Are You Feeling Lucky?
Well, it’s official. I am now an A-grade holder in all 3 of my degrees, a bachelor of science with honours, majoring in Business Information Systems. It is very exciting to think about the many opportunities that await me, even more so to know that, now, I don’t need to return to study for an MBA.
I am also very proud of my achievements in 2017, which have been very much down to my own hard work and discipline. This year, I have been fortunate enough to take a break from studying and spend my time being an avid volunteer with the World Youth Alliance; and have been able to spend some great quality time with my loving family.
As much as I enjoyed spending the previous year at home, it was very difficult to say goodbye to my friends and fellow classmates who I know will never be forgotten. Having just said goodbye to all of my friends, and having finished my degree at Melbourne, I am now back in Ireland to spend the next few months with my family before my graduation. We are excited to welcome our first born in August 2018!
In this year, I am planning to continue to make the most of my time and my hard work and to further increase my value and professional expertise, so that I can work towards being self-sufficient, financially, and independent from my parents.
I plan to use this blog in the upcoming months to share my insights into the world of work and business in Ireland and Australia, as well as to reflect upon my recent experiences. I will be sharing my insights into career development, education, and how to successfully prepare for a career in a business environment.
Like this:
When I was growing up, I always looked forward to the first day of my first year of high school.
It would be my first time stepping into the large imposing structure of my new high school, accompanied with a lot of excitement, anticipation, and perhaps a touch of anxiety.
I always envisioned my life as an exciting new adventure; always wanting to grow into the young lady I would eventually become. I had high aspirations for my future and imagined my dreams being filled with knowledge, understanding, and experience.
Although this was a big step for me, I wouldn’t say it was something that I took lightly.
Being so ambitious, my mother knew how important it was for me to do well in my studies and so was always very supportive of my ambitions, pushing me to continue studying and working hard. I was also under the watchful eye of my father who often reminded me of the importance of completing my work with the confidence of a completed job.
As you can imagine, as a young teenager in high school, this was a significant decision and not one that I made lightly. However, in this day and age, with our society now demanding more from young people and our society being saturated with so much information, it’s quite easy to be overwhelmed and to feel intimidated by the knowledge of how you can expect to be accepted and liked.
Many years have passed and while I have no regrets of the choice I made at that time, it is quite clear that my views and ambitions have changed quite drastically over the years.
I’ve since matured and am now in a position where I value many more things that the simple knowledge I had when I was younger. For example, in those days, I did not have as many options as to where I could study to further my academic goals. This meant that I needed to choose wisely so that I did not face any disappointment or failure in life; and instead, I could confidently plan my life with the best possible decisions I could have made. As we all know, one of the major advantages of studying in a tertiary education is that you can choose where you would like to study and to meet your academic goals.
I always appreciated the ability to have a little more control over my life, my future, and what I would choose to study. However, in recent times, I’ve realized that some of the things that I valued as important back in those days, aren’t really important anymore. In fact, I would argue that they are negative influences that are harming our society. This includes many factors such as school grades, academic ranking, being first in class, and even the grades you receive during your university studies, which can hold you back and actually prevent you from obtaining a future career.
You can see that when I was younger I did have ambitions that were much greater than many of the other high school kids; and I was always determined and focused on achieving my goals. But in doing so, I neglected to fully appreciate the importance of other factors such as being a part of the school community and team spirit; valuing my achievements as being part of a group and understanding how it contributed to the entire school community. In addition, I valued the importance of my studies being valued by others around me.
In looking at my current aspirations, one of my main goals and hopes for my future career is to ensure that I make a difference in the world that surrounds me. It is for this reason that I am currently pursuing a degree in Business Information Systems with the goal to help people as well as contribute and support the progress of business and technology in this increasingly digital world.
This is where my perspective has changed and is something that I hope will help to change the minds of many individuals who were also influenced by such factors as grade ranking, ranking in sport, academic ranking, and the fear of failing.
I have come to realize that all those factors are something that are not important anymore. In fact, I am proud to have been given this opportunity to be the first female in my family to attend university and to be where I am today.
My advice to you young people, especially those who are in high school or even students in primary school and secondary school, is to continue to aim high and never settle for anything less than your personal best.
Also, consider the different interests you have; try them out and see how they may help you achieve your own goals and ambitions.
Don’t allow anyone to dictate to you that you must do what you don’t enjoy and in the end, I promise that you’ll be happy with what you chose and how it has made a difference in the world around you.
There is no one formula for how to reach your dreams and it’s not a straight line route. Success is not a straight line and it’s certainly not a destination or “a finish line” that you have to arrive at and it’s not something that can be measured in numbers. Success is a journey that must be made with passion and a commitment towards a lifetime of learning and personal development. You’ll often see in many of the achievements and accomplishments of successful people the many struggles and challenges they had to overcome in order to reach their goals, as well as the perseverance that they had to develop in order to continue to achieve their goals in the face of obstacles. So it’s imperative that you keep your goals in mind and set high goals and that you give yourself time to pursue them and succeed.
Be prepared to learn. Prepare for difficulties. Know that if you really want something, you can go through many difficulties to get there, but remember to be patient and understand that those difficulties are necessary in order for you to be able to reach that success. But remember not to be afraid of failure because every time that you fail, it will make you stronger and it will make you wiser. When you fail, you will know what will work and what won’t work and you’ll have learned something valuable from your experience. So be patient and persevere and enjoy the ride because, in the end, you’ll be able to achieve so much more from your dream than you think possible.
Keep on learning and read as much as possible, read about other people’s experiences and successes because you never know what can motivate you and help you develop and succeed. Just by reading this, you’ve already improved by keeping this post in mind, by reading it; and through reading, you’ll start to reflect on all the knowledge that you’ve accumulated in the form of other people’s success stories and from many different sources. When it comes to success and your own ambitions, keep reading and writing about other people’s experiences.
And remember: It’s easier to stay where you are because you don’t have to do anything that you don’t like, and it’s difficult to do something you really want to do; and not only will you find that what you want to do becomes a part of you and something that you enjoy doing, but it will become an extension of yourself as well. And it’s not always easy to
