Everyone has hopes and dreams. While you grow up, some of those may change and some may not. There's millions of opportunities in the world, but which one will you take?

As a little kid there's always been the question of, " what do you want to be when you grow up?." My answer to that was always, a veterinarian. Now, as I've grown older and when through the many years of school I only want to be one thing. I want to be successful. What exactly does successful mean? To some, you may think it's materialistic. Having a big home, endless money, cars, everything at your fingertips. Although, to me, there's much more to success than materialistic things.

As you go through school, there will always be challenges. You won't always get along with people, even in college. You may find yourself overwhelmed with the amount of work you have to do, even in middle school. Going through the years of school, many of us thought it was pointless. Even so, they truly were helping us. Many teachers don't get paid a fair wage, in my opinion, and they deserve Teachers have to deal with endless years of schooling, student debt, and then having students of their own. As you may know, not every student is very polite and can be quite stressful as well. Teachers put their heart and soul into their jobs, making sure we are prepared for the years ahead of us, and even caring for each and every one of us. There are teachers we may not like, others we may love. School is the key of socializing as we grow up, and learning how to properly communicate to our elders in the educational system.

Once you get to high school, everything seems so real. The schools are bigger, the homework is harder, and once you're there you start all over again. You make new friends, you start new classes, and you'll get new teachers. High school may feel like the make it or break it stage, and in a way it is. Although, your grades aren't the most important thing that's going to determine your future. Sure, most colleges love to see that you're able to learn new things and conquer them, you're able to depend on, and they'll be thrilled to have you as a new addition. That being said, you also need to have a good attitude. As I said, some of you may view success on a materialistic scale. Even if you do, you need to make sure you have an outstanding personality. As you grow, you'll learn things about others as well as yourself. You'll need to know key things like, respect, compassion, integrity, empathy, and much more.

Following your dreams will always come with prices. You may think student debt, which is highly possible, but it also means competition, and maybe even some lack of support. Those of you who don't know where your future lies, it's okay. Not everyone knows what they want to do in the future, and that's completely understandable. Those of you who do, some careers are going to be harder to land than others. You may find that out of high school, your dream job doesn't have the best hiring rates. It's hard to chase our dreams, but it's even harder to continue to chase.

With all of this said, success is not all about what career you land. Success isn't based off of how much your clothes cost, how big your house is, or even how many cars you have. Success is purely based off of you. If you're willing to follow what you love, what you truly want to do and/or be, you can do it. Success is being able to find yourself, and realize things aren't going to come easy. Fighting for what you love, having faith in yourself and others. Many of us want to make our mark on the world by being big on TV, even just the news. Making your mark isn't about how big you are socially, but how you play a role in the people's lives around you. As you chase your dreams, realize that success is all about how people will continue to talk about you when you're gone. Will they talk about how many houses you had, or how many cars? Or, will they talk about how you saved lives, you cared for everyone around you, or you were self-driven?

Being successful is learning how to make the world a better, kinder, place. It doesn't matter how many people talk about you, but more of the words they think of when you come to mind. Not everyone will have the same opinion, but there's a huge chance that simply by making others day by small tasks, they'll remember you for that. You have everything you need right inside of you, to make someone's life a bit brighter. You can chase your dreams, reach your goals, and still treat people with kindness.

As I was growing up, I never thought I would graduate. I was pretty much a rebel against my family, yet I always chose to be there for anyone who needed me. Even people I didn't know, I still offered them to let me help. I came into my senior year pregnant, and graduated early in October. I walked across the stage with my daughter in the crowd, and I knew that high school had been rough but I enjoyed my life there. Making friends, being there for people, finding myself and realizing where I wanted to be in life shaped me into who I am today. I'm able to rekindle old friendships, communicate more openly to others, apologize for wrong doings in the past, and put my differences aside. I may not know where I'm going career wise in my life just yet, but I do know I've been successful already in life.