BYย Gabriel Mata |ย THE RIDER
It didnโt start until I was in my sophomore year of high school; Iโd just dropped out of the marching band and was just an ordinary student. The thing about that is I didnโt want to be an ordinary student. I wanted something to do.
Being in band, I already had an inclination to music. My brother had recently moved out and heโd left his Fender acoustic guitar, so I decided to pick that up.
Iโd spend the rest of my sophomore evenings practicing guitar. Iโd use YouTube and various other websites to teach myself chords, songs and scales.
That was all well and good, but something in me wanted more. I researched and found myself a ukulele that I could afford and bought that the first chance I got. Another few months of nothing but learning the ukulele (and plenty of bloody fingers from strumming the ukulele).
My junior year was no different. Piano, mandolin, ocarina, anything I could get my hands on. My thirstย only grew. Senior year, my interests moved to film and photography. I would spend countless hours researching angles, lenses, cameras and writing. I didnโt even get my hands on a camera until a year later.
Iโve learned to build a PC on my own. Iโve learned how wireless electricity works and am in the process of building a Tesla coil. It hasnโt always been apparent, but Iโve always had that lust to learn anything and everything I can.
All these things that I now know, they represent who I am. Iโm no longer just Gabriel Mata the computer science student, Iโm now known to more as Gabriel Mata the photographer, or Gabriel Mata the musician. Even with this wealth of knowledge that I have now, I think itโs important to never stop learning.
The reason you donโt usually laugh at a joke twice is because youโve learned the punch line, and the reason that you donโt go to class or work naked is because youโve learned that itโs not socially acceptable (at least in our society).
So, whether it be little things like hearing a joke for the first time, or picking up a camera and deciding that you want to be a photographer, I encourage you to never stop learning, because I know that the day I stop learning is the day that I die.
