Choose Passion. Choose Dreams.

Passion and Dreams. Two words that should be constantly circling in a loop in our minds. They should be the motor that fuels our daily lives, the oxygen we breathe and the philosophy we adopt. Simply because without them, life would be meaningless and flavorless.

Follow your Passions. Doing a phD in Astrophysics or a Master in Mathematics should not forbid you from doing the things you love as well on the side. For me, grad school has been a discovery of my talents and their exploitation. McGill offers incredible and endless resources to its students, from clubs to NGOs to career centers, etc. My first exposure to that was at the Activities Night at the beginning of the year. It was like a beehive. Things were in constant movement, representatives from all sorts of associations your mind could possibly imagine, from fundraising to volunteering to Acapella to photography to Fine Arts. They have it all. You just have to choose something related to your interests. To your passions. Sometimes you don’t really know what your passion is, but the beauty of clubs is that you can discover yourself, what you enjoy doing and what you are capable of.

So I registered for Borderless World Volunteers (BWV), without much conviction at first. But it was a club that changed my whole perspective of life. We were responsible for doing fundraising all year long to send volunteers abroad and implement projects with local NGOs. Last year’s destinations were Peru and Africa. We organized leadership trainings for volunteers and a conference on economic development and the challenges developing countries will face for the next 2 decades. We planned restaurant fundraising outings and open mike nights. We had fun, we met a lot of people from different backgrounds and perspectives, and we learned a lot. This is an example of a life-changing experience for me. So find your passion. Unlock your potential. Create time for the things you love. Keep that flame in you constantly vivid.

Believe in the beauty of your Dreams, and in the unmeasurable power you detain to achieve them. Realize how many possibilities lay before you, now that you are in grad school. They are as plenty as the stars in the sky, you just have to contemplate them, and then reach your hand and grasp them at the right moment.

So all your life, you have been dreaming of making a movie, writing a novel, climbing the mount Kilimanjaro or volunteering for an NGO in Southeast Asia… but never had the guts to take the leap. Instead, you fall into the trap of “I don’t have time right now, I have to focus on more important priorities. I’ll do it next year. I’m still young.” And then the years fly by, you cannot keep track of time anymore, and soon enough comes the time for “serious things”, such as giving your hand to a stranger or changing diapers to your 1-year old who does not let you sleep 2 nights in a row. Soon enough, the big dreams shrink in size, become more reasonable and moderated, because we have become wise adults. The tiny dreams are thrown in a drawer, to be retrieved one day, if we have time… before we die.

Before you know it, the Reaper is threatening you, ready to make an appointment with you any minute. Only then do you realize that your childhood dream of becoming an astronaut will just remain a naive fantasy, or that your promise to yourself as a kid to travel around the world was merely a candid wish that belongs to the fairy tale realm. You have regrets, but there is not even time for regrets, as the circle of life has already moved its wheel. So become an astronaut. Explore the world, its diversity and charm. Learn those two foreign languages you were so excited about. Become this eager actor who loves to give it all during each performance on stage. It is high time to live the life you dreamed of, and to live it now. Write down your objectives and goals on a piece of paper, and experience this endorphin rush in your brain every time you achieve one of these accomplishments, and make the child in you smile again with satisfaction. I can assure you, it is the greatest feeling on earth.

“The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire”— Field Marshal Ferdinand Foch