The other day someone asked me, “What’s your dream?” It sounded like an easy question but I was dumbfounded, “I don’t have 0ne,” I laughed to distract myself from the feeling of panic that was rising. It wasn’t until my other friend said, “Come on, yes you do. If you could do anything but this?” Then it finally hit me, “Oh, I would be a writer.” Which was immediately followed by questions about why I don’t do that. “Because I grew up! And I don’t have any talent or anything worth saying,” I joked trying to move the subject away from myself.
Yes, when I was younger I had always dreamed of being a writer. Then, I really did grow up and realized that a writing career is not only hard but basically impossible to succeed in. So I ended up studying civil engineering, dreaming about working on green cities, like what is currently being implemented in China, and other green projects that would make the world a better place. Working on projects that would introduce natural ecosystems to busy urban environments have always been my idea of a perfect job.
Yet, the problem is that I haven’t thought about my dreams in a long time. I have become so focused on the daily struggles that I have forgotten about the what brought me here. Being in college, you become so worried about passing this class and finding an internship/co-op and doing things for this club and that club…the list just never ends. It becomes really easy to lose perspective of why you started this in the first place.
The simple question of, “What’s your dream?” made me think, “Am I working towards my dream?” Am I taking the classes I should be to work on the kinds of projects I want to be? I decided to focus on water resources, will this concentration allow me to work on sustainability projects? I may be freaking out (just a little bit) about major life decisions, but I see this as a good thing. This allows me to refocus. I have been so busy with the little goals that I have been ignoring my original dreams.
Have you been doing the same? I’m not saying that I have made a five year plan to achieve my dreams. But, I do think that it is important that we honor our dreams and don’t forget them. Dreams are what make us into the people we are and we shouldn’t forget to them. Maybe we won’t achieve them in the near future, if at all, but it’s important that we at least strive towards them. This way we can only get better in whatever we are doing.
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