Prefect Perspective

I want to share my thoughts with you about motivation and curiosity. How do I motivate myself to maintain my academics while my other hobbies are going on? And how does curiosity help with motivation? ​

When I was in Middle School, we learned how speakers work in physics class.​ As I was staring at a diagram of a speaker, I wondered if I could make one by myself. ​

First, I disassembled a speaker I owned to see if it looked the same as my diagram. I started to research the techniques I needed to learn; how to weld, how a Bluetooth panel works, etc. I ordered a Bluetooth panel and a speaker. Finally, it was time to apply everything I had learned. I adjusted the Bluetooth panel and welded some wires together - it was easier than I thought, and I was ready to plug it in to test it. There were many scenarios in my head, like the thing exploding when I turned the switch on. Luckily, there wasn’t any explosion. ​I connected it to my phone and played music on it. My curiosity was fulfilled, and I felt a happiness that I cannot describe.​

I have a lot of curiosity about this world. I want to know how everything works, which motivates me to apply my academic knowledge to real life.

If you also have the curiosity about this world, you will realize that nothing you learnt in the classroom is useless. It all helps you to shape your understanding of the world. Moreover, these applications give a sense of achievement – you can feel when you actually grasp what you are learning, which leads to more motivation to study.​

For athletics, in badminton specifically, I always wonder what shot or strategy I can do to move my opponents, how to make my smash faster and more accurate. I have been testing and trying different strategies in every practice, to pursue my curiosity. This makes me play badminton better and helps me understand badminton more deeply. ​

And now, I am ready to graduate from high school. I decided my major probably will be computer science because I am really into video games. I have endless curiosity to motivate me to know how people develop video games and to study computer science. I eventually started to play video games less, because I am putting all of my time into learning and developing my own video games. I never get tired of it because my curiosity is always piqued.​

In the end, I just want to remind people, when you are tired or bored of doing something, try to think of a question about the thing you are doing, and pursue it! You can use your curiosity well in academics and apply it in all the other things in your life. Don't be scared to pursue your curiosity!

- Mark, Grade 12 student and Athletics Prefect