“You snooze, you lose.” Regretfully, this sentiment has perhaps inadvertently taken precedence in most of our daily lives, resulting in a robotic manifestation of the human race.

“You cannot afford to take a leisurely stroll through life. There is no time to look around and enjoy the view – you must run in order to win the race, and win it you must.”

The devastating part about this “race” is that we do not realise that winning does not only entail the stereotypical definitions of being wealthy, holding a professional degree or working at a top-notch corporation.

If you find happiness in these definitions, then that’s perfect. You’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.

However, if this is not the case, we need to realise that sometimes winning can also mean achieving the pinnacle of happiness in pursuing the things we are passionate about or educating ourselves on the innumerable facets of life.

As a law student in my 20s, I can attest to the fact that millennials, especially, tend to gravitate towards the former definition because it seems like the smartest choice.

Most of us think that there is nothing more important than achieving academic success. We constantly forget to set aside time, even if just a fraction of it, for self-growth.

This mindset has become an institutionalised way of life, so that even during holidays or semester breaks, we do not possess the drive to accomplish anything else.

We tend to live life complacently in our happy bubbles, without educating ourselves on current affairs, politics, the environment, or even general knowledge. This lifestyle, in my opinion, is completely unsustainable.

However, rather than assume that we all share similar woes, I would instead like to tell my story of being a victim to this concept of life and my subsequent attempts at overcoming this conundrum.

The most effective way of explaining my endeavours would be to share my first encounter with this thing called passion. In order to do that, I’d like to take us back to the year 2005, when I was a freethinking, eager seven-year-old, pouncing on every opportunity to experience excitement.

My parents enrolled me in a Carnatic music class, hoping I’d learn more about my Indian roots. I was thrilled of course but surprisingly, Carnatic music was not the passion I would discover that night.

After my first class, while waiting for my mother, I watched a different class being conducted outside with a group of girls wearing saris paired with tights. How peculiar!

My teacher then began playing the nattuvangam (cymbals), and I watched as the girls moved in complete synchrony with the beat of the music. They were technically flawless and elegantly beautiful.

That was the night I fell in love with the age-old art of Bharathanatyam.

Fast forward 13 years, and I’ve successfully completed my arangetram (the Bharathanatyam equivalent to graduation). However, those 13 years were infused with problems and hindrances that I thought I would never overcome.

The biggest of them was, of course, my pursuit of academic success. I was raised in a family that prioritised acing examinations and performing excellently at school, but I would never blame anyone but myself for allowing this mentality to materialise as a roadblock in every other aspect of my life.

As I grew older, and examinations became more important, I found myself skipping weeks of dance class at a time. I thought dancing and all my other extracurricular activities were a distraction, and that I should be spending those hours with my books.

The result of this absurdity was my undeniable sense of emptiness. Why did I think that a couple of hours spent at dance class every week would cause the deterioration of my academic results?

I realise now that it was because I assumed that this “race” did not allow for detours like dancing or leisure reading. Boy, was I mistaken.

I derived insignificant satisfaction from the academic success I achieved. Pursuant to this epiphany, I threw myself into dancing and resurrected that passion I felt as a seven-year-old. Now dancing is something I absolutely cannot live without.

Alongside dancing, I try my best to grab every opportunity thrown my way. Whether it’s a model United Nations conference, participating in charities or even working at a news portal, I try my level best to refrain from my previous habit of assuming that my degree is the only asset I will require in order to make it in life.

Academic achievements are undoubtedly important. However, a piece of paper will not give you the roller-coaster of experiences that life has to offer or the intellectual capacity that we are capable of possessing.

Channelling an eternal quote from the movie-cum-masterpiece, The Dead Poets Society – carpe diem! Seize the day and live with no regrets.

From understanding that love, passion, awareness and self-growth are as important as academic excellence, we have run miles ahead, with the finish line of this race clear in sight.

Nithiyah Tamilwanan is an intern at Free Malaysia Today.