AGE IS JUST a number, they say, but we all know how much time factors in our short lives. It’s times like these when you realize that you are an adult, and your future is up to you. Just how do you “adult?”
I’d be lying if I said that college isn’t fun. I have many regrets, sure, but I also treasure the good and bad memories. Success? Great! I can keep going. A failure? Try again, I guess. However, as time passes by, things get increasingly harder to go with the flow and improvise along the way.
“Is it worth it?”
Success is a three-way factor. Time, money, and effort. You can be the most hard-working person there is and still fall if you don’t have the right resources to make your dream come true. You could study for years but without the effort, nothing will happen. You could even have all the time in the world but without determination, how will you prosper? These are the things you consider when deciding on what to invest in next in a life governed by a need to triumph.
“Invest.” Because that’s what this is. We invest in the future we want to achieve. The medium we pour our hearts into with the hopes of generating future income and attaining a sense of satisfaction. The question for every investment you makes is simple, “Is it worth it in the end?”
A friend of mine wanted to start a business but was torn on how to proceed. After all, it sounded much easier as a concept—but where will he get the time to manage that business when you have a degree to focus on. Although many students work and dive into entrepreneurship, not everyone has the grit and grind to keep it standing. Not to mention the attention span needed for this kind of work—schoolwork and business both—would be too much and eventually ruin his interest in other things.
A lot of people have their own “diskarte”. Because when push comes to shove, there are others out there that can go beyond the limit and think of other means to continue their dream—or change it into something that aligns more with what suits them. You can depend on a lot of people, but in the end, only you can decide what action to take.
When you weigh the risks and rewards, you logically have to go for the most reasonable option—that is the one with less chance of failure. Yet, desperation isn’t exactly rational, to begin with. And that’s one thing that always drives the average college student, desperation. “How can I save my career?”
I had a plan. Many of us college seniors had a plan, or made one at some point then scrapped it, but these things come at a cost. Years go by and now I have a new plan, which is tentative at best. Amid my own desperation, I decided to walk to the arduous end. This is my investment after all.
The heart of your decisions will always be you. Responsibility is a part of growing up. Even if you say things could have been better, words without actions are meaningless. Mistakes are a part of life, but it never gets easier when you disappoint people other than yourself. Ambitions that reach the deep end can still be salvaged. College is not a race. It doesn’t matter when, just make it until the end.
