Ron's Story
I watched “Kim Possible” yesterday–an American cartoon TV series on Disney Channel based on a teenager who frequently fights crime alongside her best friend. One scene from the episode I was watching resonated with me. There are two main characters in the show, Kim Possible, and Ron Stoppable. Kim is a strong, skilled fighter while her friend Ron is not so skilled and usually loses fights. In this episode, Ron decided he was no longer going to rely on Kim to protect him and began training to sharpen his fighting skills.
A week passed and they were on their way home from school when a villain attacked the city. Kim–as usual–quickly changed and prepared to fight the villain. Ron attempted to join this fight hoping to change the perception of him being weak, but Kim would not let him. She told Ron he does not know how to fight and usually gets in her way. Ron pleaded for a chance to help Kim and showcase his extensive training, but Kim pushed him to the side and proceeded to fight the villain alone. After a long-standing battle with the villains, Kim could not stop them on her own. She was nearing defeat until Ron stepped in at the last minute to karate chop the villains out of the city.
As I watched the scene unfold, it reminded me of similar situations I have been in. Similarly, at times my friends and family have inhibited me from showing my full potential. In a high school, I was considered a troublemaker; I constantly disrupted class with jokes and silly arguments with my teachers. This went on for a year and a half until I tried to join the basketball team and the coach told me I could not because of my attitude in class. Driven by my desire to join the team, I made a conscious decision to clean up my act. I started paying attention in class and refrained from making any distractions.
The people around me did not make this transition easier. My “friends” at the time suddenly did not think I was “cool” and teachers constantly called on me to see if I would react negatively. As weeks went by, my “friends” would keep asking me where the “old Bakary” was because this Bakary was “weird.” Teachers that were familiar with my behavior frequently stopped instruction to ask if I had anything to say. I came to realize that for me to grow and be better, I had to separate myself from those “friends” and align myself with people who would support and help me evolve. I spoke with my guidance counselor about how my teachers were treating me and urged her to have a conversation with them. She spoke with my teachers and they stopped unnecessarily calling on me in class. My efforts paid off when tryouts came around for the basketball team, Coach K let me tryout for the team and I ended up making the junior varsity team.
Years later, while at NYU, I wanted to pick up a new hobby. Enamored with the idea of catching passing moments, I wanted to try my hand at photography. In sharing the desire to grow this interest with some of my friends, the support was not there. I did not let their doubts and discouragement steer me away from pursuing this new hobby and chose to ignore my naysayers and their negative energy. I began practicing with my iPhone 5, working on my spacing and composition. I upgraded to Nikon D3100 later that year, adding a professional touch to my hobby. After few months, I became skilled with the lens and started getting hired for shooting official school events. My friends who were not supportive of my interest in photography at the beginning eventually came around to be my biggest supporters in helping me promote and land more jobs.
Sometimes people around us expects us to stay one-dimensional. As soon as you begin doing things that differ from how people expect you to be, those that do not support you will make their opinions the loudest. People who want you to stay stagnant might call you fake for trying to better yourself or explore a new interest outside of your norm. Instead of helping our friends grow and explore their interests, I find that on occasion those closest to us often hinder our potential for growth and exploration. If your friends are not supporting you, evaluate that friendship and the purpose it serves in your life. Some people only stay around to make themselves feel bigger and the moment you begin to threaten that feeling they do everything they can to keep you small. A true friend will allow you to show your potential and offer constructive criticism to grow your potential rather than shutting down your ambitions.
