In March, the superintendent of my high school passed away at the age of 56. At the funeral, his son who is close to my age, spoke. He shared about their dream to take a trip down Highway One in California. Something they’ll now never get to do together. 

 

It was a sobering moment to hear that. It made me question my philosophy of how to live a fulfilling life. Many of my ambitions and goals in the past four years have been focused around career progression or academics. While these are important aspects of life and provide some fulfillment to me, there’s much more to life beyond that.  

 

This academic year, I was able to check a major educational goal of mine off: studying abroad for a semester. While in Japan, I yearned for home. A weekend at my parents house with a home cooked meal and a walk around the park. A month after I returned to the states, I yearned for Japan. A trip on the train with my friends with no concrete plans but eating and wondering. I’ve come to the conclusion that the grass is always greener on the other side so we might as well enjoy the side we are currently on. 

 

“Life is a flat line. There are no starts and finishes, only the start and the end. There is no starting gun that shoots off and then your life starts. It’s already went off. The time happening between the start and end is right now. What you do with that time is what matters.” This was a piece of advice shared by one of my closest peers who graduated this May. 

 

“There’s more to life than your career and work.” This was another piece of advice shared by another one of my closest peers who graduated this may. 

 

It felt like closure to the words I heard earlier this year at the funeral. 

 

For the past four years, I feel like I’ve always been focused on the next big milestone. Achieving the next goal. I haven’t really made the time to slow down and look around me. Smell the flowers. Appreciate the little things. All advice that you often hear and feels cliche but might be some of the most important words you hear. 

I think I’m going to spend the next year slowing down. Make time for myself and those who I love. Prioritize personal interests over what’s expected of me. Put my whole effort into everything I do.