Take the Road Less Traveled

Another school year is fast approaching. April has passed by so fast and May’s most likely to be the same. Next thing we know, it’s June and it’s time for school again. Students become students once more and they face another opportunity and another chance to prove themselves in the field of academics.

But before everything starts again, I would just like to impart with you something which I have just recently realized. To do something, we have to have a goal. We have to draw a picture of our future. In that way, we would be certain of what we want to do. We would not find it difficult to choose which road to take whenever we face crossroads. Apparently, it’s easy. But truth is I have known a lot of people who – even after graduation – are yet to find what they’re really looking for.

I, myself, was one of them. As I’ve said, it took me years before I finally understand what I’m made for. It took me years of incalculable frustrations and excruciating rejections before I finally realize what I really want to do with my life.

If possible, please don’t take the path which most have gone to. As much as possible, take the road less travelled.

I decided to come up with this article with the hope that it will somehow enlighten the minds and hearts of students who are blinded by the prestige of having a diploma and a degree. I feel sorry for them. Their lives are run by wrong goals. They study hard, pay for sky-high tuition fees, spend sleepless nights on theses, deal with rivals and not classmates, and yet they end up losing themselves in this game of uncertainty.

Guys, let not life trick you.

Here’s how to stop the world from baffling you: know what you really want. I told you, it’s not gonna be easy. But listen to your heart. Try doing different things. Challenge yourself healthily with everything. Observe your actions: Do you feel excited just by the thought of doing it? Do you feel like you can stick to it in a long time? Do you feel satisfied? Do you think you’ll become someone better – disregarding the prejudice and pressure the world will give you – when you pursue it? If your answer to all questions is yes; then you really must have known your dream already.

Now what does that have to do with school? Simple. You become a student to prepare yourself in fulfilling your dreams. In kindergarten, you learn how to read and write. In elementary, you learn the basic math. In high school, you try to discover who you really are. And in college, you clear the path you’re going to take after graduation.

Yes, the real learning starts when you get out of school. Another yes, it’s true that our being students never end. We exist to learn. It’s just a matter of in which field are we going to specialize.

Me, I decided to focus on writing. Because it’s my core gift. Because it’s the only thing I can say I’m good at. Because it’s what I love. And as aforementioned, it took me a year before I finally admit to myself that this is what I want to do. Imagine, I’ve been writing for like a decade already prior to that.

Let me share to you the thoughts of my friends. We were talking about why we couldn’t seem to find happiness in our jobs. When all of a sudden, he told me, “In college, we strive to graduate. But after our desire to wear that toga and receive that diploma has been fulfilled, we don’t know what comes next anymore. It is because we’ve been too focused on the act of graduating. We weren’t able to see beyond that activity.”

And he’s right. For four years, I strived hard to get good grades. I was running around in circles. There was nothing new and excitement comes rarely. After graduation, I got lost. You know the story already.

Here’s what I’m saying and this goes especially to the incoming college students: You go to school to prepare yourselves for a bigger learning outside the academe. You need not to be manipulated by the controlling factors in school because you will never know; some of them might just be there to destroy you. Be the authority on yourself. After all, no one else can ever know what’s good for you except you.

And please, don’t let school overrule your life. As said in the film Three Idiots, “it’s a college. It’s not a pressure cooker.” Don’t let the insistent anxieties bring you to your knees. You are more powerful than that. Master your superpower and become the superhero of your own.

Please, as I said, take the road less travelled. Don’t be afraid of hardships and sacrifices. These mould you to become a better person, a better student, and a better individual. Use it as guides but never make it the compelling power in your life.

In summary, please, dear students; please know what you really want to do. Only through that can you fully answer ‘yes’ to the questions asked earlier; with a smile of confidence and assurance that you know what you’re doing and you will take no time in reaching it.

You are students – not prisoners. You have all the right to enjoy life outside the pressure cooker. But at the same time, you have the huge responsibility to become good persons. Anyway, you still have time to make it. J

And this, I would like to make compulsory: before the school year starts, take time to browse the internet for a film called ‘Three Idiots.’ You’ll most likely understand what I’m saying even before you finish it.