As a student, there are lot of things we believe we could have done better especially when it comes to our academics. Every bit of decision we make always comes with doubt, with questions such as, what if I had done this, would it have turn out differently? There are times we are not cognisant of the actions and decisions we are making, we do a lot of things without thinking too deep about it, only for the consequences to come knocking and all that is left is, how I wish I new?
For a student, to have the ability to time travel is a wish we all hope for but the most tricky part of it is having to choose either to travel to the past or the future. You see both have there unique qualities. A student can travel to the past and erase past errors or travel to future to experience the outcome of decisions made in the present both are something a student will definitely consider but which one will I choose?
I am a lover of movies and I learn a lot of them especially when it comes discussing fairytales like this. I have quoted this specific scene before in one of my post but it remains relevant to this topic of discussion. I watched a Tv series named "Sandman" few months ago, there was a conversation that occurred between the new dreem of the endless and Gilbert.
For those that watched the series would know Gilbert and the previous dream of the endless died fighting the furies also known as the kindly ones. After the new dream lord took the throne, he felt the need to amend all that was lost during the battle. He tried to resurrect some of the characters in the dreamworld and he succeeded but it changed when it was time for him to bring back Gilbert.
For every other character the new dream lord brought back to life, they were filled with gratitude of being granted the privilege of living again but Gilbert perspective was different. For few minutes, he succeeded in bringing Gilbert back to life and in that moment they both had a very deep conversation.
Gilbert was aware that the new dream lord was trying to correct the damages of the past, so he said to the new dreem lord, "if you try to correct all the wrongs that has been done, what will be the essence of the sacrifices that were made" To Gilbert, he was more interested in honouring the sacrifice of giving up his life for the greater good than being granted the privilege of living again.
It makes you wonder what roles past errors play in everyone's life? Even if it is just for imagination sake, the moment you ask a student what they would do if they were granted the opportunity to travel to the past, the first thing that would cross their mind is how they would take their time in amending the past.
It is no doubt that the past is filled with lot of sorrowful events and this events has filled our minds with the thought of; I could have done better. What we fail to realise is that, whatever we must have done in the past is based on the knowledge we had at the moment, which means we couldn't have known any better until we passed through that specific experience that shaped our mindset.
With that being said, I'm not a fan of erasing past errors but I might consider traveling to the future. There are lot of students out there thinking about which course to study, a course that will make them relevant in the labour market. Some might even end up studying a course they had no passion for only to give up along the line but what if I could travel to the future to confirm which skill is best suited for the days ahead, would that not make life a lot easier?
This write-up was inspired by weekly prompt "To the past or future" in hive student connect community.
Cover image - 𝖣𝖾𝗌𝗂𝗀𝗇𝖾𝖽 𝗎𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖼𝖺𝗇𝗏𝖺
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