“The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination.” -Don Williams Jr. (American Novelist and Poet, b.1968)
I remember when I was wrestling with the decision of whether to go after this newborn fellowship–to dabble in an experience never before had by anyone–or to pursue a conventional business internship during the summer after my junior year, like I had been told I should. Never again, will I question choosing the unbeaten path and deviating from that of my peers.
At this point in our lives, we cannot afford to shy away from that (seemingly) most daunting thing that’s ever presented itself to us. There is a simple reason why opportunities can be intimidating. It might be the same reason we’re afraid of the dark. People are discomforted by the unknown and unfamiliar, but everyone needs to realize that the unknown is a tamable beast. Yes, you will have to get your hands dirty and grapple with it, but in the process you will learn it. Once you have learned it, it becomes a piece of you. You discover that this new piece of yourself is so wonderful that you begin to seek out opportunities that once seemed unconquerable.
Pull up your bootstraps and get in there! You don’t have to have all the answers right from the start. You won’t. And no one expects you to. Perhaps most surprisingly, you’re even allowed to ask for help. Though we have to buy our own milk and cereal now, we’re still in an incredibly nurturing environment. Don’t hesitate to use all the resources available to you and be proud of having the guts to do it.
Now, even with all these invaluable epiphanies I’ve had while completing this fellowship, it is still difficult to walk the talk.
Short term goals:
- I will learn from my classes with an active, inquisitive mind really savoring my final six months of undergrad.
- I will apply for any job positions that are interesting to me, regardless of my perceived chances of landing them.
- I will build, maintain, and investigate my existing professional network in order to explore all options available to me.
- I will love the heck out of the friends and family I get to see fleetingly over break next week.
- I will spend time with those in my life with lots of experience from which I can learn to guide me in making the important decisions that lie in my future.
Long term goals:
- I want to help people believe that a more just, sustainable, productive world is within reach.
- I want to show people that social enterprises are the future, not just a fad.
- I want to be challenged (and to challenge myself).
- I want to work somewhere where social compliance isn’t just an afterthought.
- I want to help others conceive our world as something complex and alive that deserves respect.
This journey challenged me in ways I had not experienced before. I was forced to face and think hard about real issues that I could not resolve after some deliberation. Real issues I had only read about previously, that I could then see, smell, hear, taste, and touch. Lowney’s Heroic Leadership tells us that part of being a leader means that
“You form a point of view on the world–where you stand, what you want, and how you will relate to others.”
I believe that this is the foundation of becoming a true change agent. One who has seen, heard, and touched the hard parts of life that have no clear answer, one who can move forward from these instances with a vision of justice and hope. A change agent must first accept the challenges before them and believe that there is a better way. Even if the path ahead is unpaved, they will not shy away from an opportunity to improve our world.
It is an impossible task to match my greatest gifts with the world’s greatest needs, because my gifts and its needs are always changing. Even so, I believe it is worthwhile to make a genuine, sincere effort in moving continuously toward this divine intersection of vocation. There are three things that will remain central forces in my life and these are authenticity, evolution, and love.
I place a strong value on living authentically in all that I do because I have come to observe that this is challenging for many people. It takes a serious sense of morality, consciousness, and engagement with your world and I feel that this is the foundation for a life well lived. The evolution of beings, nations, and ideas is what has shaped today’s complex reality. I hope to keep finding new ways of doing, and thinking, and being.
Lastly, I don’t want to stop feeling this feeling:
…of inhaling impossibly crisp, cool air while standing in the Himalayas and taking this picture. That feeling is love–for the people in my life, for my fellow humans, for the planet I walk upon everyday.