When I was 6, I took my first trip out of Peru. The image of the plane ride still lives vividly in my mind: being the youngest, I was sentenced to the worst seat—the middle—and I confused the landing process with an earthquake.
At that moment, however, I didn’t care about any of those things... I was going to Disney, and that was all that mattered to me. All of my vacations up until then I had spent at home. My family didn’t own a beach house, and my mom was fiercely against store bought plastic toys. I did have an easel, butterfly wings, an endless supply of costumes, and my most valuable assets at the time: our building, my sisters, and neighbors. But even so, there was always that summer day where the time didn’t tick, and I was bored. |
My mom used to tell my sisters and I that boredom was a crime, so we relentlessly searched for new ways to entertain ourselves. We made haunted houses and directed American Girl plays. We even started a brownie business (we were cool enough to have A4 paper business cards). While I must confess that I would sometimes wish I could also be traveling like most of my friends were doing at the time, as I look back now, I’m glad I didn’t.
By never spoon-feeding me entertainment, my mom taught me something at a much
lar g er sca le: in it ia ti v e. In pre-school and elementary, you’re still given the time to continue nurturing your creative side at home. It’s once you reach middle school and high school, however, where this time is grossly inhibited with an ever-increasing load of homework. The problem with this strict paradigm that most traditional educational systems follow now a days is that you’re told exactly what is expected from you, and taught the best way to get things done, leaving little space to continue exploring your creative side on your own. More than initiative, I find that at school we’re taught response; we become dependent on doing what we're told.
The IA, however, gave me a second opportunity since childhood to stoke the fire:
You would think that we all jumped towards these opportunities. It seems logical that if we’re given autonomy, we take initiative, don't we? I’m afraid to say that a lot of us didn’t at the beginning and several of us are still struggling to do so today.
to ignite my creativity through auto nom y . We’ve not simply been able to design our own projects, and create a system for assessing ourselves, and others, but we’ve been given the time to “play” again. You would think that we all jumped towards these opportunities. It seems logical that if we’re given autonomy, we take initiative, don't we? I’m afraid to say that a lot of us didn’t at the beginning and several of us are still struggling to do so today.
So that’s where my confusion comes into place. Is initiative about n
at ure or nurture? In Peru, most of the higher class has the financial means to depend on others for daily tasks. They have maids to clean the house, nannies to take care of the kids, tutors, drivers, etc. (It’s such the case that when my dad was a kid he had a nanny whose sole responsibility was to make sure he breathed at night. #nojoke)
Therefore, when you analyze the culture—the “nurture”—it becomes easier to understand why several people have a hard time taking initiative, and why the summers of haunted houses, directing plays, and selling brownies have come in handy for me.
And it’s for this exact reason that for some of us, the IA has been a place where we’ve learned to start taking initiative, for others it’s been more of an opportunity to unleash it. Either way, I strongly believe that each of our experiences in the IA is unique to how much we’ve taken advantage of the autonomy we’ve been given. For me, its been one of discovery, and being able to discover what you want is something that shapes the rest of your life.
Therefore, when you analyze the culture—the “nurture”—it becomes easier to understand why several people have a hard time taking initiative, and why the summers of haunted houses, directing plays, and selling brownies have come in handy for me.
And it’s for this exact reason that for some of us, the IA has been a place where we’ve learned to start taking initiative, for others it’s been more of an opportunity to unleash it. Either way, I strongly believe that each of our experiences in the IA is unique to how much we’ve taken advantage of the autonomy we’ve been given. For me, its been one of discovery, and being able to discover what you want is something that shapes the rest of your life.