The next day, I learned that I would fail the most difficult course of the last semester of my bachelor’s because I couldn’t make it to the exam since I went to the contest. I immediately minimized the problem. Confidently, I thought: ‘This will be fixed as soon as I show the professor that I didn’t attend to the exam because I was doing something that was not just good for me, but for the university and the entire community!’.

I arranged a meeting with her, explained what happened and she congratulated me, gave me useful tips for my project and also a flaming 0. She praised me for pursuing my priority, which in that case was… to win an award and not to pass the course. I was perplexed. The victory became tasteless, but a bitter lesson was learnt. Everything is about priorities!

The career we choose, the five minutes we snooze in bed, the grades we get at school and how we relate with other people, are decisions that are made based on our priorities. If you are a prominent professional that invests tons of time in working but none in hanging out with friends, or if you are always late, or with low grades. Then, I have to congratulate you for your achievements! I just hope you are not pursuing the wrong priority that will end up with a bitter victory - as it has done with me.

Good luck!