This essay was the first major assignment that was given to the class that revolved around the idea of how people learn. It also helped dive deeper with experiences that helped learn valuable life lessons, and creates writing skills for writing, drafting, and editing.

Do it once, never again

                                                     Meldin Tosic

                                                      ENG 11000

                                                  Crystal Rodwell

                                                November 16, 2025

         I learn things by analyzing and keeping it fresh in my memory, or even applying it to future references. It’s how I maneuver in life, and how I also learn from mistakes I’ve either made or seen other people make. I also learn from hearing stories about other people and how they were able to learn from their mistakes because it helps me to understand that I’m not alone and there’s always room to grow even at a young age.

          A few years ago, I met somebody at a library program named Daniel. We were pretty good friends, because I used to talk to him a lot, and laugh and joke about the most random things. But years later after that, he kinda changed. What I mean is, he started to bully me, like a lot. I never did anything to him at the time, he just started acting like a jerk and disrespected me like crazy. I decided to just distance myself from him since he wasn’t giving off friendly energy like he used to. I also learned at the same time that people change no matter if you’re kind or not. Now I choose carefully who and not to hang out with, and now I’m in a better environment with more positive people. Some actions I take to maintain a stable environment is essentially just not trusting everybody and being more alert when making decisions relevant to them.

        Every time my parents go out or go downtown to hang out, they usually ask me if I want to come, or we just go as a family to spend time together. As I got older, I kinda felt like just staying home and chilling in my bed. But one night, I was going to sleep after a day of being home since I didn’t want to go with them to the Bronx, but I couldn’t sleep. It was 1:43AM. I thought about how many times I had denied my parents, and then it hit me. I myself and they are getting older, and we might not have time to spend time with each other, since I’m gonna be more busy. From that day onward. I’ve taken time out of my day to go spend as much time as I can with my parents and create as many memories as possible before I actually won’t be able to. I’ve also learned that family comes first no matter what. This lesson impacts me in a way beyond family that I should always separate time for certain things, and what I do differently is choose when to do things with spare time that I may have, with leftover time to do other things that may call my attention.

       In May of 2020, I was in a discord server for Roblox, really any game platform. I was scrolling through the general channel, and there was a guy that said that in this game Murder Mystery 2, there was a way to obtain a really rare item in the game that was worth a lot. Not knowing much about getting hacked, I asked him how I could obtain the items. He told me to change my email to what I didn’t know was his, and I did it. A few minutes later, I texted him asking what to do now. The message didn’t go through, so I just opened Roblox, and I saw that I was logged out of my account. I couldn’t login with my info, and at that moment, I realized. I just got hacked. I texted the guy to give me my account back, but he ended up blocking me, and none of my messages were sent. I just decided to not trust random people I don’t know and I made a new account with my information more private and secured so nobody hacks me. Specifically, I add a 2nd layer of protection to my accounts and keep my information secured in my phone and not share it with anyone unless people I can absolutely trust. Even beyond that, I watch what I say or do for my own privacy.    

       Now based on all of these moments, I learned a lot of valuable lessons. From putting family first to not trusting random people I don’t know with my information or with anything, to having more self respect for people that decide to change up on me no matter if I’m kind or rude. These moments show how I learn things. I am now more careful with people, and I value the people that matter the most in my life.