A Road Less Travelled

Life on a road less travelled, this saying is very familiar around the world, we all hear it and we all know it. But then if we all take this road is it really the one less travelled or just the one more challenging than the rest. for us youth as we go through our years the stereo type is to go to school, go to uni and then get a job earn money then eventually settle down. we may work in another country for a our job, but this is usually the regular thought from our parents of what we should do. whereas youth of today like to experience more, take more challenges work overseas and start settle down later in life. well most of the people that i know anyway. so this got me thinking about my pathway, my life so far and how much it has deviated from where i originally wanted to go to where I am now.  One sentence which resonates true with me which I heard on the weekend is, don't plan your path for more than 2 years, because things change and so will your path, just be clear of where you want to end up and you will get there.

So as i sit here in the cafe reflecting on the choices i have made to bring me here and what i have done i realize how much i gave away but yet how much more i have gained from taking up the opportunity.

making the decision to come to Taiwan and work here in AIESEC on the National Team for ICX was not an easy one. Because during this time I had only 6 months left of university and I was working in an engineering internship over the nov-feb period for a large national gas and energy company in Australia. From this internship i had a possibility to stay on and work part time and then join the graduate program after i finish my university degree. Instead i chose a completely different path, one less travelled as you may say, to push this aside and take up the opportunity to come to Taiwan and work for AIESEC. Sounds crazy right, and also kinda of stupid, why throw away such an easy path to get into a good graduate job. Well you see there are some things in life if you don't take the opportunity when it presents itself you may never get this type of opportunity again. Which is what i saw with AIESEC Taiwan so i took it. I can remember vividly writing my application while doing my internship sitting in the outback Queensland 4 hours west of Brisbane in Talinga writing it, and uploading it on the very slow internet line.

Following this sitting the sub com interview  late at night in Australia in the TV room in our house being interviewed by the panel to see if i was capable an had the skills to be on the National Team.

A few days after this i received a Skype call at 2am telling me i was accepted and welcoming me to the AIESEC Taiwan National Team. I was extremely excited and ecstatic, but only then did it really dawn on me the choice i had made, and where my life path would take me in the next year. A new challenge a new place to discover to learn and to evolve. Nearly halfway through my term I sit here in a cafe shop with a friend who I met in march in hong kong(APXLDS) pondering my decision and asking myself was it the right one….. going through all the troubles, the challenges, the ups the downs, learning new things, not performing,  not knowing what to do, but learning how to grow and make things work, learning how to do things right,…. the answer is yes. The decision to leave Australia and take the plunge to work on an international Team was definitely the right choice.

For those of you who are considering applying for a national team either in your home country or an international country even though you may be scared, or unsure of the way or what will happen, the experience you get is unforgettable and this type of opportunity does not happen often. Grasp each and every opportunity that you have, for then you will have no regrets.

:)