One of the most important realizations I have had throughout high school is that I will keep learning until the day I die. In hindsight, it should have been an obvious thought but it still took me years to truly digest it. I had always assumed that there would be a time when I would know everything that I needed to know about myself and everything around me. I don’t anymore.

My perspective on learning changed midway through high school due to the burnout caused by one of my greatest passions, photography. Photography played such a huge role in so many aspects of my life that I found myself deeply exhausted by it. If I initially started taking photos because it brought me joy, what was the point in continuing when it no longer did so?

During this period of burnout, I turned my eyes to other photographers at Algonquin. They had the drive to create art that I had lost over my months of burnout. As I looked at their photos and listened to them talk, I gained some of that drive back. It was like I was transported back to my freshman year when I first began to seriously study photography, desperate to prove my skills to others.

I don’t remember the exact moment photography stopped being fun for me, but I remember that this period of time was when I gained that joy back again. I realized that I could never be above learning and that it was possible for me to learn how to love my art again. It also hit me that situations like this would continue to show up in my life and that there would always be something to learn from them.

It is important for us to acknowledge that learning doesn’t just involve academics and basic life skills; it encompasses entire experiences that we must constantly figure out how to navigate through. Contradictory to my past beliefs, there will always be lessons that we must learn in order to go forward in life. There will never be a time when we won’t be learning new things so be sure to make the most out of every experience!