Jacky Sam Wu

ENG 1121 D438

Prof Schmerler

3/5/19

                                                                                                Freedom in Perspective

 

Freedom is the right and power to choose on what you say , think , and act without hindrance or restraint. Most of us have a different perspective of freedom. The most common freedom rights that we come across in America , usually on a daily basis, is to travel, read, write , and express ourselves. Unlike us, other countries aren’t in favor with the same rights that we have. I personally think that freedom is power in choosing your own actions and beliefs at your own risk. With all of your experience, freedom will make you self- secured with yourself. Being self-secured means to be happy with yourself through all of your hardships and experiences in life. We have the ability and power to choose what we want, but many of us decide to stay quiet.

We should all ask ourselves on the things we have done in our lives and if they were conflicted by someone or something. Did that thing affect you mentally or physically? Or both? Having restraint or conflict is a sign of opposing the power and right of freedom. Most of us take advantage of this and ignore how important freedom is. As I mentioned before, being self-secured plays a main factor when it comes to freedom and experiences. Many of us might failed or had a bad experience with freedom, but being self-secured at the end is a major part of it. Self-security lets you know more about yourself and no one knows you more than yourself. Usually, freedom is restrained by someone. They are against your actions or beliefs because they think of the opposite of it. You might agree or disagree , but in the end, it makes you to reconsider your freedom. It’s not particularly a good or bad thing. It lets you rethink on your freedom.

Since I was in elementary school and all the way to high school, my mom was very strict in making me this “perfect and successful person.”  She would appoint me to music classes and private tutoring sessions. These classes were usually after school or on weekends.At that time and till now, I play video games all day. My perspective of freedom was choosing what I wanted to do , but I didn’t have a choice to decide if I wanted to take the classes. My mom would always tell me that it’s already paid for and I would always attend them. Yet, It did not mean that I was interested or entertained while doing so. My grades weren’t doing so well either.  My mom would always listen to her friends and tell me what their sons and daughters were doing. I have a sister and she is older, but unlike me, she is successful. She is in her last year of college to get her master’s degree in psychology. During my junior year in high school, my mom decided to lay off and let me act on my own. I took advantage of that and I would lie to her on my progress in school.  To this day, I regret all the things that I didn’t do. I was offered freedom in education when I was younger and I didn’t approve of it. Through this experience, I learned how to gain a better perspective in life with responsibilities. After all of this, I thought that I had a gaming addiction. I would ignore any life responsibilities and leave them last minute. My family and friends were invisible in my life. I would barely see them throughout my years. My new perspective of freedom was choosing how to fix this with my own risk. I decided to lay off my games and focus on myself. I feel more self-secured with myself after changing my bad habits.

Most of us learn to take actions and better ourselves when we are in a low state of hardships. In “Learning to Red” , by Malcolm X, it states, “As you can imagine, especially in a prison where there was heavy emphasis on rehabilitation, an inmate was smiled upon if he demonstrated an unusually intense interest in books. There was a sizable number of well-read inmates, especially the popular debaters. Some were said by many to be practically walking encyclopedias. They were almost celebrities. No university would ask any student to devour literature as I did when this new world opened to me, of being able to read and understand.” This shows how someone like Malcolm who was in prison, learned how to read on his own. His hardship was being in prison and he took it upon himself to fix and better himself by learning how to read. He spent his time in prison, learning and reading the dictionary. Later on, he becomes one of the most powerful leaders of black America during the 1960s.

Freedom has different meanings and perspectives. Most of us views freedom as a way better ourselves mentally or physically. You are the one that picks and changes on what you believe and act on. Malcolm X showed an example of his own experience of change and responsibility after being sentenced to prison for 7 years. We all get to pick how we act in our own ways and it’s up to the individual to treat the changes and conflicts in any way.