Explore. Dream. Discover

Thought of putting down my thoughts in this deserted blog. Just another entry about a journey before it ends.

Aug 2009: Never had I expected to be given the opportunity to speak on the stage twice and addressing close to a total of 3000 students. Back in year 1 during my very own inauguration, I dreamt of being on the stage as one of the student leaders. I became one of them that year but didn’t had the chance to be on the stage. The following year, I held a position which would allow me to be on the stage, but I had to leave for California that very same morning for my one year extra-ordinary journey. That of course was another experience all together and shall leave it for another time (again).

I thought that maybe it wasn’t going to be my turn after all. Oh well, maybe there are other things for me to explore. Different opportunities perhaps when I came back a year later from the States. There were other equally rewarding opportunities available, maybe in different forms of experience; be it entrepreneurship initiatives, internships, my passion for photography, focusing on my studies, etc.

But I had this question in mind. Imagine yourself on the day of your undergraduate graduation, is it with smiles that you receive your scroll, content with what you have achieved for yourself during your stint as an undergraduate? Or is it with a hint of regret, a feeling that you could have made just that little extra effort? Are there aspirations unfulfilled or dreams that have yet to be realised?

I chose an unconventional path. It was definitely not an easy hike. Lots of challenges. Like what Calvin and Hobbes put as “Life is like topography. There are summits of happiness and success, flat stretches of boring routine, and valleys of frustration and failure.” The process was tough. Lots of sleepless nights, fire to fight, people to deal and decisions to make. And even during examination periods, you can’t help but thinking about work. I’m sure jy is feeling the same too.

And now, it’s coming to an end of yet another chapter in this book of life. Looking back, those wonderful experiences shall now become lasting memories to cherish for many years to come. I like this quote: “I race with a philosophy not to regret what I do, meaning, not to cross the finishing line and think I could have done better.”

My undergraduate days are numbered. Am enjoying every moment while it lasts.

Let me quote Mark Twain, the renowned author of the novels The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. He said, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

So, sail far and fly high. Let no regrets or disappointments come in your way 20 years from now.