Same Situations, Different Perceptions

          What comes into your mind when you see a very messy room or when you hear noises while studying? These are two of the situations on which my family does not agree. Even though my family and I share many characteristics due to innate and acquired factors, my perception and that of my family are sometimes totally different in such situations mentioned above.

          Different perceptions on a messy room often resulted in quarrels among my family. Since I was young, I was the type of person who did not care much about whether or not my room was clean or messy; what I cared more about was to take rest after school and to finish my homework in time. When I had time even after doing all those, I would then start to clean up my messy room. I was not influenced by the untidiness when I was doing something I regarded to be more important. However, my family, more specifically my sister and aunt, did not perceive the messy room as I did; they could not start doing anything unless they cleaned up their rooms. Therefore, when I came to America and had to share a room with them (I have experiences sharing rooms with each of them), we could not stand each other and sometimes quarreled. Back then, I did not understand why they would stubbornly ask me to clean up the room when I was very busy doing all my homework, but now I am a little better at being considerate to them; I do understand their perceptions are different and I needed to clean up the room for them.

          Although I do not care about a messy room, I am sensitive at noise while I am studying. I cannot concentrate on reading or studying something when there is a music going on or noise from outside. I do not think I am able to multitask at all. On the other hand, my youngest sister, who is 9 years old, likes to do many things at once. She likes to listen to music and role play when she studies, and she often wants me to join her. I would love to join when I am not busy, but most of the time I cannot. So, she gets disappointed when I say no to her, and she does not understand me. I will keep trying to explain, and I hope she will understand me some time.

          As you can see from my examples, many people perceive the same situations and experiences differently, and those differences may cause disputes among them. Thus, we should be more considerate to others and understand that there may be different perceptions among people.