Lesson 1 The Path Ahead
My Journal about those who inspire me
As a young person about to ____ adulthood,
I've been thinking a lot lately about what ____ want to do with my life
and ____ I might do something meaningful with my time.
I've ____ to the conclusion that the best way to find direction is to look at how others have steered the course of their lives and have accomplished great things.
I'm going to read as much as I can about inspirational ____ and I'll record my reflections here.
Hopefully, the exercise will help me organize my ____ and choose a specific path for myself.
“One Size Doesn’t Fit All”
What will it be like ____ I get old?
Will getting around and doing things be ____
The ____ designer Patricia Moore once asked herself these very questions as a young woman.
When she was just 26 ____ old, Moore dressed like an 80-year-old woman and handicapped herself with weights and blurred glasses to find answers.
After traveling around North America like that for three years, she understood the difficulties the elderly face in our modern society and thus set to work designing products and services that would simplify life ____ our senior citizens.
I ____ Moore in that she dedicated herself to a particular problem and really sacrificed in order to find a solution.
Would I do the same to help others in ____
I certainly don't want to get to the ____ of my life and say, “I wish I had done more to help people.”
Moore's dedication has given ____ ideas about how I might be of service to others.
“To Dare Is to Do, to Fear Is to Fail”
I came across these words from a famed explorer John Goddard a ____ weeks ago.
When he was just 15 years old, Goddard realized the importance of setting concrete ____ goals.
So ____ wrote down 127 specific aims and, during his life, accomplished 109 of them.
When asked about his motivation for writing this “Life List,” ____ said that all the adults he knew seemed to complain that they hadn't accomplished things when they were younger.
“They had let life slip by them,” ____ said.
“I was sure that if I ____ for my future, I could have a life of excitement, fun, and knowledge.”
So what are ____ life goals?
Are ____ of my goals more of a priority than others?
There's no question ____ I have a bunch of things I want to accomplish in life, but where do I even start?
Like Goddard, I need to be specific about goals, and ____ should write them down.
More importantly, I need to be brave enough to dare to do the things on my list, and this will certainly require me to leave ____ comfort zone.
Well, first things first. It's time to write out my ____
____ of all, I want to become a genetic engineer and develop tools and methods that might be used to treat rare diseases.
I know the goal in and of itself is daunting and involves much effort and many complicated ____
I wish I had set the goal earlier, but I still have plenty of time to ____ this.
Anyway, I'm glad that I came up ____ the very first goal on my life list. So what's the next step?
The most practical thing would be to think about successive objectives leading to the ultimate ____
For example, I could study biology in university ____ then, during the summers, I could do a work-study program at a genetic research lab.
By the time I finish that, I will have ____ the basics of genetic engineering.
“Keeping Hope Alive”
I believe that the luckiest people in the world owe a debt to those who are ____ so fortunate.
By this, I mean that people like me, who are lucky enough to receive a good education, ____ loving parents, and live in a relatively safe country, ought to get out into the world and actively help the poor and the sick.
Dr. Hawa Abdi proved herself to be a woman of action when she passed up ____ life of luxury to help the ill and the dispossessed in her country.
In 1983, when Somalia's government collapsed, Abdi was running a successful ____ clinic in her country's capital, Mogadishu.
She could have escaped and lived comfortably overseas, but she decided to stay and ____ a difference.
She established a hospital and refuge on her family's ____
One day, rebels tried ____ take over her hospital, but “Mama Hawa” outstared the rebels.
Soon, they ____ in shame.
She picked herself up from this setback to continue healing, feeding, ____ and caring for her people.
I am beginning an ambitious life ____
By the end, I will have experienced many setbacks and obstacles which ____ have helped me grow.
The lesson I should learn ____ Dr. Hawa's story is that each obstacle must be met with courage and determination.
There are people right here in my country, right ____ who also need help.
I believe I have certain skills and abilities that are unique to me, and that can benefit ____ if I develop them further.
Through education, I need to refine these skills for the ____ of the maximum number of people.
This is the beginning ____ my life of service.