Have a vision

Well, many would say it’s easier said than done, the truth is yes it is! But once you stop looking for your vision you will just be drifting around and end up nowhere. To me it is all about a journey of defining my visions on different stages in my life and working extra hard to achieve them.

Two years ago, I was having difficulties with various issues in my life which made day-to-day life difficult which also reflected in my studies – I scored only 5 in the IELTS test and no one would have believed that I would make it to any university. That was truly my initial motivation, I just wanted to show them that I could turn it around! I have always been very confident since my childhood. I have never known where this confidence came from, especially when I announced that I would study at The University of Manchester. Because of my previous struggle and low IELTS test, no one believed that I could but I didn’t listen, I just kept my head down and started working hard to achieve my dream.

I needed a fresh start, so I overcame personal troubles and told my parents that I was going to cancel all my travelling plans in that summer because I was going to master English first before starting the NCUK IFY. My parents suggested hiring English tutors, but I said no as I wanted to make it on my own and I always knew that. I immersed myself in a pure English environment where I made sure everything exposed to me was in English. I said goodbye to those who didn’t believe in me and shut my social media down to make sure that nothing could distract me.

I managed to score 7 in IELTS in only two months’ time, which I knew would be enough preparation that I would need before studying the IFY qualification. Speaking good English was just my first vision, my second vision was making it into The University of Manchester, and I had already turned that into reality. My motivation was my desire to believe in myself and achieve my dream of studying at a top university and to make my family and friends proud.

For now, my third vision is to intern at one of the leading firms in the banking industry next summer. I know doing a master’s isn’t for me and I’ve thought about what career I want to progress to quickly as many people don’t know what they want to do in the future. I’ve got a clear view and a clear deadline in mind and I’ve been very consistent on that doing my research attending events making contacts and so forth.

There will always be naysayers who say you can’t do something, but I’ve got used to that and listened to myself which has gotten me to this point in my life. So, believe in yourself, have a vision and if I can do it, so can you!

Songyang

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