The Bird

Kristína Komersová

    One sunny day I decided to go for a walk. My head was full of doubts about all the decisions I had made in the past concerning my future. Specifically I didn't know if I had made the right choice about the high school I was going to attend and I didn't know which university to apply to when the time came, so I really needed some fresh air to help me gather my thoughts properly.

    While I was walking in the park, a garden caught my attention. It was such a beautiful one that I had to go in and sit down there for a while. Then I looked around and I noticed a big tree. On one of its branches there was a nest with a bird family in it and one of those birds was just taking off to fly far away. Then suddenly I realised it wasn't import- ant which high school I was going to go to. The main thing was my choice of college. It was the same as the situation with the bird. The tree from which it flew off from didn't matter. The important thing was the bird's purpose in the flight. To me, the tree represented the high school, the bird was me and the sky, which the bird flew away into, and disappeared in was my future. High school and grammar school are just the beginning of my life journey and I can still choose which path I want to take. The start of this my journey doesn't mean anything. The main thing is having the right goals and good preparation for universi- ty. The bird has to fly well if it wants to fly wherever it may and so do I. I have to be prepared and then I can be whoever I would like to be, go wherever I would like to go and do whatever I would like to do.

    I realised I didn't have to worry about my past decisions. They weren't important. All I needed to do was to be prepared and ready for a good future according to my own ideas and when the right time comes to just... "take off".

DISCUSSION: The choosing of the right university is a difficult top- ic. Have you thought about it? Which university will it be? Which direction? What do you think is more im- portant - to study something that will lead to a well- paid job or something that you will truly enjoy? 

CREATIVITY: Imagine going for a walk just to be by yourself and think about your life. Write down the trait of your thoughts as they come and you try to deal with them and "understand yourself". How do you see the world around you? What do you see that inspires you to be a better person and pursue what you truly want from life? 

ANALYSIS: This situation with the bird is metaphorical. Think up one metaphor and apply it to an issue you are cur- rently dealing with or with some general topic. Use the metaphor to demonstrate something that you be- lieve in.