My Audacity of Hope (1) - The Start of Something Big

Ever since we were in elementary school, one of the many usual topics that we come across is: "What is your dream?"

Remember the times when teachers and parents, leaning over you, eagerly looking for the next word that you would put down on paper. To them, you are their dream.

A friend of mine accepted a job in New York a while ago. It is a prestigious investment banking firm. He worked hard at it, first graduating from SFU, then went on to Berekley for gradute school. A pure mathmatician and business man at heart I had no doubt that he will succeed in everything he does. His dream is to create financial instruments that will bring wealth to people and to the firm. Through his love of numbers, he want to devise financial products that can change how money works. Essentially,he aimed to be part of the Wall Street.

When asked about his schedule, he said 16 hours a day is the usual, plus the frequent regular hours of ten on Saturdays. Faced with such a grueling schedule, he never faltered. He enjoys coming to work and living his dream every day.

My dreams have always been changing. When I was a first year freshman at SFU, I dreamed of building a student organization that will provide students with the resources they need to succeed as business students. Thus, I co-founded the SFU Surrey Business Student Association with a friend of mine. We had lots of fun running the show, although, looking back, I lacked of great organizational skill and leadership. At the time though, missing these skills didn't mean much to me. I acted with passion and determination. We single handedly convinced the Faculty to assign us, for what I later found out, an unlimited club budget. For the first time in my life, I thought, "hey, maybe, if I dreamed enough, something would eventually come true."

Then, my dream changed. I wanted to become a teaching assistant. Seeing 4th year students up on stage, giving us tutorials, really lit up my eyes. From that day on, I dreamed about what I would do if I become a TA, how I would conduct my tutorials, hold my office hours, and what kind of a mentor/TA I would become. Then, either by chance or luck, I was selected to become a teaching assistant by my Professor. At the time, I was hired as the youngest TA in the history of SFU. To be honest, I was very proud of my accomplishments. I quickly drew up how I am going to teach and interact with students.

My dream quickly met its challenge. I was just going into my second year and my students are essentially just one year younger than me. Some of them are even older than I am. I remember how I would always avodi telling them my year because I was afraid of losing respect from them. Then at the end of the semester, my fear was removed. A student came up to me and told me that I had inspired him to work hard and be someone like me. I was truly honored. For the first timein my life, I felt my responsibility increased. I had students looking up to me, watching and learnng from everything that I do and display. As time passed, I became really good at what I do. I would joke around with students and cheer them up in the midst of midterms and finals. I learned how to improvise on the spot and how to communicate in a way that would allow thiry students to understand what I am trying to explain in my first attempt.

I went on to become the first TA in the Faculty of Business to be ranked #1 by students three times in a row. I am grateful, because I know full well that I was just lucky to be assigned with such talented students. I thank my professor for trusting in my ability when I was just a second year. She saw my potential way before I did. Even after she left her job at SFU and went on to become the Head of Faculty at another university, we remained friends till now.

Teaching was a lot of fun and I truly enjoyed every bit of it. However, life got bored again and I started dreaming. In my third year, my peers started looking for co-op jobs. I thought, "what the heck, might as well get some cash in summer." Then I started looking in the job posting. Most of the jobs are in industry and provided, in my mind, minimal learning opportunity. Money has never been a factor to me and I thank my parents on that. So, when I was focusing on choosing jobs, I looked for one that would stretch me as an individual.