Welcome to Erwaman's Web-Based Writer's Portfolio! Feel free to take a look around. This is the first attached piece of the first Publication letter. Enjoy!
~Erwaman~
Bill always maintained excellent grades and stayed on the high honor role. He became recognized as an exceptional student, intelligent and creative. He sang in chorus, played in band, and participated in the forensics club. Besides from school, he also attended soccer, cross-country, and basketball, and took piano and violin lessons. On Sundays, he went to church and attended Japanese School. Overall, almost everyday, he had something to attend to besides school.
He had turned 12 and just began 8th grade. Through elementary school and most of middle school, he managed to maintain his high grades, even with all his extra-curriculum activities. His classmates always saw him smiling, and he seemed very happy. But came 8th grade came a heavy load of homework, and he was a little overwhelmed by his busy schedule. He always tried his hardest when doing everything, so many days he completely exhausted his whole body. He wondered whether or not he would be able to continue his tight schedule, busy and jam-packed.
Some days, he would just lock himself in his room and cry. But he never spoke to his parents about his thoughts, or gave any hint to his coaches and teachers that he felt overwhelmed, and refused to drop any activities. The reason being that he had kept this same schedule for over 5 years now, therefore developed a solid foundation in all his activities, and he feared that his sudden dropping would create a mistaking picture in his teachers' and coaches' minds. Constant peer pressure, which acted like gravity, also prevented him from dropping the extra-curriculum activities. Most of his teachers and coaches turned out to be his friend's parents, therefore, he knew that if he dropped any of his activities, his friends would be questioning him the following day, and he would be extremely embarrassed to have to admit why he quit.
His schedule may seem quite possible even with his homework load, as long as he planned his day well, but the only problem turned out to be his own mental will power. Ever since he started school, he always procrastinated, doing his projects, reports, long term homework, piano and violin practice the night before the due date or his lessons. Also, he rarely studied for tests, never studied for quiz, never did optional homework, or attempted extra-credit. He had become addicted to games, TV, chatting, and e-mail, influenced by other classmates.
He just couldn't figure out what to do. There were so many instances where he just lay there on his bed, speak to himself mentally and ask, "Do I truly love doing all the extra-curriculum activities, or do I just do them because of peer pressure? Why don't I have the courage to speak to my teachers and coaches about this topic? Why can't I just forget about what my friends want me to do and let myself take control? Why can't I stop procrastinating? Why can't I set up a schedule and do it? Why can't I have some more will power? Why can't I concentrate on a goal instead of always being distracted?" Every time he asked these questions to himself, he always turned out unsuccessful, and never took any actions. He felt so depressed at times and sometimes even wished his friends moved, so he wouldn't have to take that activity any more. This boy was truly overwhelmed, and wished that God would just zap him with some magical powder, and he would be a completely new person, always doing things as they arrived and getting them over with. He knew that this would never happen, so he tried again and again to change, but with every attempt, within a few days, he went back to his old self again. But at least he was a very determined and focused person when he truly set his mind on something, so he set it as his goal to stop procrastinating, maintain his schedule, and get a grip on life.