Contest - Page 6

For the first Folyosó contest, which welcomed submissions in Hungarian as well as English, students were asked to respond in any written form, and in any way, to the following questions:

How do we determine what is important in life? What makes us change our mind about our priorities? Are priorities just a matter of personal preference, or do they have universal value? Whom do we affect with our decisions about what is and isn’t important? Who influences these decisions, and how?

There were so many strong entries, with such a range of approaches to these questions, that Diana Senechal decided to involve a jury. She, Judit Kéri, Marianna Jeneiné Fekete, Judit Kassainé Mrena, and Anikó Bánhegyesi read the finalist entries carefully and arrived at the following ranking:

First Place: Adél Mihályi
Second Place: Gergely Sülye, Erika Mária Szántó, Attila Marcell Kiss (each individually)
Third Place: Zsófia Szabina Gávris
Honorable Mention: Dániel Lipcsei, Heléna Laura Spinou, Gréta Tóth

We are delighted to present these pieces in the autumn issue of Folyosó! For information on the winter contest, go here.

Gréta Tóth

(First Folyosó Contest: Honorable Mention)

Priorities are the most determinative factors in a human being’s life. There is no one who does not have priorities; maybe it cannot be described with words, but we all have them, and they keep us going even during hard times. They do not just influence our personalities but also make us who we are. For instance, deep down all of us know that if we suddenly started liking math instead of literature, switched from physics to a language, or gave up drawing just to start learning how to sing, that would not be us anymore. That person who takes singing lessons instead of painting breathtaking pictures has nothing to do with the person we are right now.

Certainly, a question will arise in many of us: why do a person’s priorities change, then? Well, these changes mainly depend on life circumstances and can range from temporary to permanent. To set a powerful example, let’s imagine that there is a young girl with two little siblings. Their only family is their mother, who gets seriously infected by a virus and is taken to the hospital. There has been a temporary change in the girl’s priorities: her number one mission is now to manage everyday life with two siblings until her mother gets better. Some other examples, which are a bit more down-to-earth than the previous one and mean a permanent change in priorities, are going to university, having children, or starting work.

To sum up, we absolutely can’t imagine a world without priorities and without people differing in terms of what is important to them. Priorities make us strong and different from each other.

Heléna Laura Spinou

(First Folyosó Contest: Honorable Mention)

Do you think money is the most important thing in life? In my opinion, though life often seems to be too short and people often say “you only live once,” it doesn’t mean that we cannot live a beautiful life. On the one hand, I have many goals in my life and sometimes I’m a bit afraid that I won’t be able to achieve all of them and satisfy my parents. On the other hand, I think that it’s not a problem if you try to live your own life without trying to be the way others expect.

To tell the truth, I’m a bit stubborn and don’t always listen to others’ opinions. But if I do, I usually listen to my mother or my friends, because I know they are honest and trustworthy. Probably one of the most important things in life is to have somebody who you can always rely on and who keeps all your secrets. Close friends can cheer you up even if others can’t, and you can share some nice and unforgettable moments with them that you may later call your best memories.

As my Greek grandmother always says, “without a big fat Greek family you won’t live happily.”  She means that there are some friends who may later become your enemies after a big argument, so it’s better to trust your family members, who will definitely be by your side. Furthermore, I consider lifelong experiences especially important, because they make your everydays more colourful and you can learn something new from each of them.

Moreover, certain priorities come to people’s minds more readily than money: for instance, health and love, which are the keys of happiness. Not only those who have severe health problems, but also those with mental problems caused by addictions or disabilities have to face difficulties that may cause never-ending sadness. Often addicted people end up as dossers. If they can’t take a bath and they’re dirty, they can lose their job, and then it will be quite hard to find a new one.

In conclusion, I don’t agree with those who think that money is everything, because there are plenty of other things that a rich person might not have, but that would make him or her happy. A rich lonely person with health problems could give all his money to recover, have somebody by his side, or just lead a so-called “normal life.”

Dániel Lipcsei

(First Folyosó Contest: Honorable Mention)

It usually happens when I have to wake up early that I find myself in a dilemma: whether I should get out of bed and get ready sooner or fall asleep again in order to sleep a little bit more. Most of the time, I choose the second one but know that it is really disadvantageous and makes no sense. According to my experience, I am not the only one doing this in the mornings. At that moment, we consider sleeping more important than getting ready and being able to get more things done. I always promise myself that I won’t do it like that next time, but then the same thing happens. Why is this so?

There are many people whose life is ruled by laziness. Or, to generalize, we (except for a few) often do things in a particular way because another way would require more work and patience, so we arrive at an outcome that is more easily achieved but not really better. People usually choose laziness instead of putting effort into something because they think that it’s not worthy enough. In this waking-up situaton, people don’t get ready sooner, because they think that there will be another day when it will be more neccessary to get ready earlier and more comfortably. We still wait for that day to come. This is true in other cases too: “Doing my homework at 3 pm is not really important; I will do it at night.” Then the night comes, you write your homework, but it’s the end of the day; by then you are tired, so your homework isn’t as good as it could have been if you had done it in the afternoon.

To sum up, people often chose the shorter way to manage their daily tasks. Not because they’re unimportant but because they do them every day and get tired of them, as can be seen in the examples mentioned above.

Zsófia Szabina Gávris

(First Folyosó Contest: Third Place)

Azt gondolom, hogy a dolgok, amiket fontosnak találunk az életben szinte folyamatosan változnak, mivel mi is változunk. Ettől függetlenül befolyásolhatják a minket körülvevő tényezők is. Például az emberek, akikkel mindennap találkozunk, az adott családi helyzetünk, a párkapcsolati státuszunk és még sorolhatnám. Ezek mellett függ az életkorunktól is, hiszen amikor még gyerekek/fiatalok vagyunk másként gondolkodunk és vélekedünk ezekről a dolgokról. Egyrészt azért, mert kevesebb az ismeretünk, másrészt nem rendelkezünk még kellő mennyiségű tapasztalattal. Előtérbe helyezzük a szórakozást, barátokat és néha a kicsapongást. Ahogy telik az idő és érettebbé válunk, természetesen változik a véleményünk és a látásmódunk, illetve nyilván mi magunk is. Egyre inkább átértékeljük a dolgokat és felelősségteljesebbé válunk. Előrébb helyeződik a tanulás, a jövőnk, a fejlődés.

Véleményem szerint a fontosnak vélt dolgok sorrendjét a megfelelő értékrend meglétével tudjuk meghatározni. Nagyon sok esetben mérlegelnünk kell és komoly döntéseket kell hoznunk, melyek akkor sikerülnek ha az értékrendünk a helyén van. Pontosan nem tudom mikor, de kialakul bennünk egy igény arra, hogy fontossági sorrendet állítsunk fel a minket körülvevő dolgoknak. Személy szerint nekem ez az igény hamar kialakult, hiszen amellett, hogy évek óta sportolok, a tanulmányi átlagomra is nagy hangsúlyt fektetek. Illetve mindig is szerettem a barátaimmal lenni, így jelenleg is arra törekszem, hogy amikor lehetőségem engedi értékes időt töltsek el velük. A sport, a tanulás és a barátok mellett a családommal és a párommal is rengeteget vagyok, mert elképesztően fontosak számomra. Sokszor elmélkedem a sorrenden amit felállítottam, és rádöbbenek, hogy valószínűleg így a legoptimálisabb. Nem részletezném, mert szerintem ez mindenkinek a saját dolga, viszont boldog vagyok, hogy kézben tudok mindent tartani és ennek köszönhetően úgy érzem, hogy egyre több stabil pont van az életemben.

Összességében úgy gondolom, hogy a prioritás egyéni vonzódás, amit nem befolyásol az, hogy másoknak vagy a többségnek mi a fontos. Mi magunk vagyunk azok, akik ezt befolyásolhatjuk és megváltoztathatunk. E mellett legfőképpen önmagunkra van hatással az, hogy milyen sorrendbe helyezzük a minket körülvevő tényezőket. Szerintem, ha az értékrendünk a helyén van akkor fejlődéshez vezet az utunk. Ellenkező esetben, tapasztalhatók negatív irányba történő változások.

Végezetül kifejezetten fontosnak tartom azt, hogy néha szakítsunk időt arra, hogy magunkba tekintsünk és átgondoljuk az értékrendünket, a döntéseinket és a cselekedeteinket. Olykor a kérdést is feltehetjük magunknak: ”Jó ez így Nekem?”.

A kérdésre a választ pedig valahol a lelkünk mélyén kell megtalálnunk.

Attila Marcell Kiss

(First Folyosó Contest: Second Place)

During our life, priorities and decisions over priorities are the things that can turn a homeless person into a millionaire, suffering into belief, anger into regret. What looks like a small decision for others, can be a life-changing moment for someone. Hard work can turn a childhood dream into reality one day, but priorities towards yourself can create a life for you.

Priorities are like humans. They change with you. Like let’s go back to our childhoods. Until age ten my only priority was to get anything I wanted and to always be the focal point in my family. When I became a teenager I thought about one thing and one thing only: I wanted to be remembered. To be remembered as a sport icon or to have something named after me or at least to be remembered for my name. I think that generally speaking this one priority is the most important for every youngster and teenager.

However, one thing can truly create a whole new perspective in everyone’s life: a child. I learned from my family that before becoming a parent the only priority you should have is to create a good path before your child is born. For every parent, a child is the peak of their life. After that, every adult’s only priority becomes to support their children until they grow up. And maybe they can reach the heights that you set for yourself as a child. And if your children support their children the way you supported them or maybe even better, that’s when you will feel that you did a great job as an adult.

This will come when you have grown old. And that’s when you will realise that all of your priorities have been achieved. You got everything from life, a loving family, friends, children etc. You will be remembered because of your loving family. And you will rest in peace because you created a life for your children. You saw him growing up and becoming a person you always wanted to be. In my opinion that’s what makes priorities in life important. To pass them on for the future and believe that others could achieve even better things than you.

Erika Mária Szántó

(First Folyosó Contest: Second Place)

Dialogue 1
Venue: Kindergarten

Girl: “I have a mug of Elsa from Frozen, but I want the Beauty and the Beast one! It’s so much prettier! Mom said it’s disgusting, but I want it! I will still get it, no matter what she says! I will write a letter to Santa Claus! I need it!”

Boy: “Ha, that’s soooo childish. The Batman mug is so much cooler!”

Voice from distance: “Sweeties, here is the tasty pea pottage!”

Everyone: “Noooo!”

Dialogue 2
Venue: High school

Teen girl 1: “Yesterday I had to wait half an hour in the solarium! Ridiculous! I was nearly late to my hairdresser because of that. I nearly passed out from nervousness!”

Teen girl 2: “Oh, don’t even say it! I found some really cute shirts on Fashiondays, at a big discount! I was so happy. But when I finally got to actually ordering them, it was past midnight! All the sales! Gone!”

Dialogue 3
Venue: Park

Mom 1: “Ugh, finally I could sleep three hours continuously. I feel so refreshed.”

Mom 2: “I found a new baby supplement. My little one loves it, so finally the house isn’t loud any more from all the crying. There were moments when I thought I would go crazy.”

Gergely Sülye

(First Folyosó Contest: Second Place)

I think everyone can agree that priorities are subjective and change from person to person. While this is mostly true, there can be some discrepancies.

Every action that you have planned to take in the future has to be organized in a chronological fashion, and the order of this sequence is called priorities. Simply put, the higher on the list something is, the more important it is.

But this is not just a linear concept, as breathing and being successful are vastly different, but still have the same importance in the grand scheme of things. While the other we can live without, the first is required for basic survival. Yet being successful, whatever that might mean to a person, is still higher on the priority list than simply breathing.

One noticeable difference is that there are some actions that we take by instinct, and some that we have to make a conscious effort to pull off. Another criterion could be that some actions are required in order to survive, while others are not necessary, but of course still important. This already gives us two separate axes for our priorities, which would make it impossible to address the topic through a linear type of design.

Yet in common language we still just talk about lower- or higher-priority tasks, as if it were not as complicated as I just made it out to be. In reality we only have accurate priorities for pressing matters. If you are starving you will ignore everything else in order to acquire food. Thus the task is the highest priority. Similarly if you are mad at someone, you will be mostly focused on teaching said person a lesson. This case is rare, but it is valid for the example.

Most of the time we tend to brush our instinctual needs under the rug, but once they reach a critical state, like having to go to the toilet, they suddenly become our first priority.

Priorities are ever changing, and it is hard to keep to them. We may have a faint idea of what we should be doing, but in just a few hours that list may be completely flipped on its head.

Adél Mihályi

(First Folyosó Contest: First Place)

“You have to do it, because it’s important!” – But what if it isn’t? Yes, I need it in this hour, today, maybe even during this week or month, but does your forced knowledge affect my whole life? Does it help me to develop if I don’t think it could be useful? Will I do it with joy?

I could do anything else that I’m interested in instead of dealing with things I will forget right after they don’t need it anymore. For example… being myself. I haven’t done that for a while, I have been so busy completing tasks like mastering the level of expectations, getting bored while I had multiple things to do that I didn’t choose by myself. Still, I often chose just to lie on my bed and think about what I should do.

Or, in reality, what I shouldn’t, because in my own world, I don’t owe them, and they don’t own me.

…And then I’m in a hurry, beacuse I wasted my time with nothing, and I have to make everything right, like I’m alright with this.

“Okay,” I answer simply, with a little smile on my face, but inside raging full of thoughts that will never be spoken.

Maybe I just want too many reforms in one moment again.

But I can never forget the fact that instead of sticking to my guns, I still choose to do the unenjoyable-for-me tasks first, because they are important.

Everyone is just going their own way, but at some point, all the lines meet.

If schools kill artists, then forced priorities kill difference.

Why can’t I just be myself, just like others?