Autobiography

Decisions are essential to finding happiness

Success has always been a real challenge for the human being, it is a path that is full of triumphs and defeats that are the result of our decisions. Every decision you make will, to some extent, change your life since even the simple act of not making a decision is a decision, which will bring consequences to your life. In this sense, achieving your dreams and goals depend on the decisions you make, and these depend on the diversity of the situations you are going through. Successful people in history such as Walt Disney, J.K Rowling, the Beatles, and Einstein were able to transcend in time and transform our history by showing us that perseverance, discipline, and sacrifices allow us to succeed. They did not succeed at their first attempt. They had to go through the hard way, where each wrong decision and mistake were crucial for them to become the best. For instance, the imagination of Walt Disney was depreciated by the companies at the time; many editors in the United Kingdom rejected J.K Rowling’s work since she was a woman; the Beatles’ music was defined by a producer as lackluster; and Einstein was not able to produce a single word until he was six years old. These stories have proved that life is not easy and that you must refuse to relinquish your dreams and make efforts to achieve them. During my life, little by little I am striving to follow my dream: dedicating my life to literature and being bilingual or even polyglot so that I would be able to comprehend wonderful stories and cultures through literature and writing. Just like J.K. Rowling or the Beatles, I will be able to make my dream of becoming a philologist come true. Even though learning another language has not been easy, it has not been impossible either. Each mistake I have made during this process has been meaningful for my experience since they have allowed me to recognize that I can achieve any goal that I set. Taking this opportunity, I want to show you how learning a foreign language has improved and changed my life.

To begin with, it is necessary to explain how my dreams were born. Literature has been a fundamental part of my life, especially during my childhood. When I was a child, I read several books which have a special meaning in my life. That is how I discovered that literature is the best way of finding happiness. Hence, I decided to dedicate my life somehow to literature. It was at this point that I started searching for a bachelor’s degree that could allow me to have contact with literature. In my searching, I found that education and philology were the key I needed to find my happiness, especially the last one. Philology would help me to understand the power that languages have over our life as human beings and would make me realize that speaking a language does not only imply a communicative process, but it is also essential for us. Being able to comprehend the importance of a language throughout history, society, and especially human creativity is fascinating for me. In other words, it feels like discovering other universes. These thoughts and motivations were the ones that took me to make the decision of learning another language and the reason why I am here, at this moment of my life, learning the English language in a different way from the one I had imagined.

Despite of my aspirations, life put another option in front of me: Education as an alternative way of reaching my dreams. In high school, I had the opportunity to study at a Normal school, a specialized institution for teacher training while in high school. At that time, I lived in Barranquilla, but after I graduated from the high school, my family and I decided to move to Neiva. I wanted to study philology; nevertheless, due to the recent change of residency, our economic condition made it impossible for me to join a university in Bogota. It is here where I took one of the best decisions of my life which consisted in following my dreams through education; even though I did not feel comfortable with the idea of training to be a teacher. However, being here and living all the experiences the ELT program has offered me has completely changed my perspective about education. As soon as I arrived here in Neiva, I had the opportunity to join the “Escuela Normal Superior de Neiva”; besides, I decided to complete my training as a teacher, thinking sometimes that it would be temporary. Furthermore, as I learned another language in an institute, I also trained myself to join the university where I wanted to study. But something changed my perspective: The Normal School of Neiva taught me that the teachers are fundamental for society due to the fact that it is the only profession that can transform people’s realities and future. Moreover, the most important experience that I had in this stage of my life was learning about research, which helped me to develop and improve my skills, especially my critical and reflective thinking. I learned to look at reality from another perspective: to see beyond what is perceptible so that I could help and search strategies to improve and solve problematics using teaching as a tool. Finally, I understood that the teaching and research processes could be fun and could change others’ lives. Thus, discovering the essence of education and the importance of the language helped me to follow my dreams by joining a university where I could study languages.

It is important to mention that although I have had the opportunity to grow personally and professionally, learning a foreign language has not been easy. This process has represented a real challenge for me since I have had to deal with stress, anxiety, but also enjoyable situations. Then, I had the opportunity to study philology but as I mentioned before, my family’s economic circumstances at the time did not allow me to move to another city. Consequently, the only option that I had left to be closer to get my dream was to study English language teaching at Universidad Surcolombiana. Since the moment I joined this university I knew this would not be easy because I felt insecure and uncomfortable with my English level in comparison to my classmates who have a better level and knowledge than I did. I felt as though I was walking on a tightrope. During this process, I have gone through moments that have made me think that I am not able to learn another language, or in some cases, I have felt like I am in the wrong place, taking another's place. However, when I decide to start something, I must take it to an end. If I had to eliminate a word of my personality, this would be “resigned”. In spite of that, I have always felt uncomfortable knowing that I do not have the advanced level that I am supposed to have, but I have tried to solve and overcome each difficulty with effort and discipline. At the end of the day, at my own pace, I know I will make it no matter what. In addition, it is normal to feel anxiety, impotence, and stress when you have not developed your capacity and skills at the same level as others. At this point, I comprehended that we are not born with the same abilities and skills and that everyone advances at their own pace. Hence, I understood the importance of losing. It is curious that for most people, losing is the end, but for me losing could be a synonym of "winning" because each defeat or mistake could be the opportunity to persevere and improve yourself. Besides, during this process, I have tried to be more persistent and disciplined, bearing in mind that I must improve. Perhaps the negative things could be good for your life in the sense that you can always learn something from whatever the outcome is. You must persevere until the end to achieve your dreams as in the case of Walt Disney or J.K Rowling who never stopped believing they would accomplish their dreams and find happiness. 

This journey has made me recognize my strengths and weaknesses. I have grown as a person because now I am able to face my fears. I can say that I have more knowledge than yesterday. I am a proactive, creative, critical and reflective thinking person who can create an appropriate research project for reality and show another way to see education through research. Besides, I can recognize my reality and its problems by trying to take advantage of all the opportunities that life provides me so that I can use these for the benefit of others. Additionally, I learned to recognize the best aspects of all people who are around me and try to learn about them. I also learned to be more independent, not only in the academic field but also in my work life since I could obtain my first job experience. Nonetheless, the most important aspect that changed my life has been the fact of discovering the power of perseverance and facing the challenges to achieve my dreams in a positive way.

At this moment, I am in the middle of the way to achieve my dreams. I know that I will be able to be a philologist; perhaps, not only in English but even in French or German. I feel philology is what I really want because it is this what can allow me to explore another language and dedicate my life to literature as I have always wished. Finally, I want to finish this paper by acknowledging that the best decision I have ever made is to study a foreign language.