What has been my greatest accomplishment so far?
Granted, this question would be better suited for a person in his or her mid-thirties, as they have had more time to actually achieve things. However, I will still try to think of an adequate answer, by exploring all of my past activities. Just to make it a tad more structured, I will first list my activities, after which I will dedicate a short paragraph to each activity (except for choir) in order to find out if I have any achievements at all. Lets start with the list (by the way, s.i.p. stands for still in progress):
Activity | Age | Notes |
Gymnastics | 6-14 | Physically, my best years |
Choir | 6-7 | Can’t remember this activity |
Acoustic Guitar | 7-17 s.i.p. | Should’ve practised more |
Stockboy job | 15-16 | Boring |
Electric Guitar | 15-17 s.i.p. | Finally, something interesting |
School | 4-17 s.i.p. | Zzzzz! |
For nearly eight years I was allowed to call myself a gymnast. Of course I wasn’t great, but I was able to perform some mediocre tricks and stunts, such as handstands, cartwheels and various flips. In total, I have won 14 gold medals, 7 silver medals, 8 bronze medals, 3 trophies and a runner-up trophy. I was particularly good at floor exercises, which were responsible for about 6 gold medals. The exercises that usually got the best of me took place in the still rings. I was a fairly strong child, but not strong enough to keep on carrying the weight of my gut for a long period. My most treasured gymnastics performance was probably when I first entered a competition. I was eight years old (at most) and my sports club had a gymnastics competition. Of course there are age classes, but there was also a trophy reserved for the person with the highest score. I beat everyone in my age class, and then proceeded to win the trophy as well. At the time, I didn’t take into account that it’s more difficult for older boys to get high scores, but it was definitely an enjoyable occasion.
My acoustic guitar lessons and the guitar itself have cost my parents a small fortune over time. They didn’t mind because they seemed to enjoy my performances. That’s what parents do, isn’t it? They support you in everything you do, as long as they think it will help you grow as a decent human being. Any step in the good direction makes them proud as hell. I was never really good, but I practised and worked hard to become a mediocre guitarist. I can play some nice tunes, like ‘Hey there Delilah’ and ‘Dust in the wind’, which are songs I wouldn’t actually listen to normally. I have had multiple performances with my acoustic guitar. I have had solo’s, duets with other guitars, quartets with other guitars, duets with violins, etc. However, the performance of which I am most proud is the one where I play and sing ‘Tears in heaven’ together with another guy my age. Don’t get me wrong. We weren’t great singers, but it felt so good to have our crowd (consisting of parents and their young children) listen to us, oh so carefully, and to receive such positive feedback afterwards.
My job as a stock boy at the local Albert Heijn wasn’t an exciting occupation. I had worked there for a year and a half before I decided I didn’t need the money anymore (on a another note, I’m completely broke right now). There was not an overflow of accomplishments in this area, but what I am proud of is the fact that I was able to push a shitload of shopping carts over the icy outside ground in January, for about three weeks, without slipping, which is something my co-workers couldn't do. That’s the reason I was stuck with that chore for three weeks, but it still felt a little good.
I haven’t been playing electric guitar for a long time, so I haven’t really been able to experiment with different styles, in order to see what I prefer. Right now, I’m really into power chords, but I feel that it could become less exciting over time. So basically, I just learn the songs that the band I recently joined tells me to play. Right now, a few good ones are ‘Scar tissue’, ‘kryptonite’ and ‘use somebody’. By myself, I usually stick to ‘Sum 41’ songs. The biggest accomplishment so far is very recent. The band has just had an audition for an open stage night at our school. This doesn’t seem like much, but I’m pretty excited about it. It’ll be a chance for me to show people that I can actually do something. That is, of course, only if I don’t screw it up.
School has been the place where ordinary children get their best achievements. I, however, have only one achievement worth mentioning. In my third year of high school, my whole class had to take an English exam. We were told that this exam was pretty tough, and that we had to study our asses of for it. Of course I didn’t study for it. It wasn’t that I didn’t feel like it (which is usually the case). I just felt like it was unnecessary. There were two levels to the ‘Cambridge Exams’. The easy one was ‘First Certificate’, which was the one half the class took. The other half, including me, wanted to try the harder one, the ‘Cambridge Advanced Exams’. Actually, there was a higher level, but our teachers didn’t allow anyone to take it. We had to wait till our fourth year, before we got our scores back. There were two people who had received an ‘A’ for their ‘CAE’. I was one of them. Even though this test will never help me in life, I do feel that I have proven myself by taking it.
After re-reading all of this, I think that I can determine what my greatest accomplishment is. It has been the performance of ‘Tears in heaven’. I value this so much because I have actually confronted one of my fears during this performance, which is singing in front of a crowd. I’m not sure if I could (or should) ever do this without holding my guitar though. Not only has this performance given me a little self-confidence, it has also made me more interested in obtaining a career in the music industry. This is why this performance was such a life-changing and great achievement.
Once again, interesting post. I'm quite anxious to confront my fears as well at the open stage night.. Confidence boosts, yay. Or a complete screwup for me, that's possible as well.
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Nice post. Live performances are easily one of the best things in life :]
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