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Thursday 29 November 2012

Following my own desire



Even when I am so close to the end of my course. I keep asking myself why I am studying law. Why?The blog post from earlier this year on course transfers had me wondering. For all the study I have done in my life I feel I must not be too bright if I have only worked things out this week. 
You see I have the answer to why I am studying law. 
And it goes like this: I liked the sound of it, it impressed my family and even my sister started introducing me by my future career. It was akin to name-dropping. It made me feel accepted in my family.

At the beginning of the year I answered my lecturer with pure honesty when she went around the class asking who intended to practice law when they finished – all answered yes, but me. She told me a law degree was the new arts degree – it could take you anywhere. The other students looked at me like I was mad when I said I was planning to do a Master of Arts by research next year. 
But no education is ever wasted – I want that engraved on my headstone, by the way. 
Still, it is important to do what you want to do and not let your choices be influenced by what others think of them, you own those decisions and you have to live with them.
I like to write, to edit, and to read. This is what I do as a part time job. It is what I see myself doing forever, not law.

I met a man who went to university and became an accountant. He worked as one for as long as he could before he realized that it was botanical science that was his passion and now he is spending his time outdoors and studying with a passion he never felt with accounting. 
Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should. From here on in, I am focusing on my desire; study can and should be enjoyed.

5 comments:

  1. All the best with your Master of Arts next year. I hope it'll be such an enriching experience for you :)

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    1. Thank you Jodi, I am very excited about the MA, so that has to be a good thing! :)

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  3. Hello Jo. I am glad that you have followed your desire to do something you enjoy, instead of living under your family's shadow.

    I had encountered a similar situation in accounting tutorial two years ago, when the tutor asked me what I wanted to do after I finished my degree. Obviously, it was awkward to say that I wanted to work in museums or a writer, when the rest of the class might think that I was crazy. However, there is nothing ashamed to say it in the class, when everyone has different dreams and desires about his/her future career.

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    1. Hi Sui, yes, it is a bit awkward when you 'admit' it in class, but I think saying it out loud was the turning point for me.

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