Last week, I made a decision that will supposedly change my whole life. This decision was to drop the Peruvian program. How could this change my whole life? I still don't get it. But for the past 7 days the only thing I've been hearing from my parents, teachers, counselors and even some friends is, "you are closing so many doors for your future." Doors? Closure? Future? What do these words even mean? Well, what they meant is that by dropping this program, I am "closing the door" to all Latin American opportunities, in other words, I won't be able to study in any universities or to even get a job here in LA. In my opinion, this is not 100% valid because then, how do international students study and work here in Peru? I am sure the majority of them weren't in the Peruvian program. But don't get me wrong, this is not a criticism to the Peruvian program, or to the school's faculty, this is not a criticism at all. I just want to share a little bit of what I learned last week through this process of dropping the program. I realized that we take our decisions based on the future. We are not thinking about the moment, we are always thinking ahead, about what's about to come. I think we should all be aware of our future, being able to think long-term is definitely a skill we should all acquire. But of course, like everything else in life, it has a limit. If we have a life, it is to live it and enjoy it as much as we can, not to be worried about what may happen the next day, the next month or even the next year. That's why YOLO exists, a motto that motivates you to do everything you want to do and live the moment. Additionally, I noticed that we are not able to explore our passions and do the things we like because we are too worried about the consequences, about what will happen if... This is not the way it should be! If you like to play the piano and you want to be a professional pianist, then you should take music classes and apply to a university that recognizes this talent. But this is not what normally happens, people think about the future before thinking about themselves. Most of these people that wish to be pianists, end up studying Math, Science, Economics, and English because they want to be successful wealthy men. And many years later, they stop and realize that they grew old and they didn't enjoy their lives like they could have, how they wasted so many years doing things they didn't like, instead of choosing their passions. What happened to YOLO in these cases? The last four years of school are the most stressful years of your life because they make us believe that you have your entire future in your hands, you carry that pressure in your shoulders for so many years that at some point, you break down. Instead of taking the classes you are passionate about for the last years in school, you need to complete the requirements for graduation, that include taking classes you don't really enjoy. And again, all of this because of what? The future. Nowadays, everything we do affect our future. From what we ate for breakfast to who we hung out with that night, it all comes back to you in the future. When are we going to stop and start doing what we like, what we are passionate about? This is something I did last week, I dropped the Peruvian program, not because I had something against it, on the contrary, I actually enjoyed my spanish class. The reason I dropped it was because I am passionate about psychology, it is something I want to do in my future, in college, in my job and in my life. Yes, I may be taking the risk of "closing some doors" right now, but what I really want to do is to live the moment and enjoy my last years of school, my classes, my teachers and my friends.
4 Comments
Corey Topf
9/14/2015 10:24:43 am
Ariana, thanks for sharing this with me! You raise some excellent arguments throughout your post, and I'm impressed by your tone and professionalism. It's clear that you've taken some time to maturely think through this decision.
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Emilio
9/15/2015 07:01:16 am
Amazing blog!I was able to enjoy ever single word you wrote!I loved how many people can connect whith and specially the IA students.I think that what you are mentioning in your arguments are 100% true because yes we have to have in mind the future but we also have to have in mind the present.If I would need to give you one piece of advice it would be to maybe make a better conclusion so you can end stronger a strong blog post.
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Chiara Dasso
9/15/2015 07:07:13 am
My favorite part of your blog is the way you concluded your main idea, clearly re-stating the point of the blog and how your final decision will bring much passion into your learning. I also liked the way you set a certain tone throughout the entire blog post, making your ideas and word usage standout with personality.
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Aaron Alcodray
9/15/2015 09:44:15 am
Mama Loor! Initially, I read this post wanting more information about what experiences (or lack thereof) led to your decision, but I came to realize that the most important thing about this post is the way you've focused your attention on what really matters: yourself. The point of this post wasn't to criticize the OPP or bash the DP, but to celebrate a subtle shift that's occurred in your mindset.
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