The world is full of expectations, whether it is expectations from others around us or from ourselves. Depending on what kind of person we are, we may or may not take those expectations seriously. For those of us who take expectations seriously tend to make it a part of our lives and try to live up to it. However, those expectations may come from ourselves.

Whether or not it comes from ourselves or from the society around us, expectations are something that everyone has experience at one point in their lives. And without even noticing it, expectations may affect us greater than we thought it would. When done for a long time and in repetition, expectations may eventually affect how we think and even how we act.

Christina Lau, was once a Prison Officer until her world was turned upside-down in April 2, 2005. Christina Lau was involved in a car accident in Malaysia that had such a high impact that resulted in her being permanently paralyzed from the chest down.

Despite this, Christina Lau did not let this fact hold her back from experiencing life in its full and joined a community of artists called Mouth and Foot Painting Artists (MFPA), who paints with their mouths and their feet.

With time, Christina Lau gradually felt that she is normal and that she is equal to anyone else with hands or feet.This is where Christina Lau then begins to tell others around her and those listening to her presentations that she is normal. “I know that I am normal and I can tell others that I am normal” she declared during her presentation in UWCSEA East Writer’s Fortnight.

Eventually, others around her begins to believe that she is normal that eventually results in an expectation from society for her to be normal. And from the look of it, Christina seems happy and willing to reach those expectations to not only herself but perhaps others proud. However, she does not want to simply reach those expectations, she wants to exceed it. With limited yet special strokes, she paints pictures of the world around her. She then proceeds to play table tennis, exceeding everyone’s expectations of her.

Not so far from Christina Lau is Steve Dawson, who is currently a writer and a presenter for the world-known Sportscenter that shows on Fox-ESPN. When Steve Dawson took his first few steps out of accountancy, his parents were worried; they expected and wanted him to stay in accountancy.

Being a presenter for a nightly sports news automatically brings expectations from viewers, who expect Steve Dawson to present his night sports news with the same or a greater degree of professionalism each time he presents.

Christina Lau and Steve Dawson are similar in a way, as they both have expectations society and their audience; this is called reputation expectation. According to Westside Toastmasters,  Reputation expectation comes from people around who puts expectations based on how they usually act. Usually, reputation expectations start in forms similar to  “You’ve always inspired me with how you…” or “I’ve always liked how you…”  These forms of words are common words, usually spoken by perhaps our friends, teachers, or maybe our aunt that we have not seen for quite a long time. And as more people put more expectations on similar things, we become pressurized to achieve it. We accept those words without knowing the impact it can have on our lives.

Personally, expectations play a major part in my life. Expectations from parents, friends, teachers, and myself; it builds the way I think and I how I act. Personal expectations has help me to keep on being determined and focused in reaching my goals. Before moving to UWCSEA, I told myself that I will begin to study seriously when I move to UWC. When my parents would ask me why am I not studying as hard as I can, I told them that I will do better in school when I move. It gradually became not only my parent’s expectations but the expectations of the people around me as well.

When I finally moved to UWC, I was determined to study hard, not wanting to let the people around me down, especially my parents. I had become ashamed of receiving average grades and those expectations gradually becomes my motivation to study. Looking back, it seems that expectations have played a larger role in my lives than what I first thought. And maybe, rather than inspirational quotes, expectations can become our first source of motivation and inspiration.