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Jimmy Zhou
Mr. Oster
English 10 Honors
24 September 2013

Mirror Image
If youve ever looked in the mirror, you would know that each day, the image glancing
back is always different. Some days, you wake up looking at a bedraggled image, and some days
you are looking at someone that looks fresh and awake. For most of our lives, we look at the
mirror, but we have a way of speculating about the minor details that make us imperfect. All my
life, Ive been to the mirror and back and have never actually been able to completely describe
what I see. The mirror image that I will describe is one of me. Through the mirror, I will attempt
to break the bounds of reflection and analyze thoroughly the identity and values of the image.
For those that dont know me, my name is Jimmy Zhou, and I am a tenth grader at Davis High
School. Im in an English class that most would consider horrifyingly hard, and I have a teacher
that is one of the best in the school. All in all, I would consider myself as an exemplary student
who tries to do my best to get into top-tier college.
From the time I was young enough to understand the ideas that exist in this world, my
parents and grandparents implanted strong morals and values in me. They taught me to value
hard work, effort, and knowledge, as these traits often are present in those who are successful. As
a child, I often acted immature and took these morals very lightly and paid very little attention to

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what was going around me. Through growing up, I was gradually able to understand the
importance of these ethics and how essential they were to my life.
During my fifth-grade year, I was enlightened by the value of such morals. Later on, I
suddenly realized that everyone in my grade was surpassing me academically and that I needed
to make more effort. My dad said that one of the things I could do was to skip a level of math
and try to challenge myself. The plan succeeded and I was able to go directly to seventh grade
math instead of sixth grade math. This may be the most important event in my entire education
that sparked my intense interest in mathematics and the desire to challenge myself.
Because the experience was so delightful, I was motivated to try it again. Even though I
spent half a summer studying for hours on end, my labors finally paid off. You see, I believe that
humans work on three sole principles: motivation, reward, and end product. This motivation,
reward, and knowledge are what caused me to be more successful, not only in math, but also in
all the other subjects. Ultimately, my belief in the three basic principles is what drives me
forward.
My traits are vast and range anywhere from being intelligent, to having a knack with
electronics. Personally, I believe that my traits and my experiences define me as a person. My
values are usually found to be weird in modern society as most of todays teenagers are obsessed
in the temptations of the modern world. I have developed a system against such temptations such
as media addiction, dating, and other extraneous pastimes that teenagers engage in. In opposition
with most peoples views, I usually find that the most important thing one can do for the world is
to make a difference. This may seem like something big, but a difference is a difference no
matter how big or small an impact it makes.

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I also strongly believe that everyone has the ability to express their own individual
feelings, emotions, and thoughts. The world can sometimes be an evil place for one to release
their emotions because all humans are naturally judgmental. Therefore, Dr. Seuss presents a
remedy by stating everyone should be who they truly are and say what they truly feel, because
those that matter wont mind, and those that mind wont matter (Dr. Seuss). I feel that this quote
essentially states that everyone should be free to be who they are without the feel of being
criticized or looked down upon. The fact that I accept people for who they are has helped me
make numerous friends and has allowed me to be warm-hearted toward new people. This belief
has also led me to develop the trait of helping others. From helping someone with a simple math
problem, or to helping someone succeed in school, I feel that ultimately, that is what humans are
supposed to do.
Throughout the essay and up to this point, I have yet to mention about my parents and
their views on how my life should be like. Both of my parents come from Chinese families that
put academics on top of everything else. My mom believes that I should be more competitive in
school and my dad wants me to be happy no matter what I do in life. Personally, I agree more
with my dad because I feel that everyone has their own interests and goals. I understand that
parents want their own child to succeed and sometimes forget about what the child actually
wants for himself. Before high school, I used to be oblivious to this fact and would often try to
compete with my peers for grades. During high school, I learned that competing with people
often hurts relationships and does not have a good end product. Thus, Ive switched to a more
passive academic life and focused on helping others to succeed as well.

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Through nearly a decade of experience, failure, and success, Ive been able to make
several conclusions based on various factors and realizations. A persons identity is based on
what that person wants to do with their life, their traits, and their personalities. Competition is
not always the best way to ride through your education. Last but not least, always help others
because what goes around comes around. These values are very important to me and they are
what construct my identity.