Written by Jonathan Johnson, Executive MBA 2023 student
Opportunity precedes introspection. I am not special… but maybe I’m lucky. Maybe being lucky isn’t unique. And maybe, such luck should always be met with deep gratitude.
I am an adopted child, born in a developing country into arguably less than ideal circumstances, yet fortunate to have been adopted—amongst other children unknowingly in a similar quandary—by a Western middle-class family. We, like everyone else, faced struggles and strife, economic and social disappointment, divorce and deviated plans, but, regardless and wholeheartedly, I was provided with a life that enabled me to be a kid, carefree and loved. This luck grew to present rich opportunities I can only in retrospect appreciate: a structured household, food on the table, a decent education, meaningful relationships, the value of hard labour and freedoms I will never fully understand in comparison to a life I did not live. We moved frequently, which offered exposure to many cultures and a yearning to connect. We’ve lived in seemingly exotic places. We’ve led seemingly exotic lives.
My life, to me, is normal. And upon that introspection, I realise my life is full of challenges, choices, disappointment, love, hope, wishes, stark reality and opportunity.
This abridged description of my life is, again, not entirely unique. I am multi-racial, an immigrant, a husband, a friend, a veteran, an expert in my field; I contain great volumes of the indescribable… complicated, just like everyone else. I would not consider myself the smartest person, nor the brightest, nor the luckiest – maybe sometimes nonplussed, perplexed and a bit overwhelmed.
I have worked hard; I have faced great disappointment and great fortune. I have struggled, I have acquiesced, and I have also overcome. I have chosen to fill my life with wonderful love, friendship and gratitude. And a respect for what could have been different or worse, had I not simply been lucky.
But what may not be simply luck is how one uses one’s opportunities; how one builds on one’s experiences and dutifully earned lessons; how one handles oneself in the face of adversity and frustration; and, how one values those prospects and returns that value. Any successes I may have, I did not attain on my own. I have been fortunate to cultivate a network of family and friends, colleagues and mentors that propagated strength-building confidence, rooted in the reality that is life.
I do not know what studying at Cambridge will present to me and my future. But I am grateful for this opportunity, this challenge and this voyage. I am in awe of the intellect and drive I see in my fellow students and professors, all facing their own challenges, all forging their own futures. This experience is an investment in me and the future I can build for myself and others… it is not free nor is it easy; I wouldn’t pursue it if it was. It has quickly become a shared experience, full of all aspects of life. A shared camaraderie… a unique collective gratitude.
I am and always will be a student. I shall progress. Perhaps, introspection precedes opportunity.
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