Project 6, Prompt 1B: 3 Important Objects

Take an image of 3 items of importance to you. How did you obtain each item? How long have you had each of them? Why are they important to you (currently)? What made these items important to you? Are there any memories associated with them?

Stuffed animal

The cheetah cub isn’t even the oldest stuffed animal in the house. It was bought before me, and not as a baby shower gift. To be honest, I don’t know who, why, or what it was bought for, but I remember it because I didn’t even notice it existed until after we moved to Atlanta. Some of the stuffed animals didn’t make the first cut and were donated away. Some, like this cub, were left to sit on the top shelf of my closet because the one in my parents’ room had too much actual stuff in it.

Originally, the cub was attached to a mother (father?) cheetah. I think to my parents it was symbolic and very endearing, but to 8 year old me, it was very large and clunky. In my eyes, the baby cub was much cuter and I wanted to be able to play with it without the adult one around. So, without my parents’ permission, I cut the baby from its perch. My mom was moderately annoyed, but in the end she didn’t bother sewing the cub back in its place. As we moved again, I took the cub to Champaign and left the mother (father?) back in Atlanta with my dad. Neither piece looks quite right anymore, but I keep it like that as a reminder.

CD player

No one listens to CDs anymore. Most of the ones in my house are stored away in labelled boxes and never used. If I want any song, I can search it on YouTube or Spotify and get it immediately, without searching for a CD and skipping to the song. Not to mention, new things aren’t even released in physical form and they are expensive. But I have still resisted throwing out this device for years.

I can remember weekends spent by the CD player, listening to Celine Dion or Sarah McLachlan because I was obsessed with those albums that my mom owned. Even before that, there’s music I can’t remember listening to, like the classical CDs my mom supposedly played for me while I was still in the womb. More than music, my first English and Chinese audiobooks and other fun things to listen to that sparked my interest in reading were played on this little pink player. Now, it sits, powered off, waiting patiently for something that may never happen.

Instructor jacket

I started skating at 5 or 6 years old, but I was quite terrible until my mother signed me up to Learn-to-Skate lessons at the UIUC rink. There, I mastered basic skills and the best ways to get up after falling with the guidance of the helpful college students in their orange jackets. I remember watching those same ice rink employees monitor during public sessions or perform in the spring shows. I wanted so badly to be like them, I progressed through all the basic levels and started taking private lessons. Along the way, things became less about why I started and more about winning. I got frustrated and disillusioned by my performance in competitions.

Funnily enough, it took winning a competition again to remind me that the first place medal was just that--a token to hang on a wall. Ten years later, I have finally come full circle to be the one wearing the jacket and teaching little kids to skate. The color is different, but so am I. What started as just another sport my mom wanted me to try turned into the biggest activity in my life. My experiences coaching with youth kids just starting out in skating have by far surpassed the joy I had when placing first. It is not everyday that I can be the one perhaps changing a kid’s life by introducing them to the sport I love.