What have we not experienced this year? Loss, failure, success, new beginnings, heartbreak, embarrassment, sadness, loneliness, happiness, adventure. Bref, the list is endless.
We are closing a chapter in the story of our lives. Or maybe not just a chapter. Maybe one episode among many, woven into a long, unfolding series.
Time has a way of compressing things: moments pile onto each other so quickly that we don’t always process them when they happen. Sometimes we only understand the weight of an experience when something similar resurfaces in the future. And so, accounting for everything that happened in 2025 feels almost impossible.
Some events slip through the cracks of memory, not because they were insignificant, but because so much else was happening at once. So perhaps it’s not the end of a chapter after all; let’s call it the end of a season.
If anything, I know I have a lot to say about the year that has been. Between moving places, starting school, and simply navigating life, a great deal has been accumulated. Sometimes I pause and genuinely wonder: how could all of this happen within a single year?
If I had to distill everything into one truth, it would be this: never give up on the path you believe you are meant to carve out for yourself.
When I first began entertaining the idea of going back to school, there was a lot of noise around me, with discussions about whether it was the right time to pursue a master’s, whether it was necessary, whether it was realistic, and how on earth one navigates the endless administrative paperwork.
The energy around me was heavy, overwhelming, and at times suffocating.
It became so intense that there were moments when I seriously considered packing my suitcases and heading home. After all, isn’t it better to feel stressed in your parents’ house than to feel stressed thousands of miles away from them?
On this blog, “Gambling my way to pursue a master’s degree in Switzerland,” I shared how my dreams were brutally crushed.
I had never questioned my ability or my intelligence the way I did during that period. I kept asking myself: what’s the criteria for those joining these programs? How brilliant must they be? What do they have that I don’t?
That experience demoralised me. I believed, for a while, that it would not be possible to pursue a master’s degree I truly loved.
It took an immense amount of courage to throw myself back into the field and try again, this time with schools in France.
Trying is one thing. Trying while battling the loud, negative voices in your own head is another entirely. It takes a strength you don’t realise you have until you are forced to summon it.
Some people around me, intentionally or not, made it even harder. They questioned my ability to adapt to a new education system, my readiness to take on such a challenge, and my capacity to succeed. Each question felt like another weight added to an already heavy load.
Back home, I wouldn’t have had to fight so hard to prove that I was capable. But in a country that was not my own, I had to exert double the effort, not only to prove my competence, but also to protect myself from internalising doubt and discouragement.
If anything, we all carry a quiet vision of what we want for ourselves. As cliché as it may sound, don’t let anyone dictate what your dreams should look like. Don’t allow others to shrink your ambitions or belittle the images you hold in your mind.
Of course, some advice is sound and worth holding onto; keep that. But it’s equally important to discern which voices should guide you and which ones are merely projecting their own fears.
The reality is that time moves incredibly fast. And as it does, we are growing older. If you can run toward your dreams right now, then put on your running gear, step out onto the track, and run.
But don’t run blindly. Train. Prepare for the stretch ahead. Fuel yourself. Anticipate fatigue. Increase your bandwidth. Every race has a finish line, but the distance varies; sometimes it’s 400m, sometimes 800m, 1,200m, 5 km, or even longer.
You don’t train for a sprint the same way you train for a marathon. Know your mileage, and prepare accordingly.
Your life is your canvas, and your Creator is helping you shape it with intention and care. So if it is not your Creator stopping you, why should another unfinished canvas, still in the process of being formed, dictate how your life should unfold?
So, to be or not to be? This year, I became what I wanted: pursuing a master’s degree I love.
And for what we didn’t become this year, we try again next year.
