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A Lesson in Open-Mindedness

“I err, and therefore I am”.

The number of days left in this city has whittled down to a number I can count on my fingers. A couple of days ago I asked my friend if he regretted choosing Stockholm for his exchange.

“Now that you asked, actually I do”, he replied.

During the long bleak winter, so did I. It was cold, people you knew travelled and those, whom you gave up the people you knew for, hibernated at home. The atmosphere at school was different. The American-Pie-like craziness I expected, I got, but then I realised that it was not really what I wanted. I left Singapore in search for people whom I thought might appreciate life more. Instead I saw scores that drank and partied, only to complain of headaches and hangover the next day.

So I avoided the parties, the drinks and rejected invitation after invitation. I stayed in my comfort zone and ventured out along tracks that I knew was safe, that I knew had something in the end for me. I was convinced that actions had to have a purpose, that they should ultimately serve to make me better. I was convinced that I was right.

And therefore I was wrong.

In her talk titled Being Wrong, ‘wrongologist’ Kathryn Schulz talks of how a firm opinion of being right blinds one to the possibility of other opportunities. On reflection, parties are still stupid, but they are still an excellent opportunity to befriend people. Actions are most satisfying when they have a purpose, but sometimes the journey is more important than the goal. It is good to be right, but it is human to be wrong.

Do not get me wrong. I am not depressed and languishing in regret. As late as the lesson might have come, it is enlightening to realise the narrow path that I have been on. My first year in NUS was a year of regret about competition and stress. Then I relooked that year and that school and learnt some lessons about the things in life that truly mattered and the two years since then have been the most memorable.

Likewise, mistakes made in Stockholm can be corrected in Singapore.

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