Coming of Age Moment - Dogun H.

   The aroma of the food my mom was preparing enveloped the entire living room. In the midst of her cooking, she was asking me what time the school was going to end the next day. Having heard this question almost every day, I replied to her irritated "check for yourself, mom." With hearing this, my mom That conversation sparked an argument between me and my mother for a few minutes. Although it was a senseless argument, I kept debating with her. 

   While we continued to argue back and forth, my dad abruptly yelled at me calling a fool and a bastard for arguing with my mother. That I was being so disrespectful, how foolish I was acting. This rush of power coming from my dad was unexpected to me. The reason behind this was because my dad would rarely ever yell none the less even scold me, as he was a tolerant man. His yell sounded as if he had been covering all his anger up until that moment. That, at that moment, his tolerance stopped and he let all his anger out.

   With feelings of confusion and fear, I immediately walked into the room as I closed the door behind me. No one entered my room after. Being isolated in the room, I didn't feel any anger toward my dad but rather a want to understand his perspective. The two things that I had in the room was silence and time, an ample amount of time. This time allowed me to try to reflect on what I have done to give my dad a reason for his anger. I began by thinking of all the mistakes that I have made. Not in my perspective but rather in the perspectives of others around me. This time of assessment allowed me to see how I have acted before. I realized how reckless I was with my actions. Especially with my speaking. Speaking even before I knew what I would say. Replying without any judgment whatsoever. As my thoughts ran through my mind, I felt a feeling of determination in improving myself. I felt anger rise up inside of me, not toward my dad but rather myself, for not realizing how I have acted in the past. I was determined to always to think before speaking. I knew that I needed to try and see the perspectives of those around me.

   As a result, the yelling of my father was the waking call for me. However, the yelling alone was the cause for my change in my approach toward my action. My time of reflection greatly helped my realize my mistakes in the past. To this day, I remember that moment and I always strive to show respect to those around me.