Life is about the journey.

I’m the kind of person who needs an end goal. I plan and plan for that end goal, but once I get to it I feel a little empty. That is, till I find a new one. When I’m pursuing a goal I feel like I have a purpose, I feel motivated because I’m moving forward. Now that I’m doing this MSc course, I’m asking myself about what I want to do with my life. What is my next step? But instead of only thinking of the end goal and how I’ll get there I’m thinking about the actual journey.

Through life it’s always been, “do well in this so you can do well in that” and now I’ve gone through the education system I’m realising that the journey is actually what’s really important. Sure, work hard to get into a great program, but if you don’t enjoy it what’s the point? If you’re not living life but simply doing at life then what’s the point?

I just finished a great TV show called Leverage, it’s about a crew of thieves with specialist skills who Robin Hood the crap out of terrible companies. The show was great because each of the crew had troubled pasts but they worked through it together as a family through their cons. We learn so much about their characters not with dedicated episodes with plenty of flashbacks, but through their actions. After the final episode I didn’t feel a sense of loss, I felt pleased, because I knew that the story would continue for the characters just that I wouldn’t be part of it anymore. And I know it’s a little silly to be drawing so much from a work of fiction, but it really made me think about how life works. Through our journey we meet and experience amazing people and we become part of their stories for a while. Then we move on, and continue to learn about ourselves and about others that we encounter on our journey.

I’m slowly learning that life isn’t about the goals. It’s one of those things that people say but it takes a while to really understand what it really means. When I look back at my life in university, I don’t just think about my degree, I think back to the people I loved, to the people I encountered, to the things I saw and the difference between the person that went in and came out. That is the sum of my university experience.

Here are a few pictures that have a special place in my heart. These pictures trigger an important memory for me from the past two years both happy and sad.