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\r\n\r\nMy undergraduate education at U of T has not helped me figure out what I want to BE in the future.\u00a0\u00a0It has however taught me what I want to DO - which, by the way, is so much more important. I started this soul-searching journey last year by listening to my body. It is not normal how physically excited I get writing about civic engagement and political theory. I don\u2019t know why but it seems like I FEEL and EXPERIENCE more than the average person. And when my body tells me something, I listen. I also felt a frustration with the impractical nature of theory alone. I don\u2019t want to fantasize about Rousseau\u2019s sentiment of existence; I want to try and actualize it and use it to guide my lifestyle. I don\u2019t want to just fantasize about Hegelian jurisprudence and Habermas\u2019 communicative action theory, I want to explore how and whether it can be actualized. I want to be a part of the process of social change.\r\n\r\nI discovered in\u00a0third\u00a0year that my purpose in life is to change the system for the better from within through the bottom-up approach. I want to uproot the present and challenge the status quo; and by doing so, work to create a system which better accounts for the experiences and needs of the underdogs and the marginalized. That is my purpose. I know it is. I can feel it in my heart. The confidence in my mannerisms when I talk about it in class, the way I can get others excited about it and the\u00a0fulfilment\u00a0I feel when I realize it, just tells me that this may be my PURPOSE! And I know that I can actualize this purpose through good ol\u2019 dialogical action (get people talking to each other)!\r\n\r\nBy defining my purpose with a DO instead of a BE or a career title, I can keep the way it is actualized undefined. This area of ambiguity is where my freedom is found. I can\u2019t tell you what I want to be when I grow up, but I can tell you just what I want to spend the rest of my life doing. I like defining my purpose as such.\u00a0\u00a0This way I can actualize my purpose as a lawyer, as a teacher, as an academic, as a public policy consultant\u2026 the list goes on and on. I can find\u00a0fulfilment\u00a0in life without confining myself to one career path.\r\n\r\nLast Thursday, a question on a law school application asked me why I wanted to be a lawyer. I don\u2019t see myself as a suit in the future. I just see myself working on a grassroots level as an agent of social change. So I answered the question with no knowledge about careers in law and just wrote what I wanted to DO in this world. The next day, I randomly came across the Wikipedia page for public interest advocacy and had one of ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/media.tumblr.com\/tumblr_m3j8f63hRZ1r164byo1_400.gif\")
\r\n\r\nPUBLIC INTEREST LAW. That is how I can actualize my purpose! Somehow what I wrote in the answer was the exact definition of this area of law. Was this a coincidence, by mistake or by design? I think this was the universe\u2019s way of showing me my way! And impeccable timing I must say, since law school applications are due this week! Even if I don\u2019t get into law school, I can still actualize my purpose through other careers in public interest advocacy\u2014so it really is a WIN-WIN situation!\r\n\r\nSo instead of defining your purpose in life with a BE, try framing it with a DO.\r\n\r\nSo use your time at UofT to figure out what do you want to DO in this world!\r\n\r\n-Sarah\r\n\r\nPS: The subliminal message in this blog post was: ACTUALIZE!!!\r\n\r\nActualizing your internal purpose is IMPORTANT. What transcends our immediate existence is what we actualize into the external world. Our will can change the world--only if we put it into existence. Only then, can it exist outside of us and make an impact on the grid of life.\r\n\r\nDo not let the