Embracing the Ambition: Building Dreams with Discipline

By Andres Paez

Hello everyone! My name is Andres, I am a Computer Science Hispanic student minoring in Innovation.

Let me start this text with a message for the readers … I hope that whenever you read this blog, either today, in two weeks, or in two decades, this can be useful for you, and hopefully give you a sneak peek at how far discipline can take you.

We, the youth, go through life thinking we can change the world, believing that with a few good ideas and a couple of good opportunities we can reshape the society that we live in. It’s almost like the first dream that comes to our heads when we are born. As we grow up, we tend to lose that little child that we all carry on the inside. Instead, we opt to complicate life with our predispositions and mistaken beliefs about how the world should work, the worst thing is that we call that “maturity.” We all have the same opportunity to determine how we want to confront our reality, either we use our pessimistic eyes, wallowing in our fear and pain, or we can see everything through the eyes of hope and learning.

As a Latin immigrant, I had to develop resiliency from a young age. My family and I left Colombia in 2018 with nothing more than some luggage and a bag full of dreams. I had not even finished high school by the time I got here. Fortunately, that gave me some time to learn everything I had to learn and figure out my way to one of the best universities in the country, the University of Florida.

Today, when I look back, my conclusion is that everything that is happening right now is the result of the seeds that I sowed from almost ten years ago. It feels like seeing a white board with a lot of different dots interconnected. However, if there’s one piece of advice that I can give you from my 20 years of experience dealing with this thing called life, it is that sometimes the best plan is to not have a plan. That is called faith.

You don’t need to believe in any religion to have faith; faith is about understanding that some things are beyond our control, and therefore, we have no other choice than to hope for things to work out in our favor. Do you think that my younger self was thinking about changing my country and studying here 10 years ago? Definitely not. Still, I had my own projects and little goals to accomplish, and I just had to do my best to fulfill them.

The trick is doing the best with the tools that we have and be ready for the opportunities that might appear in our way. Now, it is also important to get to know ourselves with detail and delicacy. A good way to start is to ask ourselves the right questions:

• “Do I truly feel happy where I am right now?”
• “Am I doing this because I like it or because someone else wants me to do so?”

When we know who we are, we can empower the characteristics that make us stand out.

With that, something became clear to me: It is not enough to be the smartest, and it never will be. Intelligence without consistency is useless, while discipline, even without motivation, will improve and transform you every day of your life, because you won’t have excuses, obstacles or problems that prevent you from doing what you must do. Discipline, over all other things, is a true act of self-love and our best tool to fight against our greatest enemy, ourselves.

My path is now here, at the Innovation Academy, where I was received with open arms, and where I have developed other abilities that require a bit more work. Here are a few:

• First, having ideas is great, but executing them is way better. Although it might not be easy, with the right tools, the right process and the right people, everything can be accomplished.
• Second, empathy is important for us as humans, and fortunately it is important in business too. Every product, idea or service will be very well rewarded when the customer is the main priority.
• Third, and honestly, one of the most difficult to learn, is to embrace failure as something good for us. I still struggle with this, but surrender is never an option.

I just like to remember what my mom always tells me, “Losing to learn is not losing.” With this, I want to thank my university, the Innovation Academy and everyone who has been with me in this journey, for giving me the opportunity to be a better me and help others shine with stronger light. I wish you wisdom, wisdom to make the best decisions, and a lot of success, success in making your dreams come true!