Risking the void to reach the stars

I want to reach the stars … literally.

I want to see the cosmos, to break boundaries, to do something no one has ever done, and to become the person that my younger self would look at and say, “that’s the person I want to be someday.”

Being an astronaut was always my childhood dream. The thing that my relatives would use to make me eat vegetables. “Astronauts eat that!” was something I vividly remember. Years later, a part of me still yearns for that out-of-this-world experience even if I now have bigger dreams of becoming a doctor and a scientist who would make great contributions in my field.

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I never really had the most detailed and intellectual reason why I wanted to be one. Maybe it’s the fact that I will get to see things that are literally out of this world. Maybe it’s because of the opportunity to pursue knowledge and discovery for humans to have a deeper understanding of the universe. Maybe the adventure I’ll get to have once I’m already there. All I knew was I really want to be one.

But over time, the reality of wanting to see the cosmos and appreciate the universe from a completely different perspective is that my feet are still anchored to a world that feels like it’s slowly falling apart.

During school days, my desk holds a mountainous stack of textbooks, reviewers, notes, and projects. The ultimate tangible evidence of a child working hard not just to survive but to make a difference in society, chasing the generational promise that education is the ticket to a secure and bright future. However, the weight of all those learning materials often felt light compared to the state of the world. One tab was all it takes for reality checks. One click away from opening my eyes to the economic and climate crisis of the world, and to the creation of new AI models automating creative or analytical industries one by one.

There is a unique experience of being a student right now. It is the exhaustion of the consistency of keeping up with an overload of information—a relentless source of data telling you how your world is slowly cracking every second while you don’t have anything that would help you navigate your life despite all these factors that can greatly affect your future and your present. We are the generation that sees these modern real-world problems unfold in real time, seeing the ground where we will build the future, shift and crumble before we even have the opportunity to fix it.

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I am one among many who harbor these out-of-this-world, stellar dreams. I want to make a mark, to master a discipline, to prove that those late nights can bear something infinitely rewarding. But beneath that ambition is the fear of uncertainty. The anxiety of not knowing what’s next—the uncertainty of not knowing what step to take when every direction feels like a life-altering choice for good or for bad.

Sometimes, I wonder whether dreaming big is a blessing in itself. There are moments when ambition feels inspiring, but there are also moments when it feels heavy, when every achievement seems to raise the bar, creating the pressure to constantly excel and prove that everything will someday be worth it. But who knows if it really will be worth it?

But I continue to dream anyway. Even with all the uncertainty, I cannot imagine living a life where that successful version of myself remains a vision.

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To soar in this world feels less like a triumph is born through a seemingly dangerous leap. When you don’t have a safety net, aiming for the stars means risking the endless and unpredictable void of life, which could be very devastating. It is easy to feel small, to look at the success of others and the massive, consistent growth of technology and AI, and to wonder if our efforts and passions are entirely futile or even worth it.

Yet, perhaps the secret to success in this world isn’t found in perfect trajectories, but in the stubborn desire to never give up and just keep on going even if the biggest asteroids will go your way.

Holding onto your dreams despite the uncertainty, despite the fear of failing, and despite everything that will force you to give up is the way to achieve everything we dream of. The path ahead is unpredictable. I still don’t know exactly what to do, and the anxiety of setting myself out into the world hasn’t vanished. But as I reflect, I realize that the only thing more tragic than falling is letting the fear make you stay at one place forever until you look back and regret not taking that lift off. The regret when your dreams stay in your heart and mind rather than in your reality.

Maybe you just have to step onto the launchpad, breathe through the uncertainty, keep going, and trust that one day you will reach the stars—even after risking getting lost in the void.

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Nathalia Sarmiento, 16, is a student journalist from Cavite with interests in science and journalism.