Do or do not; there is no try.

Also known as "what in the world is university education?" and with a title quote from Yoda, how could this post not be awesome? Our theme to day is perseverance,  because God knows it's something that I'm having to put into practice right now. So I'm going to start by telling you all not to give up, no matter what is happening in your life right now. Why? Because you need to heard it. Everyone, even the most motivated and successful people, needs to heard it.

I've just received yet another major knock-back in life, but I'm strangely calm about it right now. I'm not sure how well I've divulged this before, but I'm currently in the process of changing universities. Not degrees, because EnviroManagement is cool. I'm just going back to my old institution. Which one would think to be a fairly smooth transfer, but it's really not. From the correspondence I've finally received from my new faculty, pretty much none of what I did this semester should be transferrable as anything more than credit. So if I want to graduate without adding any time to my degree, I'm going to have to do a lot of planning... And when I say a lot, I mean a lot. 

Right now, even though I haven't been academically advised on this, it's looking like I'm going to have to overload this semester and next semester if I want to get back on track to having a normal subject progression. Oh, and I need to do a second year elective next semester as well, but all of the second year electives from my elective bundle are either run in first semester, or have prerequisites that I haven't done, so I'm highly confused.

I really do want to change institutions, because the field work and company liaison that's offered there is invaluable. It's just bordering on ridiculous the amount of setbacks that I've had and am going to continue to have on the journey to get my degree! 

But as I said, this is a post about perseverance, and I make it not to whinge, but to demonstrate that even though things may not work out the first, second or even the third time, it does not mean that you should stop fighting to achieve your goals. Last year I gave up on myself, and this year is the kick in the pants that life is giving me for that. I'm going to continue to work really, really hard academically and in my personal life, and you all should too. 

I'm really discovering lately that there is no one 'good' way to live your life. There are so many paths and alternatives. The key to happiness lies not in your situation, but in your attitude. A few weeks ago, I told my partner that I was choosing to be happy, even though I was going through a rough patch. His response? "That's not real happiness. That's just faking it. You can't be happy unless good things happen." Everybody, I present you the worldview of someone who's never had anything seriously go wrong for them. As much as I adore him, he is so, so, so wrong. Real happiness comes from within. It comes with the peace of knowing that, no matter what external things are going on, you have control. You can choose to see the positives in life and be happy. And that is truly beautiful!

So when I finally graduate from university and hold my degree, and when I finally get to be with my boyfriend, and when my body finally works properly, and when I finally have a decent job, I'll look back at how I didn't give up, no matter what was thrown at me. Damn right I'll be proud. Even more so than if everything had come easily. And if some of those things don't happen? I won't be losing faith. Because there is always hope for the future if you try your best now. So keep working hard, everyone!