Hunger Games By Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot: An Analysis

Regrettable actions taken in the past may haunt us now as skeletons in our closets and may very well continue to do so in the future. Even so, this purgatory is necessary for our growth, development, and success in the future. We as people learn from our mistakes, and if we fall far and hard enough will be sure not to make the same mistake again. For this reason, as stated by Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, “old memories [are] a chance to reckon with the past” and learning and prospering from such a reckoning is vital.

One example of learning from the past and changing future actions based on feedback is in the first book in the Hunger games trilogy, the Hunger Games when Katniss and Peeta needed to watch the former games, to study all who’ve died and how. They need to study these clips so that they may not suffer the same cruel fate as those who had died before them. Although the deaths may have been gruesome to view and analyze, they were essential to the survival of the pair

of heroes. They were able to see how the others had died/been murdered and were able to avoid the same fate by not repeating the same course of actions (i.e. not eat poisonous berries as shown in a previous game).
Near and dear to my heart, one instance of learning from the past and bettering myself was when my friends decided to completely abandon me and just flat out stopped being my “friends”. In my middle school friend group, I was the outsider, never really fitting in with the “Dude-Bro” type kids, yet they were all I had so I changed my behavior to mimic theirs constantly and consistently. They’d get passing grades so I’d do that, they’d play basketball with a primal ferocity so I’d do that, they acted poorly so I, tried and thankfully failed to do that, but my point is, I still tried to do those things.I didn't want to end up being alone and the simple thought of it terrified me so much that I would’ve done anything to avoid it, especially at that age. After all that despite nearly two years of blending the best of my ability, I found myself both unhappy and a black sheep. Things ended up turning for the worse at the almost two-year mark because they had kicked me to the curb and wouldn’t let me hang out with them anymore because I was inept at fitting in. I would wander lunches alone, scavenging for places to hide and not be seen, but everywhere was crowded and chock full of people with their friend(s)/cliques. Being that one loner kid in school, I just wandered as if looking for a reason to simply be.
What I learned from this semi-traumatic event is that you shouldn't have to change for someone to like you, they must come to appreciate you for you and not someone you try and be.

If someone doesn't like me, then they can (excuse my language) simply piss off because I have more things that are occupying my time, and unnecessary feeling/feeling bad about it isn't one of them (any longer). I have grown and learned from my mistakes in that I no longer try and change aspects of my personality to better suit others because I am not here to please others, I’m here (at school) to be me and get educated. I went from a B- average student to an A average student, I became much more outgoing and friendly, I stopped acting as someone who I was not and started acting as the person I wanted to be. One major silver lining in this whole ordeal was that it led me to become friends with my best friend, Emily Chun, and although I am most certainly not the best or the smartest person around she still bears with

me.
All in all, my personal experiences and other sources, such as books, have assisted in my belief that learning from the past is essential to survival/bettering oneself in the future. Don’t act as someone else, act of your own accords, be you.