The other night I was just having a late-night deep conversation with my bestie, Mei Hung. It’s amazing how much she inspires me now. Gone were the days that she was like the ‘little sister’ of mine, now she’s even spent 6 months abroad for exchange and came back with so much life experiences.

That night, we were just catching up with each others’ Final Year Projects. She’s doing film studies and shooting/filming/directing like mad for her final semester, with hardly any time to rest. Haha I’m doing filming of my own too, cuz I’m developing scientific video protocols for Undergraduate practical classes with 2 other friends. But mine obviously lack all that drama and acting, so is relatively easier to plan.

So we came to the topic of looking for a job, and she suddenly dropped a bomb on me that she’s most probably going overseas to carve out something. On one hand, I understand that in her field, she has to go overseas to get really good prospects, but on the other, I was sad that I could never have that chance. No, to be more truthful, I’d never have the guts.

I told her.. Then she said something really awe-inspiring like, “You just have to tell yourself that home might be comfortable, but if you don’t go out into the world now, you won’t experience life.”

“Adaptability is better when you’re young. I heard of someone who just bought a one-way ticket to New York, without any plans. Had to survive on her own just like that.. Slept on the streets, wherever. Then now a fashion designer in New York.”

Sure we’ve heard stories like this, people living the American Dream and making it big with nothing to start with. Don’t you envy these people? They just have the guts, or so I thought. I do dream, it’s not that I don’t. Sometimes I lay in bed till the wee hours of the morning, simply not able to sleep because my dreams occupy my mind so much that my brain is too excited to sleep. Ideas spring up here and there; ideas that seem crazy too. So why am I still where I am? People younger than me are already managing their own businesses and stuff! But then Mei explained it so simply, “I guess if anyone set their minds to it, that’s the best survival skill, everything stems from there.” That was the most inspiring thing I heard in a long while, and I told her that straight.

Suddenly I see.. Everything stems from determination and perseverance. Without those two, ideas or dreams would just be dust. Nothing comes without hard work, and it’s really up to us to work towards being where we want to be ultimately, and what we want to have. Therefore, I want to work. I want to make my dreams come true.

With me being so happy suddenly realizing this revelation, she didn’t stop, and dropped one more pointer.

“Set impossible goals, and make them come true anyways…”

She says her inspirations come from making too many films. Haha cannot stand her.

Cheers to 10 years (and counting..) of friendship