KidSpirit

What Should I Be: Simple or Complex?

In my community in Maharashtra, India, we basically never think it’s important whether something is simple or complex. We mainly focus on being ambitious and conquering our dreams. We just want our dreams achieved, whether through simple or complex means.

To achieve our dreams we are often forced to take complex measures. For instance, to become an engineer, which is my dream, every student is forced to study hard; though not necessarily with a focus on endured learning. We must study 13 hours or more a day to graduate from a good college or university and get a good job, so studying hard and embracing difficult tasks are considered supreme traits for an upcoming engineer. We should be able to solve every problem that comes to us. To become an engineer, we may need to join various institutions and try to get the best results. Being complex in such situations is the only path for most students.

Now let us suppose we have achieved success and the whole community is proud of us. Because we are successful, we earn a lot of money. We start wearing expensive clothes and buy a limo. Now that we are successful, we can enjoy life and go skiing on the weekends. But, if we do all this, the community will think we like to show off in front of a crowd. In this case, the community would prefer us to be simple and down to earth. So simplicity is valued in this scenario. Even if we become a famous actor or actress, we will be much more appreciated if we are simple and sober.

Being simple as well as being complex is valued in the world, but the task is to decide when to be simple and when to be complex.

Aditya Naik is 13 years old and in the ninth grade. He enjoys writing and likes to read a lot. He is part of his school’s badminton team and enjoys playing with his friends.

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Art by Jaden Flach, Brooklyn

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Art by Jaden Flach, Brooklyn