TED Video

    

     For this post, I’ve chosen to write about a speech by Kathryn Schulz called, "On Being Wrong." When I first saw this video, I knew I had to watch it. I’m someone who absolutely hates being wrong. Well, I know that nobody likes to be wrong but, I absolutely can’t stand it. It was almost like this video was trying to tell me something.

     I found what Kathryn Schulz had to say really interesting. She believes that we all try to avoid being wrong and think that we’re right all of the time. We are trapped in a bubble of feeling right about everything for our whole lives. She thinks that this is a major problem.

     In her speech, Kathryn Schulz explained why we hate knowing we’re wrong so much. She claims that it starts way back in elementary school. When we were in elementary school, and someone got something wrong like, say, failing a spelling test, we know exactly what to think about them. They’re the stupid ones who get into trouble. Kathryn Schulz says,

"by the time you are nine years old, you’ve already learned, first of all, that people who get stuff wrong are lazy, irresponsible dimwits—and second of all, that the way to succeed in life is to never make any mistakes."

When I heard her say this, I knew that she was speaking the truth. I realized that I held this same view and had for a very long time. I’d just never thought about it before.

    Kathryn Schulz says that this belief is such a problem because it pushes us all to become

"perfect little A students, perfectionists, over-achievers"

and that when we get something wrong it causes us to stress out and believe that there’s something wrong with us. To me, this is so true. Because of my belief in not being wrong, I, probably like many of you other Horizons students, am a perfectionist and an over-achiever. When I get something wrong, it just kills me. Earlier this year, I got a lower mark on a test than I wanted to and it really made me upset. It only brought my average in the course down by 2% but, I didn’t think about that. I only thought about how bad I had done and what I should’ve gotten. As much as I tried to "build a bridge and get over it," as the saying goes, I just couldn’t. It bothered me for a long time. I was so afraid of being wrong, that I let this mark really hurt me. As I listened to Kathryn Schulz's speech, I understood what she was saying. Being afraid of being wrong really is a big problem.

     In her speech Kathryn Schulz said,

"Think for a moment about what it means to feel right. It means that you think that your beliefs just perfectly reflect reality."

So, I thought about it and I realized that this is not always going to happen. In fact, I believe that it’s hardly ever going to happen. How often do our beliefs perfectly reflect reality? Not often, even if we think they do. So, being wrong most of the time is normal. In fact, it’s actually okay. Not everyone sees the world the same way. Kathryn Schulz says that if everyone was right all of the time, life would be boring. One of my favourite quotes about life from her speech is,

"We think this one thing is going to happen and something else happens instead."

That’s just how life is.

     I really liked Kathryn Schulz’s speech. I felt like she was talking right at me. She helped me see that I’m not always going to be right and I need to realize that. When I’m wrong, I’ve got to accept that I just fooled up and it happens to everybody. I know I’m never going to like being wrong but, maybe I’ll be able to come to terms with it better than before I heard her speech. What Kathryn Schulz said made me think about a lot of things that I’d never thought about before and that’s why I chose to write my post about it. I hope you guys watch her speech and I think you’ll like it just as much as I did. But, who knows, maybe I’m wrong.

All About Me

     How did I become involved in leadership and volunteering? I really don’t know. It seems that leadership and volunteering have always been a part of me. I’ve enjoyed it since I was little. When I was younger, I was a member of my church’s Sunday School and I was a Girl Guide. Both of these activities really introduced me to being a leader and a volunteer. Of course, at that age, I didn’t realize that that was what I was doing. All I knew was that I loved helping the younger children at church or singing for the senior’s at my local senior’s home. These activities helped shape me as a person and I didn’t even know it!
     My first formal leadership experience was way back in Grade 8 when I attended a junior high student leadership conference. This was a great experience for me and it really opened my eyes to who a leader was. A leader didn’t have to be someone who was ruling a country or changing the world, it could be someone as simple as a junior high student who loved to be involved and to volunteer. I realized that anyone could be a leader. That weekend was one of the highlights of my elementary school education and I know that it made an impact on me as a person.
     That next year, when I moved up to high school, I made the decision to join the Leadership Group. I have to say that this is one of the best choices that I have ever made. Leadership Group has helped me grow as a person and widened my volunteering opportunities. I really love what we do as a group. From simply staying after school to make posters to attending leadership conferences, I love to do it all. That feeling you get when you know that your fund-raiser made a difference or that you convinced a group of students to participate is something that no one can take away. I am so glad that my Leadership Group has given me the opportunity to experience this feeling.
     My Leadership Group has also given me the opportunity to become a Horizons Student. When I applied and was chosen, it was such an honor for me. I was really shocked to know that I was one of the fifty students that had been accepted. This past summer, as a Horizons Student, I was given the chance to attend a Leadership Development Weekend. This was, by far, one of the highlights of my holiday. I met so many great people who, just like me, loved leadership and volunteering. I had a great time and I learned so much as well. It was a wonderful experience that I will remember forever.
     I am not sure yet what I want to do with my future but, I know that being a leader and a volunteer will always be a part of me. When people ask me why I do it or say, "Who gets in leadership?", I really don’t know how to respond. It’s just because I love it and look forward to it everyday. I enjoy it so much. Today, I walked for two and a half hours dressed up as a giant onion in my local Santa Claus Parade. It wasn’t that easy and now I’m dead tired but, when I saw all of the donations that we collected for the food bank, it made everything worthwhile. I knew that we had helped the community and that I had enjoyed myself as well. To me, that’s what being a leader and a volunteer is all about—helping others. People shouldn’t be surprised if they enjoy themselves too. After all, helping someone else is one of the best things that anyone can do. That’s why I love to be a leader and a volunteer. That’s why I want to continue being a leader and a volunteer, whatever path I choose for my future. I know that it will be something that I will carry with me, whatever I do.