It’s 12:10 am Wed Jul 6. I was browsing youtube while having dinner a few mins ago and ended up seeing a video from Ted Lasso titled “Be Curious, Not Judgemental.” I smiled after the video ended because I resonated with it on many levels.
While growing up, I hated school; I stayed at home and played with computers, trying to learn and build anything I could because I just wanted to. My mom didn’t say much because she knew I wasn’t doing anything wrong. I did fall sick every once in a while, but that’s not the point. I was made fun of and mocked behind my back for being a weak child. I didn’t care about them retrospectively, as I knew I was ahead of the curve in many ways.
Undergrad wasn’t that different. It was a bit weird because I was 50/50 present in classes and hated my time being in a class. I knew that being in that class would take me nowhere, but I had to be there to maintain a 75% attendance. If there is one thing I regret wasting my time in my teenage years, it’s in classes during my engineering days—a colossal waste of time. I could have done so much more than that. I did a few things here and there, but it was still very out of potential.
In Grad school, I spent hours in the library studying, building, researching, and trying to innovate something or the other. A few librarians once mocked me, saying I should move into the library. Honestly, I wouldn’t have minded that at all. It was a great place to be and the best resource I could have. It wasn’t perfect, but I made sure to make use of the best of it. I didn’t mind the jokes or the mocking; I liked it. They didn’t know that I also played soccer and loved running. Due to numerous injuries, I wasn’t up to mark, but I could still throw down a good race if I wanted to.
Today I’m no longer a soccer player, but I am an engineer at heart, a system architect & researcher by profession. I still love running, cycling, and rowing. I also think I could be good at rock climbing (Bouldering) if I devoted my time to it.
One of my colleagues at work today asked me what course I am studying after a zoom call after I mentioned that I spent some time studying on the long weekend. He thought it would be something related to space since I’ve mentioned space almost in everything I do at work.
The point is that people are too quick to judge. If everyone could be a bit curious, like my good friend and colleague at work, they would know that most people have a reason for doing what they do.
Everything I have done today is because of curiosity, passion, drive, and ambition toward a better future. And I can only hope it stays that way going forward.