A Risky Move My Professor Taught Me by Natalie

A Risky Move My Professor Taught Me by Natalie - July 2016 Scholarship Essay

The most important lesson any teacher ever taught me: take risks.

My professor last year taught me that nothing is permanent, not life, not your age, not even your life. Everything comes to an end. While she absolutely despised the acronym “YOLO”, she did believe in taking risks, taking chances, putting it all out there so you can look back and say, “That was so stupid!” instead of wondering what would have happened. That’s not saying all risks are stupid, although not all risks are smart either.

Risks and chances, and the lack thereof, are what make up our lives. Auribus teneo lupum. It’s Latin for “to do nothing” and “to do something”. This paradoxical concept rules a large part of our lives. With or without taking a risk, you are still taking a chance. The chance: that taking, or in fact not taking, the risk is better than doing the opposite. By doing nothing, you are still doing something. By doing something, you are doing nothing in the timeline of what could have been. No risk lasts forever. No chance to take a risk lasts forever. Your ability at auribus teneo lupum will not last forever. So take a risk, or take a chance because if you don’t, you will look at your life as it flashes before your life in you last minutes in this earth and be filled with regret for every risk lost, and every chance dismissed.