“You can’t do it”, “in your dreams”, “too difficult for you”, “we don’t think you’ll succeed” – I can keep going on with all the pessimist sentences I have been hearing throughout my life.
Unfortunately, we always have to struggle with proving ourselves to our environment, our colleagues, bosses, friends and family. From the moment you go to school you are thrown into this battle, this competition with the others. Even though we all say that we do not study to get better grades than others, we are almost forced to compete. A better University, more experience or knowledge in the particular work field, a variety of languages we try to learn. It is always us, proving ourselves to others and while we are on this high speed track; do we really stop from time to time and evaluate what we want? What we think we are capable of?
Today, I can say that I have completed my Bachelor in Law and that I am currently finishing my Masters in International Law, that I have been working at the Ministry for several years, that I have been traveling, interning at the Dutch Embassy, learning new languages such as Arabic this year, became the Resident Manager at ISH, started to work as a Dean’s Fellow and a member of the board at the University, became a new member of a Turkish Dance Crew with a performance soon at the Verizon Center, started to work as a volunteer for Syrian refugees by translating Turkish documents, and if there is time left between readings and the work out, quality time with friends and family. Why am I telling this? Definitely not to show off, rather trying to let all of us sit down for a minute and think of what we have accomplished so far and if we would go back in time, would we even imagine where we are right now?
We have traveled miles to be here with a goal which is unique in its own way for every one of us. We are here because we have been listening to that little voice within, we had the courage to follow and be “different” than our local friends who might not understand our journey. We are here because we believe in ourselves. We believe that we can accomplish certain short and long term goals we have in our minds.
Success is such a broad word; who defines success and what does that actually mean for us in our personal lives? Success for one can mean a family, for others a career, or both; maybe earning a lot and traveling around the world, maybe making the world a better place. In my world, success comes to the point where you look in the mirror and can be proud of yourself. In the rush from going to school to work to additional classes in an institution to an internship at an NGO, we do sometimes forget to stop and look back.
The other day I was watching a speech of President Obama where he was talking to the interns of the White House where he said the following: ”Worry less about what you want to be, and think more about what you want to do,” and I think that is where you find your own success. Believe in yourself and think about what you want to do, to reach for your own success.
