Nothing is Impossible

Nothing Is Impossible

I am thankful to Engie, Agorize, NPL, EIT, EnergyVille etc. for the fully sponsored trip to their head office in Belgium for the Internet of Things (IoT): Greener Cities Challenge. It was an honour to have participated and to meet many of the industry leaders and experts in the competition.

But there is a catch.

Although this is not the first occurrence of a technological trip that I have been privileged upon, it reminisces onto the multitude of technology competitions I have undertaken.

The mind is everything.

The first technology competition where I was sent overseas, Silicon Valley to be specific, was when I was at the tender age of 19. It was the first destination overseas because of a global award. It was a tremendously exciting experience.

My hopes grew.

Over the years, I have participated in countless hackathons, technology competitions, and have even presented in front of diplomatic leaders to solve world problems through technological innovations.

I am confused.

Every competition and every endeavor I have partake in, there are always doubters and fear-mongers. They discourage you. They put fear into you. They try to steer you away from the very dream that excites you. The dream that you wake up to in the morning every day, aspiring towards. Working hard towards.

Discouragement.

The first discouragement I had when I was so excited to take part in my first technology competition, was from many close friends of mine. They told me how hard was it to win. How challenging it was to succeed. That the competition is fierceless. Everyone is out to defeat my dream.

I pulled back.

From then onwards, I took part in competitions silently. Away from the crowd because there are so much fear and hopelessness. It made me afraid. It made me scared.

Logic or emotions?

Logically, the world has changed. It has become more digital than ever before. The cross-geographical continents are now flattened. Flattened by the digitization that allow us to leap into different industries. This convergence of domains encourages innovation and inventiveness. I am excited. And I am, fearful.

Hardwork.

“Don’t bother about the competition. They won’t award to us. We don’t have the time.”

Yet another discouragement before I embarked into this new journey. It is yet another time-wasting activity that discourages us from pursuing our dreams. I had to win. I had to win again. So I did everything I could, all on my own. I submitted a thoroughly, detailed, well-thought after proposal into the competition.

I won. Or we won?

The idea was selected. I was thrived when I saw the message. I couldn’t contain my excitement. When I shared the great news to the doubters who discouraged me at first. Now there is only congratulations.

Be encouraged. Stay encouraged.

To all the people out there who feel like they are struggling, who feel like they are making a difference to the world, I have a message for you: Be encouraged, stay encouraged.

One piece of advice from Michelle Haupt at NASA always encourages me.

“One thing I always tell young girls: Never let anybody tell you that you can’t do it. Growing up, they’d look at me like, Really? Even when I did my college visit, I had someone tell me most people change their minds after the first year. I never gave up. Even when I was having teachers tell me, just take a break from math, you can take this class next year. I said, ‘No, I’m going to take it now.’ I kept pushing for it.”

 

The below video is a glimpse of the competition at the heart of Europe, Brussels, Belgium.

I am still young so traveling and meeting friends cannot be resisted. 🙂

I hope to catch up with my friends in Germany, where I stayed for half a year, and Finland over my next trip to Europe (very soon).