It’s tough being an average student. I would know because I am one. Always striving for that A grade boundary, only to just scrape into a B. “Hey, at least most other people got the same mark as I did,” I say in an attempt to justify my lack of academic aptitude. I often picture a grim future of working a mundane job under the watchful eye of our future academically gifted bosses. But I have come to the realisation that it does not have to be this way. Surely, I should defined by more than just my academic merit?
One way to better myself, I have come to realise, is to go out and create opportunities for instead of waiting for opportunities to be given out. In early life and pre-university years, opportunities were handed to me on a silver plate. Teachers and school staff were always encouraging students to make most of what we had on offer. As I transitioned into university, leaving the twilight of my youth, I have found opportunities to be given out fewer and farther between. The responsibility has been placed on me now, to go out and create my own experiences. However, studying, commuting, working and keeping up a social-life keeps us so busy it is difficult to find time to do anything else. It is difficult to build up the motivation to take that first step.
I believe the key to taking that first step is starting small. Opportunity is like the domino effect. A small domino can knock over a slightly larger one, resulting in a cumulative effect, with the last domino being hundreds of times bigger than what you began with. With each opportunity, you build networks, learn new skills and make new friends, who can help you move onto bigger and better things. In turn, passing on what you have learnt to less experienced friends and students, and introducing them to your networks helps create opportunities for others.
Although academic grades are important, we should not feel hopeless when we do not attain the highest grades. There are many ways to self-improvement in terms of career outlook, and taking the initiative and creating opportunities for yourself is just one of them. Stepping out of one’s comfort zone is difficult and often times scary but well worth what you can gain. And with that, I will leave you with this quote, “The wise man (or woman) creates more opportunities than they find”.