You Are Not Your Talent: A Mob Psycho 100 Story by Gabriela

You Are Not Your Talent: A Mob Psycho 100 Story by Gabriela - October 2021 Scholarship Essay

I was sitting in the far corner of my high school's library. It was the coziest spot I had scouted out for one random day during my freshman year. It was enveloped and hidden away from the rest of the academic world, where the books on the shelf and the dust on their spines would keep me company. I usually did one of two things in that carpeted corner. My hands would either maneuver themselves with the sleek brush pen I had, delicately illustrating the scenery around me as I translated my environment onto a page in my busted sketchbook. Or, my mind would wander and marvel at the chapter I read straight out of the Mob Psycho 100 comic, which never failed to paint my weakened insight vividly with vibrant colors, despite its noir format.

Shigeo Kageyama, otherwise known as Mob, was your typical, average day middle schooler.

With psychic abilities of course.

You see, Mob had nearly every opportunity to use, and practically do whatever he pleased with these psychic powers. He could gain the liking of whoever crossed his path, become rich and famous, take over the world, you name it. But despite the goliath of power and potential he had to do these things, he never did. Mob was socially awkward, isolated, and overwhelmed by the possible risk of having his powers go out of control, in which he only used them for the greater good, and never personally to take that risk. The entire time I was reading this comic, I found myself getting mad at Mob at times for not standing up for himself, wholeheartedly believing that he was invisible in the world, and being nothing more than his powers.
The exact issues I was dealing with, the same repressed feelings I had were all drawn onto a page, in a comic book series I still hold very close to my heart to this day. The entirety of my life has revolved around my passion for art. I have always struggled with my communication skills and often go mute due to the severity of my anxiety, which prohibits me from making friends, ordering food, or simply having conversations with loved ones. But the day I found out I could communicate and convey my thoughts and emotions with some art supplies and paper, my journey has been compassionate in wanting it to be my future. My presence in middle school was only alluded to as, "that one super quiet girl who draws all of the time". Kids would come up to me asking to draw them something, teachers would ask for posters, and strangers would tell me to pursue a real job. It's not that I disliked being an artist, I absolutely love putting all of my heart into my work, and seeing faces light up at the sight of it brings me eternal joy! However, there were times where I was only that, an artist. I wanted to be seen as something other than a talent, or skill I just had.

As Mob's story progresses, he learns through his mentor and trustworthy friends later on in the story that he is what he chooses to be. His life was his own, and despite his powers, he needed to choose what he wanted to do, and who he wanted to be. Mob slowly develops into a charismatic persona embracing all of his awkward qualities, adventuring and mastering what life would throw at him, and stepping away from the shackles of his powers. Mob was not the psychic ability he could pull off, but it was a beautiful extension of himself. Mob was your typical average day middle schooler. A middle schooler with classes to attend, friends to make, and emotions to nourish.

As I finished up the most current volume in that library corner during my freshman year, I will never forget the euphoria I felt as I closed the comic up. I felt chains slipping off of me, as if the title of being an artist that I began to dread, slowly became a positive outlet of the things that made me unique. You are not your talent, at least not entirely. You are the kindness you give to the world, the blessing your presence and existence bring onto others, the beauty of being you. Whether you happen to be great at a sport, playing an instrument, taking care of your siblings, playing video games, or taking standardized tests, these things are solely an extension of your identity's beauty. I am an empathetic and independent woman dedicated to her artistic craft that will pursue an Illustration degree to enact that power I've always had. The story of Mob Psycho 100 teaches us all that we each have our own little "psychic powers" in a sense, and we are what we choose to be. Not what others paint you to be.

Your life is your own.