Ambition: A Window into the Co-President’s Thoughts

A reflection from WIT’s leaders of ambition - By Gabrielle Younes and Vivian Wong -

Ambition is the motivation to strive for any type of achievement or distinction and encourages you to break free and rise above your comfort zone. It is a driving force towards success and a powerful personal trait. An ambitious person reflects a healthy self-esteem, with the drive to attain his/her higher goals in life. No-one and nothing can stand up against these people, for 2 main reasons:

1. They are not afraid to lose and 2. They are not afraid to try!

Personally, I define ambition as being open-minded and not being constrained by your personal circumstances. Having grown up in a certain socio-economic environment shouldn’t determine the rest of your life. In my opinion, being able to foresee your future is so predictable and tiring. Ambitious people need to dream big and aim for the sky. You shouldn’t be afraid of failing and shouldn’t care what other people think of you or your actions. Pleasing others never brought about breakthrough and innovation. And this is what I aspire to achieve. At the end of the day, even if I do fail, what is the worst that can happen? I’ll just get back up on my feet and try again. Learn from my mistakes and keep on walking (as the famous Johnny Walker once suggested!).

One of my greatest ambitions was to travel for my studies from Malaysia to Sydney. At the age of 16, I decided to leave my comfort zone and dive deep into unknown territory. The language barrier was enormous. I had only started learning English a year before travelling and everything seemed daunting. Public transport was the worst for me. This completely new transport system blew my mind and I still feel stressed by it. Did I know this would be a challenging experience? Of course! But I had butterflies in my stomach and it is these butterflies and amazing moments that I will always remember. Never, not in a million years, did I believe I would become student President for a

Now, the UNSW Bioinformatics Society is a platform of over 500 students, with weekly events and publications, and has transformed the Bioinformatics university experience from isolating to empowering. Yet, without the ambition to chase this dream and face my own fears, I would not have developed the amazing skills or experiences that make a better person today.

society or such an independent person. So, my advice is: Go for it! Don’t let fear get the best of you. We only live once and every second of it counts.

If embarking on a new project or role scares you, then you are at the precipice of growth, and championing the principles of ambition. Whether it is founding a new society on campus, applying for a job or running for President of WIT, I find that my ambition to achieve my biggest goals comes hand-in-hand with my biggest doubts. What if I do it wrong? What if I’m not good enough? This rhetoric of selfdoubt, stemming from imposter syndrome and self-imposed anxieties has time after time caused obstacles in my journey. However, learning to embrace these fears, and utilise them to develop into a stronger leader and more well-rounded individual has fuelled my success, and drives my ambition even further. So when I was trying to solve the most basic problem of knowing no one studying the same degree as me, I was able to step outside of my comfort zone and establish a new society on campus. Guided by the experiences of pioneering women across the STEM field, we aim to investigate the concept of ambition and understand how we can utilise our own ambitions to achieve our dreams and develop our abilities. By navigating through the ambitions of the WIT team and female leaders that are redefining what it means to be ambitious, we hope to inspire and empower every reader to embark on their own journey, reach new milestones and leave their own mark.