The ideal school life

What is the most important thing for a student? My parents have always told me to prioritize studies, but they also don't want me to become someone who doesn't participate in extracurricular activities. As a child, you have no choice but to follow their instructions but at some point, in your life, you realize that you also want to forge your own path.

 As you grow older, you begin noticing more things about yourself and you also become more aware of your surroundings and people around you. You notice people that are exceptionally good at studies and get a near-perfect score. These people spend lots of time studying, some of them are also all-rounders and have a good social life while others prefer studying alone and believe social life is a fraud, and eventually they will be the winners in life once they get into a good college and eventually get a high-paying job. 

Then there are people that are popular and have thousands of photos on social media with followers in four or more digits. These people aren't necessarily bad at studies or extracurricular activities although they're better at communicating and have a high amount of energy which helps them stand out. Also, most of them are extremely attractive and have lots of fan following on social media and even in the real world. So even if they're not particularly good at studies, they do have good social skills and can find more opportunities in life. 

There are also people who would prefer watching anime, read manga, light novels, and play video games. In most cases, these people also lack social skills and have very few followers on social media and their phone contacts are limited to their parents, siblings, and a couple of friends. They don't even mind not having a good following on social media or lacking social skills, for them it's a relief that they don't have to get involved with the crowd and have the freedom to do what they love. Many of them are also incredibly creative and smart so even if they have no future goals, they eventually end up finding a career that utilizes their best qualities or they end up as shut-in NEETs (Not in Education, Employment or Training). 

But what is my path? Where do I fit in? Do I even fit in or not? Is it good or bad if I don't fit in? These questions have always bothered me. Perhaps, there will be a time when I will find the answers to these questions. But for that, I do need to take a step forward so that I don't remain where I currently am. I know that thinking about what might happen if I take that step can be scary, but I should be more afraid of staying where I am. And so I have decided, yes I am going to forge my own path and create my own ideal school life!