My uncle's advice

Hello you dreamers!

I need you to be sort of serious, now, if you please. This post I'm about to share with you, guys, is directly linked to my family and my academical experiences. Nothing to be fooling around, really.

I was talking with my uncle about how my first year at University had been and what I learned and what my thoughts were on how it went and my expectations through this degree and life, etc. Indeed, a very profound discussion. The thing is, I told him I sometimes wondered whether I had made the right chose.

You see, I'm studying English Studies at University because I wanted to. I've always been captivated by each and every aspect related to the English language, history and culture. Nevertheless, I cannot deny I've sometimes imagined myself in another field and how much fun I would have had, if I had chosen a different field, being not the case. I've always been both jealous and fascinated every time my mum and my uncle talk so passionately about scientific things and I've always wanted to join them jumping into the field they once decided at my age.

It is then that I said to him – 'I think I should've studied Science.'

And he suddenly replied, without even thinking nor blinking – 'Don't say that. Don't ever say that, again, Alba.' – He stared at me for some seconds before adding, cautious and meaningfully– 'Don't misunderstand me, but you should not change your decisions because other fields might look simply better or because people around you, like your mum and I, prefer a field you did not choose at first. Remember, no field is better or worse than any other. All fields are interesting, have its own beauty and its own importance. Don't underrate one because of what you hear or because of what you fear.'

And he went on. As you can imagine, I had a very serious, intense and important discussion with my uncle Tete, yesterday afternoon. Serious, yes, but utterly educative. He expressed his positive views on: being curious about the things you want to learn about, reading what you like, studying what inquires and intrigues you the most, among others.

Then, I came up with the idea of sharing it with you seeing how it really modified me. Usually, one does not realize how important it is to talk about these avoidable and obvious aspects we all take for granted. Ironically, it so happens that the things we take for granted are the ones that cause us most of the problems and difficulties we tend to deal with, almost daily.

Although I may not express it with the exact words he used, I'm going to try and do my best so as to give you at least a clear idea of the main things he remarked.

According to Mr. Villagrasa, as he must be accurratedly referred to, there has always been great and genius people out there, and will always be; but that does not have to affect those who, in comparison to them, are not (or think are not). Instead, try to make small steps, don't expect to do great things.

In other words, don't give up at the first signal of failure whichever situation or case you are dealing with, give it another go instead, but making sure not to commit the same mistake you just did; find new ways of doing it, just like Mr. Edison did a hundred times. It is those hundred times that mattered, not that one time he succeeded, for instance.


It so happens that we tend to give up and avoid the things that are most difficult to achieve, but, as my uncle said: ' It is a wrong mistake, indeed'. And that made me think of one of the small posters I own since I was almost nine years old, a gift from my mum's. In the poster, there are eight coloured figures, (like this one)–

–and each figure is located in a different tread of a stair made of eight treads, if you follow me. So the interesting part of the poster I am trying to illustrate you, comes just now: each tread has a sentence and each figure represents that sentence as if they were saying them:

  · 1st (and, therefore, lowest) tread: 'I won't do it.'
  · 2nd tread: 'I can't do it.'
  · 3rd tread: 'I want to do it.'
  · 4th tread: 'How to do it?'
  · 5th tread: 'I'll try to do it.'
  · 6th tread: 'I can do it.'
  · 7th tread: 'I will do it!'
  · 8th (and highest) tread: 'It is doable!'

Hopefully it's been illustrative enough for you to picture the idea of it and its meaning. One has to figure out, in every situation they're dealing with, in which tread they are and whether they want to stay there or go upstairs. And it is as simple as that!

Back to my uncle's advice, try not to compare to anyone but your past self and your present self. That is very important. You can always contribute something somewhere, even if it is in a small scale. And, moreover, when it happens, most of times, you won't realize that it is thanks to you that someone somewhere is being, has been or will be, influenced by you, positively. That's why one must stick to their beliefs and their real purposes and dreams towards one's present and future.

When it comes to languages, he pointed me out that by learning a different language, I can learn many a thing, including Science. Speaking of this, English will allow me to learn more and interesting aspects about a different culture and compare them to the ones I've been brought up with and, therefore, this will make me build a critical point of view towards two different cultures, for instance.

As I mentioned a few paragraphs above, motivation and curiosity are two of the most important aspects that one has to take care of all the time. If you wonder what kind of food otters eat or how far the Earth is from Saturn or even what it's an Eskimo lifestyle like, go to the library and pick up a book related to that or, much better, take your phone or computer and go to websites like Wikipedia or Youtube and allow yourself to satisfy that hunger and curiosity within yourself that asks you so fiercely to feed. Nowadays, it is so easy to satisfy one's curiosity, really!

One of the last things my uncle stated was that it is not worth spending one's time looking for everything to be learnt, because it is out of someone's hands to do so. One has to go step by step, dream by dream, curiosity by curiosity, one at a time. Otherwise, you'll suffer unnecessarily.

Finally, taking one of Albus Dumbledore's advice:
("Help" being "knowledge"'; and "Hogwarts" being "one's mind"')

Thank you, uncle!
Thank you, Dumbledore!
Thank you, reader, if you've stuck with me until the very end of this post!