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10 WWW.GUlLFORDIAN.COM OPINION Where are you going? Overcome fear, pursue your true passions and revel in the adventure BY DANIEL GASKIN Staff Writer You are going to fail; it's only a matter of time. You've thought about your life's goal plenty of times, but something stops you from pursuing your dream. Maybe your parents want something else for you. Maybe common sense says it is impractical. Or maybe the world gets in your way. Give yourself a moment to think what true satisfaction is. Done? What did you come up with? Was your passion the focus of your thoughts, or was something else there? We are told time and time again to pursue our passions because that is the only way for us to be truly happy. But people still don't do it. Why? I can give you one simple word: fear. You are afraid of what bumps the road to success will have, so you tell yourself that pursuing that business degree instead of that art degree is the logical choice. Still something inside you dies along the way. That death is your dream, and it doesn't come back. Look where we are. We are in college. So many others failed to people expect of you instead of what you expect for yourself? It's about that book that you want to write. It's about that child that you want to save when you become a doctor. It's about all those dreams that we have as free once, but it's what we do with that failure that determines who we will become. I wanted to be a comedian in the worst way. I dreamed about it when I went to sleep and when I awoke; it's all I thought about. It's about that book that you want to write. It's about that child that you want to save when you become a doctor. It's about all those dreams that we have as free people, but more importantly, it's about the pursuit of those dreams. There will be hardships along the way. Failure will be there. It is always there on the road to success. get here, and so many dream of one day being where we are at this very moment. Why be here, if you are here just to take up space? Why pursue something that you aren't happy doing? What is life about if all you do is what other people, but more importantly, it's about the pursuit of those dreams. There will be hardship along the way. Failure will be there. It is always there on the road to success. Anything worth doing will include failing at it at least But I was afraid to do it at first because I was terrified of people who would not laugh at my jokes. I wanted the fantasy to be perfect in that everyone would find me funny but in reality, I was afraid. I wanted praise from the audience at all times, and I was afraid to hear the silence. I got over that fear however, and I conquered it when I was fifteen, and you can conquer yours. There was failure though. I've stood up on stage and said things that were my best material only to have silence greet me. It is both heart wrenching and comical at the same time, but there is value in it. The value in failing was coming face-to-face with the worst possible outcome and surviving. Being able to take the hardest hits that life gives and keep going is what makes us stronger and gives us hope for tomorrow. You know, it's likely that most of us won't be happy in life for a . myriad of reasons. The singular one that I am most certainly aware of is this: If I don't try to accomplish my dreams then " I will miss the point of this great adventure entirely. Don't miss out on your adventure folks, it's your story to write. Hear woman roar: men faring worse at work dne to cnrrent economy, nnroalistic expectations ROSIN'S NEW BOOK CALLS AHENTION TO MEN'S NEED TO RE-EVALUATE BARRIERS Apparently, the term "men at work" is going out of style, Hanna Rosin, in her new book titled "The End of Men: And the Rise of Women," posits that men aren't faring well in the current economy. The surprising part about reading excerpts from "The End of Men" is this: Rosin is kind of right. However, men aren't going the way of the dinosaurs; they just have to re-evaluate their positions. There are still a number of barriers effecting women in the workplace that don't apply to men. The wage gap and the glass ceiling are all examples of the overarching problem. . However, Rosin relegates these barriers to "the last artifacts of, a vanishing age rather than a permanent configuration." Rosin presents facts talking about how, "by 2009 there were as many women as men in the work force," in the U.S. She also mentions, "today the average wife contributes some 42.2 percent of her family's income." While this all may show that women are doing well economically, it doesn't constitute the "rise of women and the fall of men." \ The men of today are ill-equipped to deal with the current economic climate because of outdated patriarchal ideals. Instead of having realistic expectations about positions in the workforce, we as men feel that it is our duty to have both the best and highest paying positions available. A friend of mine who graduated last year hasn't been able to find a job since. BYJOSHUA BALLARD Staff Writer The patriarchal system has benefited men for such a long time that we've become too comfortable. We rely too much on the systems in place - systems that, because of the current economic climate, have been thrown out of whack. *0 Graphic by Joy Damon In asking where he's applied, I found that he is apprehensive about applying to Wal-Mart or any other sort of retail organization. He just feels that something better will come up eventually. And therein lies the rub. The patriarchal system has benefited men for such a long time that we've become too comfortable. We rely too much on the systems in place — systems that, because of the current economic climate, have been thrown out of whack. It doesn't matter if you are a man or a woman right now, so much as you are able to make money for your future employer, because that's what's important right now. But women aren't "taking over," as Rosin seems to suggest. Professor of Philosophy Nancy Daukas speaks my mind in an email interview: "I'd have to look at (Rosin's) arguments and how she selects and interprets her data before (fully) criticizing her claims. But her claims do not fit my experience or my observations. If (Rosin) is accurately describing a world, it is alien to me." Women are doing well in this economy right now and that's awesome. But it unfortunately isn't going to last; it's only a phase. After the tumultuous economy calms down, things are going to settle back to the way they were before. Larger numbers of men will be in positions of power as opposed to women and it will take effort and reform, not economic downturn, for women to supplant men on the workplace throne.
The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.)
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