I'm Giving Up on My Passion

Hello everyone 👋

On Friday, it started SNOWING. Yes, it was snowing (fat snowflakes too). I am honestly sometimes so confused with the weather in Canada. In other news, feeling a little bit overwhelmed with work and things to do, but trying to take it one day at a time.

This week, we began the transition phase at iAscend. The current exec team and I will be stepping down from a leadership role and transitioning over to more of an advisory role as the board of directors. Not gonna lie, it was pretty bittersweet once that realization hit.

What started off as an idea as I drove home from school one day has now become a resource for over 20,000 students annually as they transition into university — I could have never imagined that this would be the result of that one idea. Last summer, we’ve build this up together and ran a 180+ person internship, 460+ participant hackathon, garnered 400+ university insights and so many more momentous accomplishments. It’s so inspiring to see how a group of people, all galvanized by a common goal, can come together and make something like this happen.

I’m stepping down from iAscend, taking so many memories and great things away from it, especially the people I’ve been able to meet and work with throughout this endeavour, the challenges that we’ve been able to grow through as a team and individually, and most importantly, the incredible people that we’ve been able to serve.

But now, it’s time to give up what has been one of my strongest passions for the past year, and to welcome in the new (and improved) exec team. Oof.

Reflecting on this, I’m learning how we must all eventually sacrifice for the long term good, at the expense of some short term discomfort. It makes no sense at all for our current leadership to continue leading iAscend — it restricts the input of new ideas, jeopardizes iAscend’s sustainability, and (to be honest) is a little selfish. It sucks, but it’s the right thing to do and we all know it.

This only solidifies the value of always keeping your priorities in check. Seasons change, and we need to consistently reflect on whether the things we’re involved in is still the best use of our (and others’) time. I know that our incoming leadership will gain so much more throughout the next year, and I’m very excited to offer them this opportunity.

Although I’ll be stepping down from the leadership at iAscend, and transitioning over to more of an advisory role — all of the memories, friends, and lessons that I’ve learned along the way will be with me forever.

On to the next build.

I really appreciate you for being a part of The One Percent today! if you are enjoying this newsletter, I’d love for you to share this with a friend or two by hitting the share button below. I’ll see you back here again in a week’s time!