Everyone is a wandering sailor sailing on the ocean covered by the mystery fog known as time. As time went by, the old sailors started to fill out their map known as life. However, for the young sailors, this nautical chart might just be a blank sheet of paper representing the unexplored fog of the future. A 16-year-old, Evan, as one of those young sailors from Texas, will help the old sailors to remember their memories, and help the young sailors to know they are not alone.
As a teenager, Evan is indeed an energetic person. Evan is interested in exercising and sports such as Hockey. Wait, what was that? Hockey in Texas? “…it’s a weird combination, Hockey in the hottest state,” Evan responded. During his sail to this island called Hockey, he did not discover it all by himself, but followed in the steps of the past sailors, his father. Evan mentioned that one of the main reasons for him to start Hockey is his father. Evan’s father is deeply passionate about Hockey which affected Evan. Although they only treat this as their hobby, they still “…won the state sometimes,” Evan suggested.
Think about the energetic people around you, most of them will do more than one sport, won’t they? This situation is the same for Evan, other than Hockey, Evan also finds himself interested in Fencing, an Olympic combat sport that features sword fighting. The reason for him picking fencing is quite simple, “…Hockey season ended,” Evan explained. It was just simply too boring for Evan to do nothing; plus, most of Evan’s friends from Hockey are also doing this. As a result, Evan starts to enjoy the fun of fencing and finds himself interested as mentioned. Evan’s fencing club is one of the top clubs in the United States, “…some of them are even planning to go professional,” Evan mentioned. However, compared to them, Evan does not believe that he can become a professional athlete with the amount of time you put in for a hobby.
At the age of 16, Evan is currently a rising Junior and finding high school interesting. The specialness of Evan’s academic journey is his experience of both in-person and online high school. Evan first spent his freshman year in a normal high school, and then his sophomore year in an online school. However, when asked about which one is better, Evan replied “It’s based on the person.” In Evan’s opinion, none of those options are perfect. Although online school might have less social interaction, Evan described the way and style of learning fit him more. On the other hand, going to school in real life might work out the best for many people, but just not for him.
Around Evan’s age, many people would already have a dream college or job for their future. Out of many colleges, Evan decided to pick the one he loved, Columbia University. He had already been amazed by their network and their majors. For his future career, he is motivated to do something economically related. To make Evan’s dream come true, he already finished AP Pre-Calculus and is studying AP Physics next year. Not only that, but he had also joined some business clubs and found himself enjoying it. Although Evan’s teachers and parents gave some suggestions, “…I would still pick the same class myself,” responded Evan. However, AP classes are not something everyone can take, which means Evan’s journey was not easy. However, Evan stayed strong against those difficulties and eventually got some good grades at the end of the semester.
Although Evan’s journey might be short for the old sailors, it is important to know a teenage heart and the feeling of a teenage heart cannot exist. Although some people might not agree with Evan’s statement, it is always good to learn more about how people at different time stages think. When being asked whether your opinion is more important or your parents’, Evan suggested that you should never go too absolute on everything. If the opinions are completely different, “...then that would be a time to talk to them and figure it out,” Evan answered. Another debatable topic is the acceptance system of the college. Some people now believe that the college acceptance system is not fair since some colleges’ decisions are based on identity such as gender and race. As a response, Evan believes that is only a small part of what is happening, and most of the time they still judge you based on your grades and impact. “Lower income doesn’t have the same resources as higher income to get into better colleges,” Evan responds.
Based on Evan’s short but fulfilled journey, the conclusion he produced is interesting. Although Evan does not have any religious belief, he still thinks that there is a purpose behind life, the experience. The chance of even living is already a legend, why don’t we be glad for what we have? Although we might lose everything, we have the bond passed down from our ancestors. Plus, “…it’s unchangeable, but we can do what we have.”
To sailors like Evan, there are still infinite possibilities in the future. The rich people on the jewel ship might be interested in the stories of other sailors, while those sailors might want to have a life like the rich man. Can we say which life is better? Both of those lives can have surpassing endings. How do we know if it is a gold island or a storm behind the fog? There is no point in just letting your ship stay at the same spot, why don’t we start sailing and wait for what will happen next?
As a student I think that we all should live in the moment more and enjoy things when we can. Evan's interest and perseverance is inspiring!
Thank you very much, Evan, for doing an interview with us. You story truly symbolified many modern days teenager!