To whom it may concern,
I’ve thought extensively about how to write this post, but was never happy with what I drafted but here it goes anyways…
Goodbyes are one of the most difficult parts of life. Every time you close a door, you open a new one in turn you also enter a new room, or in this case I move back to my old room at my parents’ place, as for the time being I’ve decided to move back home to Vancouver.
I’ve been asked a lot on why I made this decision more than halfway through my journalism degree at Ryerson University. Those of you expecting a long winded explanation just because I love to write are going to be disappointed as the explanation is simply because it just felt right.
Whenever one embarks on a journey, it’s human nature to idealize the process and more importantly the goal. I guess that’s what happened when I set off to my studies at Ryerson; I assumed that being accepted to “the best journalism school in Canada” would lead me to a life of journalistic prestige. Then reality hits, you see that things aren’t what you thought they would be and you back track. Now I may be back home and some people may view it as a step backwards but I view it as seeing familiar things differently with the knowledge of knowing that what’s best for others is not always what’s best for myself.
The most influential person of my time in Toronto told me that the best thing for a student is to know what he wants to do with the rest of his life; the next best thing is know what he doesn’t want to do. I didn’t know what that meant initially, as it sounded like a backhanded compliment; but with time I embraced the meaning of that message. I mean who really knows what they want to do at 20-years old? Some might think they do but then change their minds later in life, I’m just changing my mind now.
When I look back at my two and a half years at Ryerson, I won’t remember the countless hours in the editing suites, attempting to pass a CP style test for the third time or trying to figure out why (insert piece of equipment here) is refusing to work today when the assignment is due in two hours. I’ll remember all the laughs, the struggles and experiences that transformed me from a boy to a man.
“We started from the bottom now we here.” -Drake
One love,
Gabriel “Gaber” Lee.
You have left your mark. I don’t klnow of anyone who would say it is, “a step backwards.” You are a brave man for identifying the wrong thing, a difficult thing and following through with what is right, even if it was difficult. See you soon brotha. -L