Who am I?

If you asked me who I am, I wouldn’t be able to answer. I don’t know what defines me, or what I’m made of.

I can just list facts about me one after another, but are those what define me? 

• I am Coco from Japan
• I love playing basketball, and I’ve been playing for 11 years. 
• I like Economics and Math
• I can’t stop watching YouTube before going to bed
• I am so negative

Maybe what defines me isn’t what I do, but why I do it.
I do play basketball simply because it’s so much fun. Basketball is a team sport, ofc there are always people who play by themselves, but I love to work together as a team and manage to score a point in the game through combination. Think about each other, look at how they move carefully, and decide what to do. This needs trust, respect, and love. In general, I like to work on something with others because I can do more with others than I can do alone. And everything will be much more fun with others.

Math has defined rules that I can always rely on. Everyone can get the same answer in the end, no exception. This subject never betrays me as long as I follow the rules. I love to apply theory to different problems. 

I started to watch YouTube after I came here. In UWC, I experienced mental breakdown a few times. Just listening to someone speaking on YouTube helped me hide loneliness and go through hard times. Just laughing at something silly helped me keep going.

One fact about me is that I am a negative person. I see what I haven’t achieved, what I can’t do, and what I failed at, and I often lose self-confidence. This sounds bad, but actually, it helps me a lot in my life because it means that I am always looking for a better version of myself. I am full of negativity, but this is the source of my motivation. I like the moment when I can do something that I couldn’t do before. 

So who am I? I still don’t know. But it’s okay, my journey has just begun. 

written by Coco Yasujima