Sunday, 7:27 p.m., Central Library of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, in the middle of the exam period. The scene is quite familiar: heads bent over books, computers, and notebooks, determined to achieve their goal, which is none other than getting through another exam.
When I look at these faces, though, do you know what I see – or rather, what I feel? I feel the confidence, but also the uncertainty. It is as if I can taste it, touch it. It is as if the silence speaks to me and conveys pieces of the story of each person there. A story that, for better or worse, is familiar to all of us: twelve years of education, classes, endless tests, course selection, final exams. And bam! That’s how you decided what to do with your life. That’s how you charted your course for the next 20, 30, 40 years…
For some people, that is indeed the path. And they follow it proudly. Because there are those people who feel no doubt, as they have chosen an academic domain that – to a certain extent – fulfills them and provides them with the right motivation to complete their studies and engage in this profession.
There are, however, those individuals who feel the uncertainty. Individuals who struggle with their thoughts and desires, who regret their choice. People who have not been able to decide – being only 18 years old – what they want to do for the next few years of their lives. Boys and girls who couldn’t imagine their future in any of the options the colorless catalogs of universities offered them, nor did they have the right markers to plan it at the time.
So, we took the easy way out; the one that met some of our boxes; the one that others judged to be right, ideal, suitable. We ended up making a choice based on what is socially appropriate, what will bring us money, what has rehabilitation, what has a future. This is because we live in a society that doesn’t know us, yet has the audacity to advise us on the path we should take.
Have you ever considered how much we may have said? How many voices have we suppressed? How many I don’t want to, I’m pressured, what am I doing have we kept silent? Is it fear that is holding us back or a conglomeration of all those voices that told us our choices are wrong? Eventually though, what is wrong and what is right? What if we’re not really afraid, are we just dreading failure?
Failure.
This word has been associated with very negative emotions such as anxiety, fear, sadness, anger, and frustration. But let’s not forget the word itself. In Greek, the word apotychia (failure) is a derived word from the verb apotynchano which comes from the ancient Greek -apo+tynchano. It means not achieving what I try or desire and if we look closely, we will see that within the word apotychia (failure) lies the word tychi, which means luck.
A friend of mine recently told me it’s all about timing, dear! Is it then the failure of a first choice a slap from life, to wake us up and choose what we have dreamed of, leaving behind that full-of-doubt look? To grasp this, we only need to acknowledge our failure and give ourselves a second choice, a second chance. A chance to discover our path, which, however dark and foggy it may be, will surely lead somewhere…
Do you, therefore, believe in second chances?
I sure do!
