Each day we make a countless number of “choices.”
These choices range from which pair of shoes to wear to am I going to perform at this Open Mic Night to what classes I am going to take next semester.
But as we grow older, the gravity of many of these “choices” gradually transform themselves into “decisions.”
Our college years are some of our most transformational years.
They act as a bridge between who we were yesterday and who we want to become tomorrow.
Through this time, there are so many avenues towards reaching the one true goal: become the best versions of ourselves that we can become.
With so many possibilities, it becomes easy to feel confused as to which route to take.
When encountering this question, I recollect one of the best pieces of advice that someone had given me “listen to your heart and do what your heart desires.”
This phrase has guided me in a multitude of areas and helped me when it appears “choices” have elevated themselves into “decisions.”
As Tech students, we are surrounded by so many great opportunities to catalyze our journeys towards reaching our goals whether that is growing as people while understanding more about the world around us, learning more about our chosen fields, or simply building on our current strengths.
With the return of in-person clubs, students are getting to become more involved in more clubs and in a more consistent fashion.
As a result, many times I have found myself having conversations with my peers leading into questions about where we want to continue to devote our time.
When we simply think about the answer to this with only our minds, we find ourselves getting more confused than when we first brought up the question.
At times, there is only one place that truly knows what we want in life and that is our source for where we should listen to: our heart.
When my mind is in conflict and I have chosen to listen to my heart, I have always walked away from my decisions satisfied. As we grow older, we fall under the fear of judgement and can also become focused on the end results.
But, when we keep in mind our goals and why we are doing what we are in the first place, we can always walk away from our experiences with full satisfaction knowing that we got the most out of each “mystery box” life sent our way.
This is an idea that can be translated in many areas whether it is performing, joining that club you always wanted, or that new sport you wanted to try.
College is an important time where we get to explore a vast variety of new areas.
In these years, take a chance, listen to your heart, explore beyond your comfort zone and unlock new pathways that you may not have known even existed.
When you do this, it can allow for the greatest growth to occur.
I’ll leave with you with this: Life moves fast.
At times, we can not wait for the perfect moment.
We should seize the moment and go for it.
This allows for us to truly grow to help us reach who we want to become tomorrow.
While we cannot totally eliminate the idea of “No Regrets,” when we listen to our hearts and choose to take those risks, we hopefully get closer to walking away from each experience with no regrets; instead, we can start to think like One Republic’s lyric “I owned every second that this world could give” and that’s what counts.