This is one of the final assignments that I've completed for my 11th Grade Honors English class.

Each quarter we've been assigned a "quarterly goals" worksheet in this same format where the teacher chose the prompt for the paragraph, but now, at the end of the school year, we've been assigned "senior year goals" and we've been allowed to insert our own quote for the paragraph.

Of course, I went with Transformers.

My quote and paragraph:

Spoiler

"The center of the storm is always still, and it's easiest to find a solution from there."
- Optimus Prime, ​Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2015), S1E13 ​​"Out of Focus"​.

​

People's lives are often filled with chaos and confusion, as well as conflicting interests, relationships, and obligations. I know mine is, anyway. And on top of all that, everybody has goals that they're working towards (or they should, anyway) on their own behalf. People are (I am) often detracted from these goals by the conflicting interests of other people in their lives (my life). This is sometimes people's greatest mistake.

This is a quote from one of my favorite TV shows of all time. Despite the fact that it's a children's series, Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2015) is actually a really clever and charming cartoon that can be thought provoking when it wants to be. This quote was canonically said originally by the character Optimus Prime, but was introduced to the audience not by Optimus Prime, but by the series' protagonist, Bumblebee. In fiction, Bumblebee was a soldier who served under the now deceased Optimus Prime, who acted as a mentor and father figure to the young Transformer. But now, Bumblebee is the grown-up though reluctant leader of his own ragtag and rambunctious squadron, and he often looks to his memories of Optimus Prime for guidance. At this point in the series, Bumblebee is only just beginning to adapt to his new leadership role, but still faces the problems of self-doubt, and the conflicting interests of his many obligations and relationships. Bumblebee's dilemma is, objectively, parallel to the dilemma that many high school seniors, including myself, are facing: a feeling of disillusionment at being thrusted into a role of responsibility previously reserved for our elders (In Bumblebee's situation, leadership in the wake of a war. In ours, the responsibilities of impending adulthood.) that leads to anxiety, a lack of focus, and the blurring of individual priorities and goals in exchange for a feeling of chaos, and sometimes even hopelessness.

In case you didn't know, Transformers is a 31 year old toy and fiction franchise that revolves around two (or sometimes more) factions of sentient alien robots engaged in a centuries long civil war that (usually) nearly leads their species to extinction, so the situations that these characters are in tend to be exceptionally "storm" like, as you can imagine. But many of the lessons these alien, yet engagingly human natured characters learn can still be applied to real, human life.

Optimus Prime's mantra, though brief, offers sound advice, to both Transformer and human being alike.

My greatest mistake? Well, I've made a few. But there is one mistake I do not intend to make again.

I intend to focus on my own goals, for the greater good of all of my relationships and responsibilities, rather than put all my grenades (if you will) in one basket.

For my senior year of high school, and for the rest of my life, it is my intention to always take a step back from my, oft chaotic, life (stand in the center of the storm, if you will) and seriously sort out my priorities in way that yields solutions, instead of acting in a manner that amplifies my problems. It is the path to success; the key to achieving my goals and attaining my dreams. After all, the future is built on dreams.

People (like Transformers) have a tendency to change, however, so we'll see. But right now I'm feeling pretty confident. This mindset is one that I hope to maintain and share with my peers. It is my hope that any high schooler that struggles with focus and prioritizing hears what I have to say, and adopts this mindset as their own to avoid the failure and disappointment they are moving towards.

After all,

Spoiler

(brainwashing)

leadership is part of adulthood, yes?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


I actually barely passed this school year because I was too hung up on my now ex-girlfriend. So this essay is all about focus and prioritizing in the midst of conflicting interests and interests, so the quote fits well, imo, and I feel like my teacher will appreciate it.

I'd love to hear some feedback from fellow Transformers fans though.


*added spoiler tags in case some TFW members haven't seen that episode yet*

 

Awww man,

Could the mods please change the "Quot" in the title to "Quote"?

 

Anybody?

 

Well and beautifly said, A+ for sure!

 

You're in the 11th grade and you're quoting a TF cartoon meant for elementary kids?

 

It it fits it ships.

I got a 91.

 

Most of the members of these boards are grown men collecting toys meant for elementary kids, so it's not like most of us are in a position to talk.

 

Really well done! As a fellow high schooler, this really left an impact on me. Great work!

 

Thanks for sharing!

Glad to hear you got a 91% on it, too.

But you should have shared an earlier draft before it was due! With a couple extra pairs of eyes helping you proofread we probably could have gotten you all the way up to 100%.

Maybe next time!

 

 

I analyzed an episode of My Little Pony for a senior year Media Analysis class at a college university.

People often have this view, that just because something is meant for kids, it should not be examined or it is of little value. But the source of the information isn't so important as the quality of it (that's another quote. You can attribute that one to Leonard Nimoy).

That's a good one.  

- Megatron, Transformers Prime (2011), S1E14 "Out of His Head".

Couldn't resist sneaking in a quote from TFP Megatron too eh?  
Anyway, decent essay. Cool that you took inspiration from a quote attributed to Prime. The only thing I would say is get rid of all the little added bits in parenthesis. Either include them in regular sentences or omit them entirely. It's like slamming on the breaks every time you insert extra information in there that may not even be necessary to the discussion at hand.

 

I'm a Junior in college and for a Public Speaking class last semester we had a "fun" assignment where we had to give an award presentation based on someone we look up to.

I chose Optimus Prime.

Got a 100.

OP: Surprised you didn't do it over Skybyte  

 

Thank you everybody!  

 

That's great!

And I would have of anything he said was relevant to the assignment.

I looked into it, trust me.

 

I would have gone with.

"I'll kill you all!!" -Optimus Prime - Transformers Age of Extinction.

 

Of all the quotes, you chose that eye rolling BS, fortune cookie quote?

Get rid of that stuff about people. One, you don't speak for people. Two, it's gawker article tier writing, which means it's bad. You know what I'm talking about, right? Have you seen these articles on the net that start with some weird broad generalization like that? That's how you know right away that there's nothing of substance in what you're about to read. Three, the paragraph is clearly about you, so cut the crap. Instead of saying "People's lives are often filled with chaos...", say "My life is filled with chaos...".

Here's one take at your opening.

One thing I changed that I haven't mentioned so far is that I got rid of the pussy qualifiers. I'm talking about "often filled with chaos" and "sometimes people's greatest mistake". I think you put them there because deep down you understood that you don't speak for people. That's good. Listen to that voice inside more often. It's poking through all over your paragraph. It's the stuff you're putting in parentheses.

This is what I really want to say. It's what makes sense in my brain, but I don't think I should say it because of what I've been taught about writing in school. Does that line of thinking sound familiar at all? If so, you need to forget everything you think you've learned about writing from school. Instead, you need to set your own standards for your writing and follow that. For example, when I write stuff, I'll ask myself stuff like "Do I agree with this?", "Does this make sense?", "Are people going to understand this if they read this?", "Is what I'm saying really necessary, or can I cut it out?", "Does this sound good?", and so on. When you write your paper like this, you naturally--meaning without any effort--build in the good flow and good paragraphs and thoughtful, developed writing that school tried to teach you in the first place.

 

I'd actually like my senior qoute to be Transformers and I'm having trouble deciding.

 

"Fate rarely calls upon us at a moment of our choosing."

 

This works, I think:

"What sort of nonsense is this? 'It was the best of times; it was the worst of times'? Best or worst, make up your mind!"

- Sky-Byte, Transformers: Robots in Disguise (2001), Ep. 2, "An Explosive Situation"

It's a popular past time among students to satirize the contrived curriculum my school has, especially the English department, and I've been known to do it in rabble-rousing excess. So it's relevant and also from my favorite character from my favorite series. Thoughts?

 

That's a good one  

 

Thank you.

I have time to think about it but I'm leaning towards this