowed me to view my financial and my personal world differently for the better.

Ever since I began school, I wanted to be the best. It didn't matter what, all that mattered was that I was the best. I would spend hours upon hours studying, all to get the best grades, or practicing my soccer skills for gym class. I developed a perfectionist complex that caused me to obsess over everything that I did. Twelve years later, even though I do not possess the same overly-competitive drive which I had during my youth, I still possess that drive to constantly improve, albeit I express it more healthily. Naturally, I always put forth my best effort, while subduing that perfectionist nature. Instead of focusing on everything that I need to improve when critiquing my work, I hone in on one specific aspect. Not only is this method more efficient, but it also ensures that I fully understand what I am trying to improve and how best to do it. I have had more success with this method of critique than with my perfectionist nature of old. This method is healthier for my mental health as well, as I am no longer overwhelming myself with everything that needs to be improved, rather I am improving one step at a time towards better results. Upon seeing my improvement, there is no greater feeling of satisfaction than knowing that my work is better than the week, or even, the day before. The results may mean that I'm no longer the fastest or the best in the class, but for me, the steady, constant improvement makes everything worth it.

One's patience is often a hallmark of one's maturity. The more patient someone is, the more understanding and rational they are. All of these traits are simply part of my everyday life, a part of me. Due to my upbringing with an Autistic younger sister, I had to become her role model and display the skills that she would hopefully learn to imitate. Patience was a skill that she sorely lacked, so I had to exude constant patience. Because I had patience ingrained in me so young, naturally, I began to exude those other traits. Upon exuding these traits, I began to treat more people with respect, and, in turn, more of my peers and my sisters looked up to me. It was then that I realized that being patient is the best way to show respect to others, as it demonstrates that you are willing to understand their struggles. Even years later, my sister has improved and exhibited patience on many occasions, enabling her to better connect with her peers and herself. While she still struggles, she now knows that not rushing into situations or assumptions is the healthier, empathetic option. Ultimately, patience is essential to personal growth and maturity, along with being the best way to learn more empathy, ultimately leading to a more understanding world for everyone.