Plans for hope and a future

Miss Tan's friend came today during our contact period to talk to us about what she was doing and about university and not really knowing what you want to do in the future and how things do change a lot along the way and how life just might end up taking you to places you'd never expect yourself to venture into, and I guess I was pretty motivated.

I like to write, but ultimately I want to be able to write such that I touch hearts. Journalism's exciting and it involves writing and being in touch with the world's very latest happenings and all, but ultimately I want to be able to write in a way that actually helps people, in a way that works for the greater good of things, beyond reporting the news and all.

I guess I thought my career prospects were really limited, but she helped me realise today that the world is really much, much bigger and more diverse than anyone could imagine. There are all kinds of things you can do. What I have to offer is a love for writing and a desire to remain in contact with society and the world and all the conflicting issues, and a strong, strong want to ultimately touch and inspire hearts in a personal way. To be able to make someone feel like I'm speaking to her directly, digging deep into her own heart and pulling out the small, forgotten piece of gold in the midst of the black water she was drowning in.

I'm thankful that I realised, today, that being able to write can in fact take a person quite far. I've always thought my future was doomed, limited to a handful of choices. It's given me renewed hope and a lot of motivation to keep going.