With the summer ending and the beginning of classes approaching so fast (where did July go?) we all need a reminder of why we go to college and an inspiration to do better. Why should we torture ourselves sitting in the desk for hours listening to a professor that most of us hate because he is trying too much or preventing us from enjoying free time outside his classroom? Why? Why? Why?

Well, I found the answer to all of our questions and even more to start the new semester with new goals and with a strong mindset. If it is your first you have to step up your game because your high school days of daydreaming in your history class are (unfortunately) over. If it is your last one you want to end well so fight your procrastinator instinct and end the show on a high note. If you are somewhere in the middle you still need to do well so you can eventually finish (shout out to err body with double majors or minors). Here is a little inspiration to help you and I make the best of this semester.

Robert Mfune is a 19-year old South African millionaire that used to work for McDonald’s in Southampton, England. At such a young age, he already understood that success will not be given to you if you stay in bed all day watching Netflix. When he was not working at our favorite five-star restaurant, he was either serving tea for the bosses at a top financial firm and obtaining all the information he could or teaching himself about trading. Rob started trading when he was 17, with an account opened in his mother’s name. Two years later, he is a successful businessman making millions by investing in coffee shops and houses in the UK and in property in South Africa (and just as an FYI he owns a Bentley and other luxurious cars).

“Going to college, working at McDonald’s and as a tea boy and trading from home was the toughest time of my life.” And I am here sitting and thinking that the toughest time of my life was when I did not have Chipotle for a year (sadness).

Robert's story is inspiring in many different ways. For one, we can assume that he was coming from a poor family as he was working at McDonald’s to help pay for his tuition. But even with everything that he had going on, he still found an opportunity to make something of his life.

We have to take our college career as an opportunity to better ourselves, but we also have to see the bigger picture. He is a college student just like the rest of us and what his story is telling us is that we do not have to wait until graduation to become successful in what we want to do. If we take our destiny in our hands we can become more today and accomplish more than we would have thought. Think about something that you always wanted to do and do it today. Do not wait after graduation or next year (I do not you but I never believed in New Year’s resolutions) you have to start today. Do not wait for an opportunity to fall from the sky. Create your own opportunity.