There are only a very few times when I look back at my life, and wonder why I've been doing the things I'd done. I'm forced to go through the process now as I'm trying to draft my Statement of Purpose - The single most interesting part of any university application is the SoP, where you're given all the freedom you'd want to highlight your achievements, enlist your passions and even explain a few of your shortcomings.
I was quite excited when I began writing mine, and I filled nearly a page and a half listing things that I'd just done in my school days in less than ten minutes. There was a logical flow of things, and I knew exactly what to write about them. But the moment the chronology led to my college life, or even just the beginning of it, I fail to see any explanation. Weaving a story out of nothing is simple. But weaving a story out of mistakes isn't.
But now, all that I can say is this:
What I really love doing is X. But I got into doing Y just because of some Z. In my process of doing Y I stopped doing X. And now I want to do A because its the closest I can get to X. :-/
-- I'm not sure about the A part, but I'm pretty sure the XYZ part is true in varying orders for many of us.
Apart for the cliché it carries, "Life is too short to do things that you don't like doing" makes a lot more sense in retrospection. Of course I know its still not too late to make amends, and I'm not getting all emo here, but the crux of it all is just, (atleast as a note to self) - Don't let anything stop you from following your heart. It might not be immediately possible, but this is the ideal time to reflect upon the things you'd want to do and try to get to doing them as soon as you can.
2 comments:
"Weaving a story out of nothing is simple. But weaving a story out of mistakes isn't."
I will say both are equally tough. For example "Seinfeld" is built on nothing. I think it was tough for them to write and sell it. And as I said earlier, mistakes maketh a man. They define us more clearly, exactly than successes which blur and don't warrant any introspection.
I never realized the existential angle to the Statement of Purpose. Nice idea there. Very good post.
:-) Agreed, the grass just always looks greener on the other side. And agreed, mistakes maketh an man, though only if they are reflected upon and corrective measures taken.
Thanks, I only wish my SoP makes half as much sense as this post does.
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