Row your Boat
Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream
It’s birthday time and last night I was thinking about advice received from older people.
I think best advice is required advice, the one you take when you feel you need it and you turn up to someone on whose wisdom you trust, but… tomorrow I will be one year older and I already feel entitled to give non-requested counsel to whomever reads my post.
I always tell the story of when I was studying Law at University.
I was a pretty bad student for the first four years (it was a five years degree):
I did not attend the lessons, I took part in the theater group, the culture club, the students representative board… I spent most of my time organizing meetings, parties and conventions, attending coffee political debates and chats on the faculty garden (but that’s what University is for, no?).
I was completely disengaged from study, I did not like memorizing lists of articles, I did not pass or I skipped quarterly tests so I always had to take the finals in September. I don’t know how I made it through to the fourth year.
So there was this time, when I had to take the final for one of the “big” subjects of the degree: Public Administration Law
I had suffered an emotional setback; in short: I had to end a longtime relationship with a guy whose picture was beside the definition of narcissism in the dictionary (I was young and naive… I am still naive… only…sigh!), so my mental energy levels were somewhat depleted.
Anyway, I was determined to focus on study and I went to see the Professor at his office. I explained that I had missed a lot of the lessons and I had some other student’s notes, but I wanted some advice regarding how to tackle the test.
He was very kind and supportive and noticed I was a bit low and disoriented, and then he gave me this recommendation:
“When you feel low, stick a medal on your chest”
What he meant with that, is that the best way to recover your confidence and build on your self-esteem is to work harder, knowing that what you will eventually obtain, will be well deserved and you will feel both happy and proud, to overcome a challenging situation and to have done that starting from the lowest point, by believing in yourself and gaining courage day by day.
I followed his advice and passed the finals that year.
The following year (the last of the degree) I attended the lessons every day, I became one of the best students of the last year, I got excellent votes, people asked to have my notes for photocopy, and I smiled with proud when after the first end of term exams, among dozens of students gathering in front of the Tax Law department noticeboard searching for their votes on the (reputedly) hardest subject of the whole degree, I heard someone I didn’t know reading my name out loud and saying:
“Wow, look at that test score! I want to sit beside that girl in the classroom”
Well, this was my story.
I hope you make the best of it… in case of need.
