Fantastic Fifteen #2

Hello happy people! :)

The second quote for the day is a phase which each and everyone of us has went through already and, sadly and not sadly, we shall pass through it again and again. Just because this quote is about decision, and life is all about decisions to take.

NUMBER two :

"In any moment of decision, the BEST thing you can do is the RIGHT thing, the NEXT thing is the WRONG thing, and the WORST thing you can do is NOTHING."

~ Theodore Roosevelt.

I guess the biggest decision I took in life whereby my future depended totally on it, was during my last few months in high school. Pursuing my studies needed no decision, no thinking. It was something sure already. I wanted to go to university no matter what. I was going to step into tertiary studies and the only thing that could stop me was failing high school and not having the required grades to get accepted into a university. But that was it. I wanted...no I needed to go to university.

A great opportunity was given to me during my internship in Ernst & Young. However, this option was not for me because if I did decide to dive in this world of finance, I had to commit 2 years only studying accountings, not going in an university abroad and living the life I imagined for myself after high school. So for me, it was more of a hinderance - although I will forever be grateful for not only the experience I earned from this internship but also the faith my supervisors and workmates had in me - than a blessing. I was set to go to Canada and study even more in university. And turning down this chance I was given, was the BEST and RIGHT thing I could do at the time.

The NEXT thing however, I would not say was the wrong thing but just one of the hardest. I was torn into what I could study, what I wanted to study and what I should study according to my family. You see folks, the choices of studies were never-ending. I could study anything in any field in any languages. From philosophy to statistics, from history to accountings, from law to mathematics, from Spanish to Mandarin, starting a major in Early Childhood or in French studies...the choices were as endless as the horizon. What I wanted to study was even more broad. I am the type of person you could consider as versatile. I love maths, I love languages, I love art (I admit geography and history were never my forte) but you get my point. I was this stereotypical nerdy kid to whom you would ask "What's your favorite subject, Sweetie?" and I would either take ages to reply or just name every subject in my school time table. I love every subject I take. And this mindset is awesome because you never take a course as a burden, your homework becomes fun and your readings interesting. However, how on earth was I suppose to choose a stream from all of these to start university? So I started thinking about careers I saw myself in. And since I love kids and kids love me and I've always wanted to help the society starting with the young ones, I was set to major in Early Childhood Studies. I looked into it, and my two choices were either Seneca or Ryerson.

Meanwhile, when my family members learnt what I chose my major to be, my mailbox got bombarded. See, they are all accountants or financial consultants. And they thought so should she be. But my argument was that I am much better with people than I am with numbers and don't get me started about money. So there was all this back and forth motion going on about where and what I should do. I went through this phase where I just waited maybe someone would make a decision for me. Maybe my mom would do all the procedures for me and I will just need to take the plane and go stuff my face in books. But who was I kidding? It is my future, my careers. Who better than myself would know the profession I would be best at? I knew if I did not take a decision soon, I would end up not going anywhere at all. And that would be it, that would be the WORST decision I could make because I was waiting for other people to decide for me, while I sat there idle, doing NOTHING.

I applied for universities. And because I did not want to shut out any options and restrain myself, I settled with taking baby steps and starting my first year as an Undeclared major. That was the best decision I could make. Thanks to that, I dipped into law, human nature, philosophy, stats, maths, linguistics and literature. I knew what I liked but would not pursue as a career, I knew what I was good at and what I was not. And I realized the huge advantage I had: I am fully bilingual. And here in Canada, it's like yelling on the roofs HI WORLD, CALL ME FOR JOBS and you'd be drowning under tons of job offers. So i decided to optimise all my chances and wanted my whole degree in French, ergo why I finally chose my major to be French Studies. Pretty general I know, but that would provide me with different jobs instead of one specific field.

Hence, my point is, move your booties people. Make a decision. Right now. It could end up not being the best of all decisions once you look back in a few years, maybe there was a better option, but it is a step forward in life. It is proof that you are progressing in this dog eat dog world and not stagnating. It is the evidence of new experiences you would add on to your résumé or share with your friends or tell your grand children decades from now. And that is the right thing to do: make one step forward.

On this note, I shall leave you.

Till quote numéro trois!

xoxo

just a girl out there who has still lots of decisions to make.

This is what could happen if you always base your decision making on your peers: