As graduation ceremonies come to an end, I find myself less preoccupied with the past and not quite focused on the 鈥渇uture鈥� either鈥攂ut rather on the trajectory of life as a whole. Not all the places on campus I鈥檒l miss, not summer plans or five-year projections, but direction. What will we do with all that we鈥檝e learned? With the people we鈥檝e become? How will these years shape the compass we鈥檒l use to navigate everything that comes next?
It鈥檚 a bit like those twins in the womb, one whispering to the other: 鈥淒o you think there鈥檚 life after birth?鈥�
It鈥檚 a parable about transformation: the absurdity of trying to fathom a new world when you鈥檙e still inside the old one. And that鈥檚 exactly what these years have demanded of us. So, what have I learned in these years? What has my early twenties carved into me?
Over the past four years, I鈥檝e felt my heart harden. In first year, I seriously considered dropping out of 黑料不打烊. The world felt unbearably heavy鈥攅ach glance at the news brought fresh horrors鈥攁nd this city, with its cold streets and strangers, felt far too big. There was nowhere soft to land. Each day, I鈥檇 throw on whatever clothes were nearest and drag myself to class鈥攚hich, as an International Development major, often felt like being reminded that the house down the street is burning, and no one can put it out.
I remember once walking out of a lecture, eyes on the pavement along Milton, doing everything I could not to cry. I knew if any passing acquaintance so much as said my name, I might collapse into their arms.
Then I heard a flutter overhead. Ah, yes, I thought, Hope is the thing with feathers! I looked up to see only a plastic bag caught in the branches. I felt numb.
I then went to office hours to talk about a midterm. I sat down, and Dr. Nathan Ince鈥攚ho would become my favourite professor鈥攁sked me, simply, 鈥淗ow are you?鈥� And I broke. I told him everything. How scared I was by the things the world taught me to ignore. How much I despised where money went, how little we all seemed to care. How I couldn鈥檛 see where I belonged in any of it.
He said, 鈥淵ou鈥檙e never going to be fulfilled in someone else鈥檚 project. Capitalism is someone else鈥檚 project.鈥�
Those words didn鈥檛 fix everything, but they reignited that little fire inside of me. I carried a lot of anger then. I still do. But I stopped trying to squeeze myself into places that didn鈥檛 fit and started creating the kind of world I could breathe in. I joined clubs and organizations that fulfilled me. I picked up trash. I gave to things I believed in. I reached out to others. I let my anger become useful. I let it become a creative force.
I started thinking with the stubborn clarity of a child鈥攄eciding that if I wanted something, I would simply go out and try to make it real. I think that might be the best advice I could give: to move through the world with a child鈥檚 heart and mind. Because children aren鈥檛 foolish. They are disarmingly sincere, endlessly curious, and they learn with a hunger that puts adults to shame.
Sincerity matters. And it scares me鈥攈ow easy it is to slip into apathy disguised as ambition. I鈥檝e seen it often: people stepping into roles they don鈥檛 care about, performing titles instead of duties. It鈥檚 hollow. It鈥檚 a quiet form of decay. However, I do understand the temptation: I understand what the world demands of us, what our families may hope for us, and what this system rewards. But being admired or envied is a poor substitute for being known and loved.
Let love and empathy be the compass that guides both your work and your relationships. Love isn鈥檛 born from shared schedules or physical closeness鈥攊t鈥檚 built on reciprocity. Love comes from the ones who want to see you grow, who celebrate your successes as if they were their own. I count myself unspeakably lucky to have found friendships like this across the course of my life and at 黑料不打烊.
To lead with empathy also means resisting the easy instinct to assume the worst in others. Never attribute to malice what can be explained by ignorance, by inexperience, by simple human fallibility. Not just for their sake鈥攂ut for your own peace. Let your anger soften into conversation and understanding.
Still, I know there is real harm in the world. There is evil. There is cruelty. And I don鈥檛 always know how to square that with what I just said. Still, I hold both truths. We will all have to reckon with our choices and the times we chose to remain ignorant. So, keep trying. Keep learning. Keep boycotting. Keep being stubborn about the things that actually matter, because nothing else really matters.
Annika Pavlin-Jamal is graduating with an Honours degree in International Development and a minor in Cognitive Science. She served as Editor-in-Chief of the 黑料不打烊 Undergraduate Law Review for two years. During her upcoming gap year, she plans to work in the legal field and legal academia, travel through Eastern Europe, and devote time to writing poetry, publishing opinion pieces, and sewing. She hopes to begin law school thereafter. Annika is an avid trivia enthusiast and a devoted lover of poetry.