Being able to adapt to and embrace change has been a huge part of my life and it has contributed to my identity for a long time. For the past 8 years, change transformed from something I was forced to do, to something which I searched for; it changed the way I view things, and has made me realize how improvement, in whatever it may be, can only occur when change happens. I have spent a while thinking of how much I love change, but I’ve never really thought of how others view it and haven’t delved into the depth of why it is so critical for development. This WP3 gives me a chance to better understand change and allows me to engage with others who are nervous about change, and if they feel it is important to be able to adapt in the fast-paced world we live in today.
For me, change is defined as an act and/or progress made in a new direction to change the current position/state that we were previously in. In this project, I will explore change as being a means of progress, particularly in relation to adapting to the new world we live in, especially with covid and high tech, and gender inequality. The covid-19 pandemic shook the world, and forced everyone to undergo change, even if it wasn’t intentional. Throughout the past year and a half, people faced something that they never expected, yet still found ways to carry on with their lives. This was only possible through adapting to change.
Change and adaptability can only really be learned through experience. Throughout my childhood, I approached adapting to change as a skill; you are put in a certain situation and you have to make the most of the cards you have been dealt, stepping out of your comfort zone as frequently as possible. Because adaptability is only learnt through real life experiences, I did my best to put myself in situations where I was forced to adapt. I loved its concept and practicality. It can be explained in a book, and you can learn how others adapt to change, but you will only learn how it works for you if you do it yourself.
In my boarding school “career” I experienced the greatest change when I moved to three schools in three different countries. I felt a sense of relief when I was more comfortable in these different environments, but I never understood why that was, and why I found myself doing things I never thought I’d be able to do (such as playing the trumpet which has now become a big passion of mine). I explore these concepts in my WP1 and WP2 respectively. In WP1, I touched on the idea of gender inequality, and how only action and change can be a solution. In WP2, interviews were held with current USC students who experienced change when moving to university and elaborated on what this was like. When undergoing these constant changes in school from the age of 14, I went into each new school instructing myself to step out of my comfort zone as much as possible — this was most definitely not the case when I went to the first boarding school as most of my early weeks were filled with tears and sadness from missing home so much. However, overtime it became so much easier to adapt.
The world is changing at a rapid pace, and if we do not change with it, we will ultimately be left behind; this is why adaptability is so important. In Who Moved My Cheese, Dr. Spencer Johnson writes, in a very basic and entertaining way, about embracing change, and that moving past your fears of stepping out of your comfort zone can yield incredible results, in almost everything we do. What’s dangerous isn’t the fact that we may not like the change. What’s dangerous is if we live a period of our lives staying stagnant, failing to adapt to our surroundings. As Johnson explains, “if you do not change, you become extinct” (CH 2, page 38). Unfortunately, if we do not change with the world, and are stuck living in the world we feel comfortable in, we will undoubtedly be left behind. It is imperative that we continuously adapt to change.
Once we accept the fact that there is nothing to fear, change develops from something we feel nervous about, to something we begin to look forward to and appreciate. Spencer Johnson also has Haw say to Hem (characters who have contrasting beliefs in change) that “things change, and they are never the same again. It looks like one of those times, Hem. That’s life! Life moves on. And so should we. What would you do If you weren’t afraid?” This idea of fear is what prevented me from loving change. I’d refrain from attempting new things, going abroad for school, meeting new people. I feared that I’d not have a good time studying in the UK. I feared that it was a mistake. I tell you what, that move sparked a huge jump in my character; not only did I learn independence, but I saw a different part of the world, and attempted different activities, some becoming my biggest passions today. Progress is only possible through change.
Because adapting to change became a way for me to improve my understanding of how growth only occurs outside of our comfort zone, I have become someone who attempts to do this on a regular basis. However there’s an argument that expresses that if we are constantly changing, we will be prevented from reaping all the benefits of the present situation. Also, as one of the interviewees said in the interviews held for my WP2, “there is no need to fix something if it isn’t broken”. And I get that. It can be seen that constantly running to find change will digress our focus from enjoying ourselves, and appreciating the present.
First off, while certain elements of this are true, ultimately I disagree, because things can only improve if they change. I can’t emphasise this enough that progress and improvement is only possible when we undergo change. This change doesn’t have to be travelling the world, but rather change in small things; waking up with a positive mindset, being kind to people, changing our approach to the way we do things. Change requires stepping out of your comfort zone, which sounds much easier than it actually is; it takes a lot of courage, but once you begin to do it regularly, it becomes second nature.
Change isn’t merely jumping from one thing to the next, it is about having the courage to throw yourself over the edge of uncertainty, and having the mentality to learn along the way. As mentioned in my WP2, almost all students who moved to USC faced FUD (Fear Uncertainty Doubt) when they first moved to USC: “Ljubo, a freshman from Switzerland explained how he “became much more independent” because he wasn’t with his family”. Another quote being “Tianju, a junior from china, told me how much his English has improved. He really struggled at the start of his USC career, however now he is almost fluent and finds it much easier to communicate with people. If he stayed in China for university, this would not be the case”. These students embraced their change, and took every advantage they had, and now, unsurprisingly, their characters have grown.
When I attended my first boarding school at 14, I was shocked at how frequently young boys that were my age objectified women. I was disgusted by their chuckles after an inhuman joke. I have three older sisters, so growing up I was always surrounded by girls. I was taught to treat women with the highest level of respect, and to understand that they have difficulties that men never have to worry about. Coming to this all boys boarding school was a massive change for me, and as much as I tried to explain to these immature boys that they shouldn’t think/say such things, I just got laughed at. What frustrated me was that they felt a sense of satisfaction and manhood when they put women down, and that deeply affected me. They thought that they were being so manly, when actually they were just small insecure little boys.
In my WP1, instead of exploring a change in location, I describe a change in actions when discussing what it means to be a REAL man. Too many times we find the classic stereotypes of what a man should be good at; hunting, fishing, and being a good mechanic (especially with pickup trucks). However, when getting a taste of what a hyper-masculine world it is that we live in, I began to notice that REAL men are those who stand up for what is right, and don’t fear being outcast if their actions contrast societal expectations. Women are objectified and are not treated well in almost every country around the world. Obviously this situation will not improve if change doesn’t occur. This change could be educating men and highlighting how small their minds are when they find it funny to objectify women.
Tupac, an extremely influential rapper and figure was able to use his great following and famous figure to highlight how terribly women are treated, and that men need to start CHANGING their actions if they want to improve the gender inequality issue. Tupac stood up against the average man, and wrote a song called “Keep Ya Head Up”, a personal favourite of mine, and a song that is extremely impactful. Below are only four lines of his song:
“I wonder why we take from our women
Why we rape our women, do we hate our women?
I think it’s time to kill for our women
Time to heal our women, be real to our women”
It is evident that he is identifying the issue that women face, and how terribly they are treated by men. He further mentions that change is necessary: “I think it’s time to kill for our women time to heal our women”. He is implying that men need to step up, and change the way they currently act, into a way that will better society. Tupac’s actions show he is a REAL man who is longing for change to better the lives for women. This links into the idea of change as a form of improvement and highlights what REAL men should be.
REAL men don’t just stand up for women, they understand that equality can also be achieved through just listening to women and understanding their needs. Women are oppressed by men, and it shouldn’t be the case that the oppressors lead the oppressed. Women should be leading their movement, as they are doing, with men letting them do that, and simply assisting them along the way. REAL men will stand up for women, and do their best to hear their voices, but will not stand in the way of the movement.
I learnt what it meant to be a REAL man through teaching young girls in Makuti (a village in Zimbabwe) how to sew reusable sanitary pads so that they could attend school for the entire month, rather than being pulled out for a week per month as they couldn’t afford the pads. Through an EXPERIENCE, these young girls taught me to show gratitude, and to always be thankful for your health. They taught me the importance of standing up for girls, who face many more forms of discrimination than men do. Most importantly, they taught me to always be positive; we used to sew under the baobab trees and they would laugh and smile, even though they could barely afford to eat a meal a day.
As another means of improvement, through change we are able to learn from our past experiences, reflect on them, and then act accordingly in the future. This branches out into the idea that some of the best ‘education’ in the world occurs outside of the classroom, and learnt through experience. As Lukas explains in his book, An Anthology of Western Marxism, “you don’t have to be in a classroom to learn”. In the society we live in, we are constantly told about the importance of traditional schooling, and how it is VITAL for our futures. However, when we experience change and learn how to adapt through experiencing being out into the world, we can learn the most fascinating things.
By changing and being able to adapt and step out of our comfort zone, our characters will become a lot stronger and will be able to cope with the world we live in. I guarantee you have been told multiple times in your life how mean and tough the world is. When linking this, to the idea of adaptability, I can’t help myself from thinking of Henry David Thoreau’s poem Walking where he constantly enforces the importance of change; he mentions that “living much outdoors, in the sun and wind, will no doubt produce a certain roughness of character” and that “staying in the house will produce softness”. “The house” is a figurative representation of your comfort zone. Softness is by no means a bad thing, but the world is a tough place to live in, and if we do not adapt with it and become tough, we will be left behind.
The girls in Makuti and all women in the world are perfect examples of stepping out of the comfort zone, and growing that thick layer of toughness. They are faced with such difficulties in the world, yet are still doing their best to go to school, and to improve the current lives that they live. This is a prime example of adapting to change, and stepping out of their comfort zone. They undergo their menstrual cycle at roughly 12 years old and were pulled out of school as a result, so they adapted to change by finding a solution, and learned how to sew their own reusable sanitary pads. They found the solution, adapted to it, and now they have improved their chances to live a better life.
Every person is unique in their own way, meaning the way in which they approach change, and their own experiences, are unique to them. The things that make them unique is their race, gender, morals etc. Women living in this society will have a much different experience than the experience of men. The journey that someone has, in relation to their gender and identity, does work alongside their experiences. Fundamentally, there is no right or wrong path of change and adaptability, as everyone is in different circumstances. You make your own path. As long as you are open to learning outside of the classroom, develop the skill of not fearing change, and learn from your experiences, you will be able to see improvements in your character. The characteristics that will improve are these: how you focus on solutions, how you don’t complain and give up, how you persist through supposedly difficult times.
Although everyone has to experience different changes, there is one core: overcoming the fear of stepping out of your comfort zone. I’ve been told by my gay friend, who is one of my closest friends, that he was so scared to reveal his identity to the world, because he felt he wouldn’t be accepted. Three years later, after he told everyone, he feels more accepted than ever before. He noticed how fear prevented him from changing his approach to the current situation he was in. He broke past this, and now is reaping the benefits of being more courageous in his actions, and is now proud of his unique identity. Change does wonders. And once we accept that we all have to do it at some point, because of the rapidly changing world, we will see huge developments in ourselves.
Bibliography
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