Abhinav Kotapati, "The Blank Slate"

The host, Frank, introduces a story by Sir Avanos about embracing passions. The narrator describes feeling lost and wanting to find their own passion. They eventually discover a love for gardening, which brings them fulfillment and a sense of purpose. They donate their produce to the underprivileged and continue to explore their passions in high school. The narrator learns that everyone's path is unique and should be embraced in due time. They find satisfaction and confidence in their journey and realize they are unique, just like everyone else. Hi everyone! Welcome, welcome, welcome. It's your host, Frank. Hope everyone is doing well. I'm glad you joined today as we have a very special story from the one and only Sir Avanos. Today we will be presenting this journey from childhood about embracing your passions when the time comes, titled The Blank Slate. Enjoy. The blank sheet of paper glared at me, as the tip of my pencil hesitantly wavered above it, not daring to make any contact. I glanced back at the prompt on the whiteboard, to my middle school English classroom that read, All around me, my peers constantly scribbled their seemingly never-ending list of hobbies and interests, as I sat there, paralyzed with the feeling of being lost. I felt displaced, but more importantly, I longed for some inclusivity and wanted to find my passion. I felt as if everyone already found an excitement in their life, whether that included sport or a pastime, and started to piece together their puzzle of life. But I felt as if my puzzle remained incomplete, as if there lay nothing there to piece together other than a blank slate. Finally, the timer for the time right beeped, delivering me from the piercing silence and emptiness. I realized I needed to change things, but I didn't know how. That very night, as I came home low-spirited, my mother told me, in a quiet voice, that everyone's path is unique and should be naturally embraced when the time comes. There was something about her words that just stuck with me and gave me a sense of hope and ambition. As luck would have it, at the least expected time, I finally found this path. I was sitting in my room, listening to Zoom lectures, pondering what to do to stop the COVID lockdown boredom. My aimlessly peered out the window at the front yard. That's when it hit me. I decided to start my own small garden. Little did I know that this garden was my passion, and created my unique self, lining up with the mindset I've been taught of breaking your passion at the right time. Hopefully everyone is enjoying today's special story. Back to it in a moment after this short commercial break. That big dream of yours? Why not pursue it? That hope that you're hoping? It's time to come to it. Dreams, plans, bank accounts, all made congruent. With us in your corner, you're ready. Let's glue it. Let's continue today's special story. Thank you. Taking care of my plants, I felt a positive weight being placed upon my own well-being. As if they were lying, dependent on me. Every amount of water and sunlight I provided the plants allowed me to personally feel a sense of enrichment. The feeling of nurturing and treating sparked excitement in me, and gave me a thriving enthusiasm. Eventually, the small garden I started turned larger and more robust over the years, giving way to annual projects and summertime fruit and vegetable growth. With such a large flow of produce, I donated the grains of my labor to the underprivileged, to where I knew my passion would end up nourishing yet another person, both spiritually and nutritionally. Moving through high school, I continued to explore such passions, and found myself taking part in service activities and clubs aligning with my specific interests. Most important of all, everything I was doing came from the heart, and gave me something to look forward to at the end of the day. What started as a blank slate in my middle school English class turned into a colorful board of puzzle pieces that I was eagerly putting together. Inside, I was bubbling with satisfaction as I finally found my belief and the mindset to build my future. Even though it took some time to come to such a realization, I learned that the path to finding one's place is unique, and should be embraced when the time comes. From that day onward, whenever I felt lost or incomplete, I remembered my unresolved journey with this core belief, which allowed me to be at ease and remember that I am unique, just like everyone else. Thank you so much to Sir Albinot for today's special story. Hopefully everyone learned a thing or two. Until next time.