One evening, right after my O/Ls, I saw a quote on the internet.
“We are all drafts.”
I remember smirking at the screen. Wait, me? a draft? I laughed. I would never be a ‘draft.’ I would be something ‘complete.’ Here I am, exactly six years later, realizing that if I had truly understood that quote that day, I would have been far more grounded.
Recently, I was in the middle of editing an assignment. Suddenly, a thought crossed my mind. I turned to my friend and said,
“Imagine if I had waited until the last minute to submit this. I would have never figured out these errors.”
At that very second, that old quote hit me again.
We draft our assignments and essays initially with our original vision on paper or in a document and subject them to numerous transformations, like Edison testing the light bulb through 999 attempts, except some of us are still on attempt 1. We edit, we shorten, we sometimes change the whole topic or direction, and then somehow submit a completed essay or assignment.
Have you ever thought that life works the same way? Neither did I, because most of us focus on the end goal, but not the process!
Consider your first year as the first version. You come to university thinking you successfully completed school and now you’re complete. But you only completed one assignment of life. So, is it fair for you to expect this new assignment, which is university, to be perfect and crystal clear by the first draft?
During the first year, we are firm on our vision, or overconfident, or completely lost. You know that moment when you brainstorm ideas and suddenly think, “I don’t get this!” You may be obsessed with fitting in or comparing yourself to others. Moreover, you may not be fully yourself yet, or you’re afraid of change. Sometimes, you’re afraid to ask questions of lecturers to fix your mistakes. All of this forms your first draft in university.
Then comes your second year. You slowly begin to realize things, just like how you figure things out after some research. Welcome to version 2: mid degree crisis! You might change your friend circle. You start having existential thoughts. You begin questioning your career choice.
Then comes the “almost graduation” version. Now you’re close to a completed assignment. You’re more self-aware and stronger. Your assignment is backed by a lot of research, which, in life, are experiences.
Yet, maybe you still feel like a draft!
That’s completely fine. Certain great books were in draft form for decades. We have to evolve, change, adapt, sometimes change routes, and take a step back, but never give up before becoming a successful final version of ourselves.
So, enjoy being a draft. Don’t be late to realize it like I was. Being a draft is not something bad. It means you’re ready to change and to explore before becoming the best version of yourself.
You never learn anything from an assignment you did at the last minute, but you learn many things through something you worked on while collecting experience.
So, BACKSPACE your negativities.
DELETE the interactions that drain your energy.
COPY & PASTE the great lessons you learn along the journey.
AUTO-SAVE small lessons and little moments you don’t even notice because you’re always in a hurry.
Finally, UNDO regrets, because every mistake is a lesson.
However, don’t rush to click SUBMIT, because life isn’t graded on perfection. So take your time. Edit gently. SUBMIT your best version, not when the world demands it, but when you’re ready!
Because being a draft doesn’t mean you’re behind; it shows you’re still becoming!
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