IT'S OKAY TO PAVE YOUR OWN WAY

As humans we seem to have this need, or maybe desperation, to be anything other than what we are. We are constantly trying to change ourselves or follow somebody else’s path in search of our own successes and fulfilment. I think this has been especially true with the influence of social media on the upcoming generations and I know I have made my own fair share of comparisons.

But something I have found and recognised, especially since leaving school, is every single person is unique and we all have the right tools and skills to pave our own path. I never in a million years believed I would become an author. In school I wasn’t an A grade essay writer, I really struggled to write. I always perceived myself to be nothing more than practical. I even remember saying to one of my friends that when I left school I would never pick up a pen again.

But I realised I saw the grade I was given as the definition of who I was and that wasn’t the truth. I could be limitless but I was putting limits on myself because of a bracket I had been put in.

Each one of us has the right to make our own choices and I think it’s really important to remember that. I chose not to go to University and that’s okay. Some of my friends chose to go to University and that’s okay too. As long as your choices are congruent with your inner feelings whatever you choose to do is okay.

In Making Waves I try to highlight the fact that the education system often forgets about the individual and instead focuses on what grade they have produced. I was one of the lucky ones really because I did have teachers who supported and encouraged my dreams but I know there are so many young people, especially creatives, stuck in a system that isn’t designed for them and feel completely alone. Making Waves is for all those people, to show them living proof that you can achieve your dreams and its okay to pave your own way.