Rahul Surana

Integration Paper 1
30 Jan 2021

My childhood was strife with many dreams. Dreams of travelling the world,

succeeding at leading a company, and following my family’s footsteps in the world of

business. While poetry to Audre Lorde is the “revelation or distillation of experience”, to

me, my dreams serve as the opposite. I do, in fact, use them to scrutinize my life. My

actions and the goals i set for myself are based largely around the dreams I envision for

myself for the future. Using this, I am able to cultivate my experience going through

these early stages of my life, and tailor it to allow me to achieve what I want. Alas,

unexpected events will always get in the way. COVID-19 really pushed me off track for

quite some time. I struggled with online school - it was an ineffective way for me to

learn. I struggled with personal health after the gyms closed and not a single dumbbell

was available for purchase online. I struggled with the reduced amount of social

interaction I was able to engage in as it pushed me away from my typical extroverted

self. As the pandemic raged on, it became apparent to me that setbacks and hurdles

are going to be inevitable in every step of life, and the true cultivation of experience lies

in how I handle them going forward.

Religion was also a big part of my life growing up. While I cannot say that that

fact has remained true, the values that it instilled in me are still present to this day. I

remain a strict vegetarian, believe in non-violence, and aim to emphasize inclusivity in

my day to day life. Leadership from the perspective of my values resembles one that

promotes diversity, hard work, and inclusivity. It would highlight proper and meaningful

delegation of tasks, employ a number of creative thinkers from multiple backgrounds,

and reward true hard work. Upon reading “Poetry is not a Luxury”, I was reminded of the

fact that your life experience must be cultivated to match your dreams and that you

have the power to do that for yourself. It made me quickly rethink my priorities and I feel

as though my vision is once again focused on that future that I dream of.