Three months out from graduation, I can testify to the 'freak out' I believe that most of us high schoolers faced. Yet, I know that a lot of my peers have their life planned out, scholarships granted, and they have been accepted into college. Others that don’t have college planned out, have either prepared themselves to join the military, or they are going to be jumping right into getting a job and living out the rest of their lives. Then there is the people like me.

Growing up, I had several different ideas to what I wanted to do as a career. As a little four year-old, I thought I wanted to go to sea-world and become an orca trainer, then as a seven year-old I wanted to be a fire fighter just like my father was. Once I started riding horses I thought I wanted to be a professional rider. Sadly, orcas are no longer a thing at Sea World (thank you blackfish), being a fire fighter wouldn’t be a good idea because I don’t like the heat, and the horse world is such a hard place and the only way to be successful is to pour in a bunch of money that growing up I never had. All of these endless dreams that I had set in my head, all of these ideas that I can be whatever I wanted to be, and at the grand young age of 18, you find out that you would much rather go back to being that four year-old with thousands of dreams.

I have come to find out that the world that we live in today, doesn’t encourage one to go out and follow their dreams. Many people now a days just settle for the things that life gives them, and they don’t try and follow what they have always wanted to do. Ever since we have been little, the concept of going out and following your dreams has been engraved into the way that we think. When living in a society that just settles for whatever they can get, it’s hard to be one of the few people that are wanting to push themselves to go out and pursue what they want in life. The road to their dream is nothing but difficult and frustrating times, and a lot of kids at least in my generation that I have noticed will probably never try and strive for it because they have either had everything handed to them, or they just get discouraged to quickly and give up too soon.

Nelson Mandela once said “There is no passion to be found in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.” Anything in this life that will be rewarding, will never come easy. I know because I have been through it. No matter what if you want something out of your life or out of anything that you find yourself doing, you will have to work for it. Nothing in life gets handed to you, but everything comes easy after you have put in the work. You will find it more rewarding in the end once you can look back and see everything that you were capable of getting done and you can say that you are proud of it.

So yes, please go out and live your dreams, but also understand the reality that you face when trying to make those dreams come true. It is possible to make them a reality but it will take a lot of hard work and dedication. You will find yourself wanting to give up, but you can’t. You have to keep trying, you have to keep pushing because in the end you can make that dream become a reality. In the end it will be very rewarding for you.

Remember life is a climb but the view from the top is great.