Aggressive Optimism

Aggressive Optimism: A phrase frequently used by Lyric Elliott to disguise her pessimism in the face of a difficult situation, over which, she has no control or method of altering.

Hello, my name is Lyric Elliott and I’d like to welcome you to the life of an almost average American with an absurd amount of Aggressive Optimism.

My life started on an off beat (no pun intended) when I was born November 18th, 1997. I was a month late, underweight, and was blue due to a heart condition. But, being the 4 pound baller that I was, I laced up by diaper and moved on to begin my life in Detroit, Michigan (home of Cars, Coney Island and Campus Martius).

I was the youngest of three siblings… then the youngest of four when they adopted my oldest brother… then I was just number four out of five when they also adopted my little brother. You may have heard about how middle children need more attention or how adopted children feel like they are being replaced. Well you can imagine the great conversations my therapist and I have after my parents adopted two kids and made me an honorary middle child against my will… I’m mostly kidding. I’ve always loved my siblings, except for the one time we all watched “The Hot Chick” and they knighted me with the nickname LingLing for the rest of my life. I suppose after 21 years nicknames and siblings eventually grow on you.

Education has been relatively uneventful over the years. Perhaps it seems that way because I’ve been crying the entire time and am trying to suppress it. I attended Detroit Edison, a blue ribbon school that found an amazing way to give both the children and the underpaid teachers the same amount of anxiety. Later on, I went to Renaissance high school where I played on the city’s best softball team (undefeated for 14 years). I also did a number of hobbies including getting kidnapped to sing in choir, hyperventilating playing in advanced orchestra, forcing myself onto a robotics team, and sleeping (it becomes a hobby when you never get to do it).

Today, am a Wayne State University senior on an educational adventure to receive two degrees from my University, Biochemistry (because I hate myself) and German (because we had a language requirement and I’ve gone too far). I have the overall end goal of practicing medicine as an Orthopaedic surgeon. This means I will be in school my entire life.

After 4 years at my University, this is my first international year of my educational pursuits. I am going to be studying in Munich for a year with the JYM program to finish my German degree. The expectations that I have this year are that my German improves and that I am able to immerse myself and enjoy German culture (as much as one can when they are a Vegetarian that doesn’t like beer). Within the next 3 months I hope that I am able to enjoy my classes and all of the history, art and cultural lessons that they are trying to teach me. I am excited for my mother to come and visit me in December and the various places in Europe that I will be able to travel to while I am here.

My German language skills are still growing, and I am also trying to study for my medical exam for when I get home, but i’m Aggressively optimistic about the progress that I will make here. This stems from the fact that I’m already in Germany and can’t go back now.