Starting afresh

With the summer vacation coming to an end you are at the threshold of a new academic year. Some of you may be heading to college for the first time, and some returning to your school to continue your studies. It is natural that it will take some time for you to get back into the normal rhythm of school life.

One needs to begin this academic year with new hopes and a positive mindset to make it a memorable period in one’s school life. A new academic year gives one a chance to begin the coming year afresh with many opportunities to be discovered. It is another year to look ahead and work harder to make a brighter future. A fresh beginning will present us with a great deal of possibilities if we are alert, focused, optimistic and committed.

The following success sutras may help us pursue a new successful academic year: One – the secret of success in life is to do everything passionately. When study and other academic activities become just a routine, we tend to procrastinate which will kill our passion. Second – when we experience failures and feel like quitting we must ask ourselves, why we started at all. Late Muhammad Ali, American heavyweight boxing champion and civil rights activist, has said, “I hated every minute of training, but I said, I won’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion”. Third – it is not about being better than someone else; it is about being better than what one was yesterday. It doesn’t matter what others think about us, it matters what we are doing. Fourth – always find time to do the things that empower us and make us feel happy. Determination, persistence and hard work are the ingredients of a successful and fulfilled life. And finally we must remember that we will never have this day again, hence the need to make it worthwhile.

Aiming high in one’s life is very important; Michelangelo says, “The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high that we can’t reach it, but that it is too low and we reach it”. Challenges, problems and difficulties are part of our journey through life. Facing them and overcoming them will help us reach our goals; Helen Keller, though deaf and blind, defied her limitations to become a famous author and political activist. She travelled across the world challenging and inspiring people everywhere.

Education is the most powerful tool which will help you realize your dreams and build up your future. Your education does not end with school or college education. So keep learning from books, teachers, parents, friends and various events in life. Meanwhile be focussed in the pursuit of your learning which should set your soul on fire to take you to the heights of glory.