Dreams should change

By Christopher Reyes
BUSINESS EDITOR
@cd_rey

a“Thankfully dreams can change. If we’d all stuck with our first dream, the world would be overrun with cowboys and princesses.”

As a senior, this quote from television host and political satirist Stephen Colbert is a great comfort. It comes from a commencement speech he gave at Northwestern University. It could be used to define my time in college, having changed my major twice and my minor four times.

It reminds me that having a dream is important, but it is not everything. It seems to me that many students feel like they have to stay true to the plan they made as freshmen. In this sense, they have limited themselves to their dream. This is not what a dream is supposed to be.

A dream should be something to strive for, not something we feel is an obligation or duty. College is about freedom, so why confine yourself to a plan that no longer reflects who you are?

How many of us are the same people we were when we arrived at USD? Our dreams ought to change as we change.

After college I hope to work in real estate investment. But, this dream may change, and I hope it does. I hope that I will continue to follow what matters most to me, even if that means completely changing my career or pursuing something unrelated to my degree. So many things in life point to the fact that the greatest risks lead to the greatest rewards.
Some of the most successful people in the world got to where they are by following their dreams, not by following their majors. Mitt Romney majored in English and then went on run a private equity firm. Carl Icahn, one of the most famous investors of our time, was a philosophy major and a medical school dropout.

They prove it is never too late to change your life and chase after what you love. It is OK to abandon old dreams no matter how much time and effort has been put into them.

More success will come from doing what you love than trying to love what you do. This has been true in my classes. When I do not enjoy the class, I do not do very well in it.

The same must be true of life. If we pursue what we love, we will be better employees and better members of society.
Later in his address to the new graduates, Colbert addresses what i think is the biggest fear that many students have: uncertainty.

“So whatever your dream is right now, if you don’t achieve it, you haven’t failed,” Colbert said.

It is reassuring to know that no matter what there is always opportunity to change my life for the better.