With Law School being the penultimate goal, for which I am certain there are many sub goals en route, I had, and continue to establish somewhat of a plan and lifestyle that I feel is best suited to helping me get there, or here. Understanding the competitiveness of Law, I have had to examine my life and how my choices, both now and in the past, contribute to how I can achieve a worthy application, and in doing so I’ve thought about changing my degree, hobbies and priorities.
Business is intriguing. The world operates in economics, financial transactions and the movement of goods. I’m not necessarily saying that these capitalist activities are great, but regardless of philosophical grounds, it’s what moves the globe – not always in the ethical direction, but sometimes. Therefore, studying it holds value; why not seek greater understanding for how systems operate and what influences political, environmental, cultural and international decisions? Business is something that will be beneficial to my future, it will teach me the processes and practices that are a part of everyday life. However, business is not easy, as it’s highly competitive and representative of courses that are curved either in your favour or against. The content is engaging and I truly enjoy the material, but in seeking good grades, great grades, I’ve contemplated switching into a different program for the potential of earning a high GPA. At the same time however, I believe my grades will be a reflection of my interests, and as such, I have decided to remain in the Beedie School of Business, as it’s has been intriguing thus far and will hopefully provide numerous opportunities beyond a degree program that I lack interest in. I don’t come from a business background and really don’t even know what the term means to be honest, but it’s been fun and enjoyable thus far, which for me, equates to a greater ability to achieve and reach my ultimate goal of enrolling in a Law program. I also just really like the guilty pleasure of watching Shark Tank.
Since football has been shelved, it feels as though I have been afforded copious amounts of time. My days are no longer full of practices, physiotherapy, ice baths, stretching, team meetings and studying playbooks. School is demanding and the lists of readings and assignments are lengthy and often intimidating, but they don’t typically fill each and every awakened hour. I needed, and continue to desire hobbies. Let me remind you, football was life since an early age, with the majority of my time being spent playing or thinking about it, so now here I am, feeling rather naked, having to determine what to do with the life before my life begins. I understand that living in the moment is valuable and that focusing on the present and now is healthy, but it’s difficult when you have goals, and even more challenging when you don’t really know what to do with yourself in the meantime. The gym, Netflix, snowboarding, badminton, obscene amounts of caffeine, paddling, hiking, gaming, family and friends are now the norm, and while I appreciate each undoubtedly, they haven’t altogether filled the void. Why? In fairness, I don’t really know, and even more, I’m not sure I want or need to, but were I a gambling man (also a new hobby), I’d say that I’m in a period of buyers remorse; I’ve made the decision, and while I’m happy with the product and actually know I need it, I also need time to include it in my life and establish an identity wherein these hobbies and people fit. In business terms, I’m rebranding, I’m using what I have to make a change, take a different route and use interests to supplement what’s missing.
Prioritizing is self-inflicted pain. I’m under constant duress in determining what needs to be done, when it needs to be completed and of course, the real silent killer, how to avoid procrastination to do it. I understand I need balance, but it’s a classic chicken or the egg scenario; do you do something fun to feel good before studying, or study and reward yourself with something exciting thereafter? Within this, where do friends, family, school and self fall within the list of priorities, and to what extent does one trump the other in given situations or times that demand your attention. In meeting my goal of becoming a lawyer, how do these priorities interact to achieve this, and when does abandoning some in favour of others have some sort of cascading impact on this goal? Philosophy aside, shit happens, and perhaps it’s not the priorities or their arrangement that matter, but the ability to be flexible and appreciate their role in your life that actually equate to your eventual success. Perhaps I’m treading too much non-empirical theory, but things really do have a tendency to level and recalibrate to what you need; something of everything important to you. I need to prioritize, that’s no mystifying secret, but there are times where working towards law will demand certain actions and others where I can relax and even enjoy this, one of my favourite hobbies.
So, here I am. Figuring things out, like everyone else, and although I’d rather be at the end of the path to law, I should appreciate the ways in which I hope and superstitiously act to get there. For now, I think I need to know myself, the one I made these decisions for in the first place, because at the end of day, I’m left with me and only me to do what needs to be done.