When I was 5, you asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I told you I wanted to be a writer. When I was 10, you asked me again. I answered and said I wanted to write about marine biology. Now I'm pursuing my greater education, and you can ask me again, my answer will be relatively the same. So what do I want to be when I grow up? I want to be an author.

When I was a kid, I always spent my time at the computer concocting stories that resembled the "American Chillers" books. I would sit with my mom, asking her to correct my grammar, and we would brainstorm about a myriad of things that I could add. I dreamed of seeing my name on the best sellers list, my book on store shelves and in the hands of coffee shop-goers. I pictured kids reading my books to escape from their troubles, their realities.

Now I'm in college, and I still dream of all of those things. I want to impact the minds and souls of my readers, allowing them to delve into their imaginations and escape from the real world. I want to write about some of my tougher life experiences and be able to help show others that have gone through similar things that they're not alone. I want to be able to create a world that other people can only dream of.

I struggled a lot with trying to find myself and trying to accept that maybe one day my dreams could actually be reality. I'm in college, and I'm not trying to graduate with a conventional degree. I'm not trying to have a career where I go to work every day just because it's money that will help put food on the table. I'm going to school to follow my dreams and make a career for myself that I love, one that is about as unconventional as it can get these days.

So, I want to thank everyone that ever asked me about my dreams and took me seriously. You took the time to allow me to think about a career path that I could be happy with for the rest of my life. You taught me that dreaming big isn't just for kids, but that adults must have and pursue their own dreams as well. You taught me that it's OK to follow the dreams that I had as a child and that I'm not so crazy for wanting to do that. And ultimately, you made me realize that I'm capable of anything I set my mind to, whether it means that I want to be an astronaut, a doctor, a movie star or even an author.

Now for those that doubted me, I'd like to thank you too. Thank you for showing me how determined I am to prove you wrong. You taught me that in order to get to where I want to be, I have to have a fire, a passion within me, always pushing me to the top. You showed me that even while I was continually thinking of other professions that I could be satisfied with, they wouldn't bring me the kind of happiness that writing brings me. I wouldn't have discovered writing is my true bliss and I wouldn't be as determined to make it big in this dog-eat-dog world as I am today.

Thank you to everyone that ever once asked me, "What do you dream of being when you grow up?" Whether you took what I said seriously or you laughed in my face, you've impacted me and my future, and I'm so excited to see where this journey takes me.