TEDx Youth day was inspirational. Initially, I was dreading spending 8 hours listening to series of boring talks. It was mandatory attendance for everyone in my course so I just grit my teeth and went along with it.


But TEDx was different. The talks by all the speakers made me realise different things. They taught me to free my mind, not to be afraid to be different and to never stop dreaming. These were things I had always been telling myself since I was a little girl. Slowly, you lose track of these things. Not because you don't believe in them anymore but because the monotony of daily life really starts to make you realise how ordinary you are.

As a child, most of us taught that money is the thing you are supposed to work forward to. It doesn't have to be something you like, it just has to make you a lot of money. This is especially evident in an asian society. Parents encourage their children to excel in school rather than asking them to put in effort for things that we really love.

I remember as a child my parents used to bring me to ballet and piano lessons. I was interested at first only because it was something new. Soon the novelty wore off and I discovered that I never liked ballet or piano. In a ballet class full of skinny tiny petite girls, I was the only tall chubby girl there. I felt like a fat lumbering elephant. And we all know elephants can't dance right? I didn't like it at all. Piano on the other hand was a chore.

I did however have a passion for writing. I'm sure my parents were aware of this but they never suggested writing classes for me. They were willing to fork out $90 a month for guitar lessons though. I really do appreciate the things they do for me and love them to bits but I just don't agree with the way they do things.

Something I took away from the talk:
"Your best career is an expression of yourself." 

I love this quote. I mean, your job is something that you have to commit to. What's the point of working a job that you hate? Okay, maybe the pay's good but money can only buy you temporary happiness. Why not do something you can actually enjoy? You can go to work happy everyday and guess what, you can even make money from it! Tell me which sounds better?