“I choose crazy, I have been, and I still will.” Cassandra Cole, a third year Mechanical Engineering student tells her audience as she inspired them with her enthralling journey as a female mechanical engineer. There were a lot of lessons to be learned from her short yet meaningful talk, but if they were to be summarized, it would be into three main lessons: Take risks, face your fears, and Keep moving forward.
Cassandra talked about how surprised her family, friends and professors were when they found out that she wanted to take Mechanical Engineering as her college course. After all, she was the typical feminine embodiment. She took dance classes, she was a model, and she collected shoes! Mechanical Engineering might be the last thing she might want to take up in the university but, she had a passion for Math, Sciences, and Workshop. So regardless of the stereotypes thrown at her, she decided to take the risk and follow her passion.
Source: Gipsy Geek via WordPress
After some time in the university, Cassandra suddenly acquired a serious disease. She had to stay in the hospital, and her parents were told to prepare for the worst. While being treated, a friend of hers visited her and shared an idea that would help her live her life to the fullest— make a bucket list. With the help of family, friends and amazing doctors, she was soon completely treated and was able to be discharged from the hospital. Cassandra left the hospital with her bucket list and new found life waiting for her.
Cassandra’s near death experience gave her a sense of realization that life was short and that she should take risks and live life to the fullest. She took her bucket list and crossed out some of the goals listed. She went skydiving, co-drive with a famous rally driver, be a flag girl for her favorite racing team, and travel to different countries.
Source: YouTube
She then continued her schooling and joined the formula team in their university. She took the risk, challenged herself to learn a new skill and volunteered to design their team’s race car chassis. As they finished the design, Cassandra felt a sense of achievement, yet she felt that something was missing. She missed her feminine side, and so she went back to taking dance classes and continued her modelling. She then decided to take a sexy photo shoot together with their team’s race car. Their university didn’t agree to this action, and they didn’t take this action lightly either. Their team was suspended, and Cassandra felt crushed. She stopped schooling and got depressed. This was her rock bottom.
Source: GipsyGeek
It was a while, but Cassandra soon realized that she had to take the risk and face her fears. All she had to do was take the first step. She took a deep breath and continued going to school. Even though everyone would look at her differently, she faced her fears, learned from her mistakes, accepted her punishment and worked her way back into the world where she was once before— except now she was stronger.
She would not have achieved this if she didn’t have a solid support system. Her family, friends and university professors pushed her to take one day at a time and keep moving forward. She took their pieces of advice and continued to take risks, face her fears, keep moving forward, and always to choose crazy!
Most of us, if not all, have gone through different experiences in life similar to Cassandra’s. A lot of them will vary but, it is safe to say that the lessons learned from her story can apply to almost everyone. Let’s not forget to life to the fullest and take necessary risks to help us grow as a person— physically, emotionally, and even spiritually. Also, whenever we have doubts and make mistakes, let’s be brave enough to take one step forward and face our fears. Always remember, when life throws rocks at you, keep moving forward. It doesn’t matter how long it takes. Just keep moving forward and with that being said, here is an excerpt from Cassandra’s speech that will leave you inspired:
“Will you cruise through life missing those opportunities… missing those chances? Or will you take those risks, take those chances, will you scrape your knees on the ground, and take those risks to take you… take yourself where you wanna be?”
Source: TEDX
