In the today’s world, people have a misconception of what their life goals are because they have a the wrong perception of what makes them happy. While some live to make money because they feel that it’s the ultimate and only thing that will make you content, others spend their entire life following their passions--making little money and living extremely happy. This got me thinking. What makes you happy? How do you know what makes you happy?
The truth is simple, no matter how much money you make as long as you are pursuing something you love you’ll be happy. However, many people leave school, take on career that will give them a good lifestyle, and end up miserable (not all of them but most). The problem is that these people don’t get the chance to explore their passions when they are young. Many schools and universities around the world offer tons of content and student just seat in the class hating it from the beginning to the end. Some fail because they see no relevance in the work while others work hard only to achieve the good grades they need to be successful. Individuals who can’t see the value in content or sincerely learn it well enough is because they aren’t making connections. Instead of spending so much time learning from textbooks and memorizing, students should receive part of the day some content to have general knowledge, but they should also have the opportunity to explore what they love, their talents, and what inside makes them joyful.
This is one of the reasons I joined the IA. Before 10th grade, I was indecisive for what I wanted to do with my life. In two years I was going to graduate highschool and I was going to pursue a career without knowing if that is what I truly wanted to do. However, everything changed once I join the IA, even though we had set projects and some parameters I was able to explore different areas in the projects on things I was interested in. For example, in Blendz, I have been able to work in depth on the analytical and marketing section, this is something I might want to purse in the future and through Blendz, I’ve been able to explore how this works and what it is all about. I’ve realized that there are many things I love about analytics, but there are also some limitation which I would have never identified if I wouldn't have tried this before. This is how I’ve come to understand that while you explore and look into different areas little-by-little you’ll find your purpose in life. Many times, we think we have the right idea of what we want to do with our life, but once we try it for the first time we realize that it wasn’t what we expected. Once your purpose is defined, it will allow all this content to become meaningful to you. This is when you will start to dig deeper into different areas, and this is where you will start making connections to all those hours you spent learning about that brain-breaking topics you hated so much.
Furthermore, it isn’t about having the time to explore your interest, but also about having the tools and the motivation to do so. The grit. This week, during our socratic seminar, we were reading an article about the most important course. Through the article, the main idea was that students should learn to be critical thinkers and that learning how to think is the most valuable skill you can attain. This is because as you learn to evaluate everything and think deep about things this is how you will make the best choices and know what adds value to your life. Therefore, I realized how critical thinking skills are so essential. I learned that you have to question and challenge everything and everyone. Get your word out there, find why. If you learn to do so, you’ll eliminate all that junk that has no influence or inspires you.
And as always, thanks for reading.