Dreams
What is a person without a dream?
I used to think that having or not having a dream makes no difference. I thought it was perfectly normal not to have a dream. Well, I suppose it is normal, but after having found my dream, I realized the importance of having one. You see, people often associate dreams with big aspirations; that you want to be the best criminal lawyer, or that you want to be a forensics pathologist, or that you want to be an established pianist and go to Vienna, etc. Wanting a family, or finding the love of your life and spend the rest of your lives happily together, or wanting to take over your daddy's business, or wanting to be happy are all dreams too. You don't necessarily need to aspire to be someone reputable for your dream to be a dream. It can be as simple as being a good mother.
I spent twenty years searching for my dream, and I never thought that I would find one. I used to be unmotivated and complacent, thinking that I should just do things that I am good at and live my life without an aim. When I got into Linguistics, I was thrilled of course, because I love language and I would want to do it. I hit a few corners during my first semester though, and I thought I wouldn't do well in Linguistics. I was unmotivated and refused to put in extra effort for better grades because I kept thinking that it would be impossible for me to be established in this field. During the one-month holiday, I really took the time to reflect. I think it was fate that I found Randy Pausch's book on his last lecture. I happened to be at that part of the bookstore where his book was placed and I didn't know why but I just picked up the book and decided to buy it. I wanted to be inspired then, and I thought maybe this guy would do the trick. And he really did. I read through the night to finish the book and I was indescribably touched. I started thinking about what I wanted to do with the rest of my life and realized that I really love Linguistics and I want to do well in it. I want to be a forensics linguist and to do that, I need to further my studies after completing my Honours in NTU.
I have always dreamed of working in forensics. I was and still am crazy about crime fiction and I love CSI, Hawaii Five-O, basically all crime shows from English to Cantonese. I wouldn't want to be a policewoman because I don't want to be at the frontline doing all the guns and stuff. I was interested in cutting up bodies, but because I didn't take biology in Secondary school and I am basically talentless in biology, I ditched the idea. I thought, hmmm, how about profiling? That's pretty cool. But I hadn't a clue how I should pursue that actually. Then I found out one day that I could be a forensics linguist! My eyes basically lit up and that was actually one of the reasons why I went into Linguistics. It was one thing that I love language, but having the prospect of being a forensics linguist really made me see the light at the end of the tunnel because my dream of working in the forensics field can still be accomplished! Furthermore, I love language! Isn't this equivalent to getting the best of both worlds? And you know what, I can sort of do profiling with forensics linguistics too.
People keep telling me that it's impossible to pursue a career in the forensics field in Singapore. They keep saying that the market is too small because there are only a handful of people who do forensics for a living and it is impossible that I would get in. I was beaten by those words at first, because I doubted myself. I wondered if I actually had the capability to get into the forensics field because the people there are just too intelligent. Then Randy Pausch came into the picture. Nothing in this world is easy. I know that the path I am taking is an extremely difficult one, but it isn't impossible. I just need to WORK HARD. That's it. WORK HARD. I can hear all you cynics out there snorting and rolling your eyes, thinking that diligence isn't going to bring me far. But you know what, I have something else too, passion and motivation. Brick walls are there for a reason. They are there to show us how much we want something. They are there to keep out the people who do not want it that much. They are there to keep out the other people. I am not the "other people". I am the one who is going to climb over those brick walls.
Randy Pausch taught me so much through his book and he said to never be afraid to work towards your dreams. We will definitely fall, but we can always pick ourselves up again. He talked about his dream and how he actually achieved it. There were times he thought he wouldn't be able to, but in the end he did. He was never afraid to ask, something which I really need to learn because I am always afraid to ask. There were so many things in his book that he talked about and it would be good to read the book for yourself to really understand and learn. This book has since been my most cherished book and it means a lot to me because it helped me find my dream and motivated me. I have never worked so hard in my life before and I put in a lot of effort for this semester. I am even planning the years after my graduation and where I will be going for further studies. I know I am capable of putting in more effort in my work and I will definitely give it my all next semester. I have hit lots of rough patches this semester and life was much harder than the last semester, but you know what, I was actually happy studying and completing my assignments. No matter how hard it got and how much I cried, I never once thought of giving up, and that was when I realized how much strength a dream can give you.
One more thing that he taught me: sometimes dreams can change; you don't have to stubbornly stick to one because in the course of pursuing that dream, you may find yourself discovering something else that you love even more and would want to do that even more. Of course for now I am working towards being a forensics linguist, but who knows I may just find another dream? But I would really want to do linguistics for the rest of my life, that's for sure.
I used to think that having or not having a dream makes no difference. I thought it was perfectly normal not to have a dream. Well, I suppose it is normal, but after having found my dream, I realized the importance of having one. You see, people often associate dreams with big aspirations; that you want to be the best criminal lawyer, or that you want to be a forensics pathologist, or that you want to be an established pianist and go to Vienna, etc. Wanting a family, or finding the love of your life and spend the rest of your lives happily together, or wanting to take over your daddy's business, or wanting to be happy are all dreams too. You don't necessarily need to aspire to be someone reputable for your dream to be a dream. It can be as simple as being a good mother.
I spent twenty years searching for my dream, and I never thought that I would find one. I used to be unmotivated and complacent, thinking that I should just do things that I am good at and live my life without an aim. When I got into Linguistics, I was thrilled of course, because I love language and I would want to do it. I hit a few corners during my first semester though, and I thought I wouldn't do well in Linguistics. I was unmotivated and refused to put in extra effort for better grades because I kept thinking that it would be impossible for me to be established in this field. During the one-month holiday, I really took the time to reflect. I think it was fate that I found Randy Pausch's book on his last lecture. I happened to be at that part of the bookstore where his book was placed and I didn't know why but I just picked up the book and decided to buy it. I wanted to be inspired then, and I thought maybe this guy would do the trick. And he really did. I read through the night to finish the book and I was indescribably touched. I started thinking about what I wanted to do with the rest of my life and realized that I really love Linguistics and I want to do well in it. I want to be a forensics linguist and to do that, I need to further my studies after completing my Honours in NTU.
I have always dreamed of working in forensics. I was and still am crazy about crime fiction and I love CSI, Hawaii Five-O, basically all crime shows from English to Cantonese. I wouldn't want to be a policewoman because I don't want to be at the frontline doing all the guns and stuff. I was interested in cutting up bodies, but because I didn't take biology in Secondary school and I am basically talentless in biology, I ditched the idea. I thought, hmmm, how about profiling? That's pretty cool. But I hadn't a clue how I should pursue that actually. Then I found out one day that I could be a forensics linguist! My eyes basically lit up and that was actually one of the reasons why I went into Linguistics. It was one thing that I love language, but having the prospect of being a forensics linguist really made me see the light at the end of the tunnel because my dream of working in the forensics field can still be accomplished! Furthermore, I love language! Isn't this equivalent to getting the best of both worlds? And you know what, I can sort of do profiling with forensics linguistics too.
People keep telling me that it's impossible to pursue a career in the forensics field in Singapore. They keep saying that the market is too small because there are only a handful of people who do forensics for a living and it is impossible that I would get in. I was beaten by those words at first, because I doubted myself. I wondered if I actually had the capability to get into the forensics field because the people there are just too intelligent. Then Randy Pausch came into the picture. Nothing in this world is easy. I know that the path I am taking is an extremely difficult one, but it isn't impossible. I just need to WORK HARD. That's it. WORK HARD. I can hear all you cynics out there snorting and rolling your eyes, thinking that diligence isn't going to bring me far. But you know what, I have something else too, passion and motivation. Brick walls are there for a reason. They are there to show us how much we want something. They are there to keep out the people who do not want it that much. They are there to keep out the other people. I am not the "other people". I am the one who is going to climb over those brick walls.
Randy Pausch taught me so much through his book and he said to never be afraid to work towards your dreams. We will definitely fall, but we can always pick ourselves up again. He talked about his dream and how he actually achieved it. There were times he thought he wouldn't be able to, but in the end he did. He was never afraid to ask, something which I really need to learn because I am always afraid to ask. There were so many things in his book that he talked about and it would be good to read the book for yourself to really understand and learn. This book has since been my most cherished book and it means a lot to me because it helped me find my dream and motivated me. I have never worked so hard in my life before and I put in a lot of effort for this semester. I am even planning the years after my graduation and where I will be going for further studies. I know I am capable of putting in more effort in my work and I will definitely give it my all next semester. I have hit lots of rough patches this semester and life was much harder than the last semester, but you know what, I was actually happy studying and completing my assignments. No matter how hard it got and how much I cried, I never once thought of giving up, and that was when I realized how much strength a dream can give you.
One more thing that he taught me: sometimes dreams can change; you don't have to stubbornly stick to one because in the course of pursuing that dream, you may find yourself discovering something else that you love even more and would want to do that even more. Of course for now I am working towards being a forensics linguist, but who knows I may just find another dream? But I would really want to do linguistics for the rest of my life, that's for sure.