Another Step on the Football Field

I wonder if I will still sit at the children's table during family dinners? I wonder how my first voting session will go? I wonder if people are going to see me differently?

This week I turned eighteen. This birthday is one of the biggest birthdays. Your responsibilities and privileges are opened up, you can buy a lottery ticket, you can vote, you can do so much more. However, as I turned into an adult I could not help thinking about how old I am and how weird it was that I was officially not a child. Although I do not feel like an adult, it is certainly strange to say I am one. When I turn a year older, I get to step forward onto another dash on the football field. When you look at life from the 18th yard line, it does not seem very different than life from the 17th yard line. However, mentally a step forward means another step in life towards that big unknown goal. This blog is very timely, for it is the last one of the semester. Wow, that is weird to say. Our last blog of the first semester, time really does fly. I'm an adult and senior year is half way over, I am in shock. In the final blog of the semester I want to say something really cool, something that will stand out, yet the simple things like birthdays can be really cool. Instead of pondering on what I should have done I am going to recap the highlights of this semester:

1. I read 7 new books this semester

2. I have finished all my standardized testing and applications

3. I have gotten into 2 colleges

4. I have traveled to Arizona for lacrosse

5. I have met new people

6. I have made the best of the last, first semester of high school

Desire & Love

How does love differ from desire? Do they go hand in hand? This week in class we discussed questions about desire and I began to think about the difference between love and desire. Siddhartha felt a desire and attraction for Kamala, yet it is evident that they are not in love. Although, Siddhartha does not know if he loves Kamala, he knows he desires her. Their relationship is more physical. In Siddhartha's search for desire I feel he endures suffering because he cannot pinpoint exactly what he is looking for. Siddhartha knows his goal, yet he does not know how to reach it. In class I came to the conclusion that one must suffer to realize you have reached desire. Therefore, Siddhartha may have felt desire for Kamala, but he did not truly feel love.

The relationship between desire and love can also relate to the book I am reading titled "The Pickup." In this book two people, Julie and Abdu are attracted to each other and they form and intimate relationship. It is not clear the individual motives in the relationship, which is a characteristic that Julie and Abdu share with Kamala and Siddhartha. It is easy to infer that both of the characters from "The Pickup" desire the other. However, it is not evident at the point I am at that they love each other. Hence, it is difficult to conclude if desire and love go hand in hand.