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Taking Chances--Celine Dion

Monday, December 28, 2009

8:50 PM

I know I posted earlier today, but I'm really excited to make this post [: First, I want to talk about colleges because it seems to come up a lot with the Juniors, and I want to put my two cents in. I've talked to a lot of Juniors who are picking schools based on the rank and the prestige. Yes, going to an ivy league will probably give you a higher chance of finding a job upon graduation, but as earth-shattering as this may be: going to HYP+Stanford+MIT might not be the best choice. Okay, so a piece of advice that most of you probably won't take, but I'm going to share something with you. Lately I've been talking to a lot of Penn kids, and I've noticed one thing: every single one of them has been wanting to go to Penn for years and has a passion for the school. Nothing can replace that passion. You can be the most intelligent student with amazing resume+recommendations+SAT scores but you will hate the next four years at a school you're not passionate about. If you do end up going to a good school, you will be surrounded by classmates who are equally qualified to be there. The only thing that sets you apart is your passion: how much you want to be at the school, how much you want to pursue your major. Yay cheesiness for the win [:

Okay secondly (?), and I'm really excited about this, my new discovery. So today I went to Barnes and Noble and read The Last Lecture because I'm addicted to Randy Pausch. I have insane respect for this man, and he's something like a hero to me. Anyways, he stressed one thing: achieving your childhood dream. And he did pretty well too. This man had crazy dreams such as being Captain Kirk and writing an article for the World Book, and he achieved every one of them. So I've realized that my childhood is quickly passing--nine more months. It's time for me to create a list of my childhood dreams to achieve in my lifetime at whatever cost. When I'm retired, I want to look back and be proud that I've achieved my childhood dreams. So today I wrote my dreams on notecards and hung them on my wall. I'm going to achieve every one of them. Of course the list is still not done, and I still have nine months to come up with more. But the ones I have on the list have been my dreams for years. So instead of creating new year resolutions, I'm going to create dreams.

My list of dreams:

1. major/minor in math- I've loved math since elementary school and want to study it professionally.

2. Study abroad in Hong Kong- I'm fascinated with this city

3. Love my job- seeing my dad love his job makes me realize that it's not worth my time pursuing a career I don't absolutely love. I want a job, which I'm excited to go to every single day.

4. Ride in a hot air balloon- need I explain?

5. Own my own nonprofit by 30- always been a dream

6. Live in the middle of a city that never sleeps- not alluding to NYC. Although that would be pretty nice [: Basically any city that has a night life.

7. Own an Old English Sheepdog- I've had this dream since I was 8

8. Surround myself with people who dream and challenge me constantly

9. Go to Greece

10. Become an elementary school teacher

I'll be adding more to my list this coming year, but I'm really really excited about this [: Hopefully I'll be able to achieve every single one of these dreams. I want to be like Randy Pausch. He never let brick walls and obstacles stand in his way of achieving his dreams.

4 comments

4 Comments:

I really dig this blog post
Just saying :p

By Johnny Bae, at December 30, 2009 at 11:34 AM

I really dig making this blog post
Just saying :p

By Connie, at December 30, 2009 at 1:03 PM

Aww Connie! I love this! Good luck in achieving your dreams :)

By Liyan F., at December 30, 2009 at 8:44 PM

I love this so much!
Especially the one about surrounding yourself with people who challenge you. That's so profound, and definitely a worthwhile goal! I hope to do the same :)

Good luck with everything!

By Sophia, at January 4, 2010 at 4:04 PM