I Choose Happiness, I Choose Zoology

The future is both mystical and terrifying all at the same time. It holds promise, but the fear of pain looms at every turn. As young adults, we are taught to dream, we watch movies of success and imagine life as it should be, but things don't always work out as you hope. That's the nature of life I suppose, to go into the unknown with the courage to follow your dreams and work through the uncertainty, regardless of the obstacles that one might face. 

When I was in High School, my biggest worry was whether I would make it to football practice on time or what was for supper? When I came to University, my biggest fear was whether I would make friends or if my family would be okay? But now, I find myself in postgrad, a place where your biggest fear is whether you made the right choice. Did I study the right subjects? Are my marks good enough? Do I have enough work experience? Will I make money? Will I be a success? These questions permeate the dark corners of the minds of all those who dare to enter the real world.

University teaches you at a higher level, but it has nothing on the real world. It shelters you from the hard decisions of everyday life and its very nature fans the flame of complacency. University has the power to equip us with the skills to conquer the world but if you are not careful, University has the potential to halt you in your tracks, because university is safe, it is known, and the outside world, well it isn't. It is scary, it is a mystery and if there is anything I have learn't in the past few years, potential resides in the places you cannot see and the only way to obtain is through a leap of faith, a jump into the unknown.

I started out as a journalism student but now I find myself in the postgraduate section of the Rhodes University Zoology and Entomology Department. Never before have I been so happy with what I do. I read about animals, I look for animals and I write about animals. It is perfect in every way. I love snakes, and I love to find them, and I want to make them the subject of my lifes' work. Although driven, fear still creeps into my heart, because I know that my field is far less forgiving, and unlike commerce, it is markedly less predictable. I guess this is the point I am trying to make, If I had taken accounting, i would be secure but I would not be happy, but now that I have taken zoology, I am less secure but ten times more happy. I have thus chosen to leap into the unknown, so lets see what comes next....