My Most Unpopular Decision
Wow, what a response! Thank you all for your comments & support. We're blessed to have such great friends!Here's an essay that I quickly wrote up, and then realized it had to have taken place in the last 3 years. I couldn't use it, but I wrote it darn it! So maybe someone will read it. It's in raw form and completely unrefined.
Tell us about a time when you did something that was not established, expected, or popular.
The most unexpected and unpopular thing I ever did was leave college for a 2-year Mormon mission. My parents tried their best to raise me as a good Mormon and, to a degree, I was. But I never wore my religion on my sleeve. I chose UC Berkeley partly for its liberal reputation, allowing myself the think freely. After three semesters and an inexplicable amount of thought and preparation, I announced that I would leave school for two years.
To my surprise, my announcement was met by shock and discouragement. Every time I turned around, there was someone trying to discourage me. Besides my immediate family, a myriad of aunts, uncles, and grandparents tried to persuade me to postpone it until after graduation. But I knew that a two-year absence following graduation would only hinder my future prospects of finding an employer, not to mention forgetting the material that I would have just finished learning. My classmates and even a few professors openly condemned me for quitting school, without a real understanding of my motives. I knew that I would come back even more determined and focused. Thankfully, a few high school friends supported me. But the rest accused me of being brain-washed and blindly following tradition. On the contrary, I purposely distanced myself from any external influences and made the decision based on my own volition. I knew that this highly irregular decision to leave was the right thing for me to do, regardless of the overwhelming negative forces around me. To my dismay, it was a decision that I could not make someone else understand.
So despite the resistance I faced, I took my leave of absence. My two-year mission in Australia proved to be one of the most influential and important events in my life. In addition to helping entire Chinese communities in Sydney, I personally gained the things I expected plus more. After seeing the world from a new perspective, I went back to school with determination, focus, and diligence. But more importantly, I had a distinct direction and purpose to life.
When I returned from Australia and visited my friends, professors, and family, I again faced surprising and different reactions. One specific example highlights the differences. I was fortunate to have made it back just in time to attend my Berkeley classmates' graduations. Several friends looked towards me almost with disgust, as if to say, "You could have been graduating too." While some others openly acknowledged that after four years of college, they found that there was more to learn than academics.
To this day, I still face critics and supporters in the decisions that make. But I do so with the confidence that my decisions are carefully thought out and for the best. My mission taught this to me and continues to pay dividends in my daily life. I believe that a lot more exists out there than academics. But I also firmly believe that academics pave the way for your future.
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1 comment(s):
This also turned out to be my most unpopular post - good thing I never officially submitted this one! haha
By
Jerin, at
4/26/2007 12:37 PM
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