Priorities

by Mico Cotia (Canada)

Making a local connection Mexico

Right at this very moment, as I type these words, I am sitting at my local Tim Hortons, drinking my hour-old green tea, recovering from a nasty cold, and desperately cramming (and procrastinating) for a physics midterm tomorrow. Yesterday, I suffered one of the worst fevers I have had since getting pneumonia as a kid. That's what a drastic weather change and a week of hangovers does to you, apparently. Two days ago, I was enjoying my passing moments in Mexico. Discovering the ancient Mayan ruins of Tulum. Snorkelling in the Caribbean Sea. Swimming in a natural sinkhole of drinkable groundwater in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. Life happens very quickly, doesn't it? As I look back at the momentous experiences I encountered in that short week at Mexico, I can't help but smile as I ponder about how scary yet liberating it made me feel. To me, it was a new country where I knew nobody and understood nothing of their language. But to me, it also felt like a new perspective full of adventures and experiences waiting to enwrap me. I have never been the type of person to spontaneously hop on a plane to Central America in the dead of winter with midterms right around the corner. But for some peculiar reason, I thought "why not?". And I'm glad I did, as it answered a life-long dilemma i've always had. Growing up in an Asian household, working and earning has always been the path to a successful and happy life. But I knew deep in me that there was so much more to life than this. There was so much more to discover and to learn from than a bunch of tedious textbooks and a constricting desk. I always thought to myself, "what if?". "What if life wasn't just to work and earn? What if I didn't have to finally retire just to take a vacation? What if my path is of adventure and adrenaline?" To be continued.