Spring 2009 - Issue 5

The Silversword: Home > Op-Ed > Commentary: Embrace Your Dreams

Commentary: Embrace Your Dreams

Mekel James, Staff Writer

This fall semester at Chaminade University has been quite traumatic for many students.

The recent tsunami and earthquake that hit the Pacific Islands affected a large chunk of Chaminade’s population, myself included. Many students lost family members in natural disasters, as well as for medical reasons, or have had family hospitalized. In addition, many students struggled to manage school, and their work and personal lives, all while coping with such catastrophic events.

Personally, I have experienced tragedy in my life within recent months, losing everything that made me happy.

Everyone has faced some kind of tragedy or loss, no matter how great or minute the situation. How did you cope with this? Did you bury it? Did you become a victim? Were you able to move on?

Regardless of what has happened to you, the end result is what's most important: the ability to recognize that our tragedies and traumas are gifts and blessings that enrich us for the better.

Many of us have dreams — dreams of graduating and getting a degree, dreams of a good-paying job that puts the food on the table, and dreams of having a family.

However, in life we have tragic situations that throw us completely off our path. Often, we give up on our dreams because we think they are impossible to obtain.

My advice: They’re not. “Impossible” is just a word used by those that refuse to make the effort to continue.

I encourage you to embrace your dreams.

Often I find myself quoting that line, originally from the video game “Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7.” In that quote I find so much truth, especially when I hit that low point in my life this semester.

If you hear me say it, understand regardless of what has happened to you in your life and regardless of how young or old you think you are, realize that you are great, that there's something magnificent about you.

In my case, I fell into a very dark place in my life. However, out of the darkness shined a light of hope and new possibilities. A new dream had been given to me.

Through sadness and pain, turmoil and heartache, misery and dissonance, I was able to come to the realization that I could attain ascension and, like a phoenix, soar from the waste that was my reality.

Find out what it is you want in life. Discover your dreams and embark on your own personal quest to secure that dream, whatever it may be. The power to make any of your dreams come true is not dependent on anything outside of yourself — not your job, your looks or your abilities.

The power to be who you want to be and to make your dreams come true comes from within you. This is your story, your life. You walk your own path in life, and you only have one life to live.