Dressed in black slim lycra pants, lace top, calf high boots, red lippy and fur; I look like I'm at an International fashion shoot... but in actual fact it's 10.20pm and I'm sitting amidst a sea of equally studious (albeit slightly more youthful) students at the Ballieau Library at the University of Melbourne.
It's been another long long day. My throat is sore, my glands are up and I'm tired but I feel compelled to finish my daily objectives and so I push through... push on.
Over dinner tonight I was thinking... in my youth, I often thanked my parents for their love, support and for all the sacrifices that they made for my brother and I. We were blessed to have been raised in a home such as ours and these qualities made me who I am, showed me that through earnestness, hard work, passion and discipline a life could be created and dreams realised. In this nest, I dreamt of endless opportunities.
Today, as I juggle full time professional academic work, post graduate level study in a new discipline at a prestigious Melbourne University, construct a research project and prepare for its forthcoming exhibition and symposium, balance home, health, sport and social commitments, I feel the unease at having so little time to prepare for the Milan Scholarship and not enough time to sit, breathe deeply and day dream. The sacrifices I am making during this time are many. Mostly I miss simple things, like long walks along the beach barefooted. Even though I feel like this, I am blissfully happy. I am happy because for the first time in a long time I am living the life I have always dreamt of and opportunities are bountiful.
