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Last year, upon completing my National Service, I knew I wanted to get a part-time degree while managing Goody Books Pte Ltd and writing fulltime. I was faced with a dilemma: should I go for a business degree at SIM-RMIT, or should I go for a literature degree at SIM University? A business degree is a good fallback for me; should I not succeed in my writing career, I can secure a job with that degree easily. A literature degree is good for my writing career. I will definitely enjoy it as I love writing. As the application deadline was near the corner,I knew I needed more time to make a decision. I applied for both courses. SIM-RMIT, the university which I applied for a business degree, replied with an acceptance letter, whereas SIM University deferred me to the July 2010 intake. Anyone would have thought of that as a sign from God regarding my decision. Not me. I had an “epiphany” instead; I knew what I wanted. I rejected SIM-RMIT’s offer and waited for six months, just so that I can pursue for a course of my interest. I’m halfway through my first semester, and so far, I’ve no regrets at all (well, except for the fact that the mixed vegetable rice there is quite expensive…).

I like writing since young. When I just learnt how to string words into sentences, I wrote a story and gave it to my brother to read. My parents don’t understand English and therefore they didn’t have the slightest idea what I was doing. I kept on requesting new notebooks but was rejected. “Writing is not going to bring you far,” my parents told me. In fact, I believe most parents would say the same thing. Have you ever seen a full-time novelist in Singapore? Even with the lack of support, I kept on writing. I submitted my first manuscript to all publishers in Singapore when I was thirteen years old. All publishers rejected me. No one supported me; I was like the lone soldier going through a battle for freedom. But I persisted, and now, I’m holding on to a job that most would have just dreamt of. I write for a living!

The thing is, we all have dreams when we were young. Some want to be policemen so that they can save someone’s lives and bring justice to Singapore. Some want to be a dancer because they have passion in dancing. However, look around you and think; how often is it that we fulfil our dreams? Do we let our dreams remain as dreams, or do we strive to make our dreams reality? Many of us would let our dreams stay as dreams, because striving for our dreams seems like an impossible task to do. Do we really take the effort to sit down and decide on how to achieve our dreams, instead of changing our dreams?

Like what Thomas Edison said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” We, as human being, tend to give up easily. Let’s face it: we’re all hardwired with a desire to stay in our comfort zone. However, people who live in their dreams are those who defeat that mindset that is embedded within us. If you want a closer-to-life example, you’re looking at it now. I cannot remember the number of failures and setbacks I have absorbed. However, now, I am writing everyday and there are people who are looking to buy my books.

What are your dreams? That is something that we can answer readily. What must you do to achieve them? I hope that now, after reading all these, you would be brainstorming for ways to achieve your dreams instead of finding new dreams!

Works Cited

Edison, Thomas. “Thomas A. Edison Quotes”.  BrainyMedia.com. <http://www.brainyquote.com/
quotes/quotes/t/thomasaed132683.html>.