Ever since I was a kid, I loved to write more than anything. For a while, I even thought I would try to be a journalist or an author, if I was brave enough. I just knew that I wanted to keep writing for the rest of my life.

However, somewhere along the way life got in the way, and I stopped writing unless it was an essay for a class or something along those lines. I couldn’t make time for it anymore and I thought I had to give it up.

It felt like I was giving up a part of myself, too.

As we go through the daily motions of everyday life, and are pulled into a million different directions, things start to get a little muddled up with each day. Sometimes we sacrifice things that are truly meaningful for us because things get too complicated, or too many problems come up, or there just is not enough time left for them. We give up our love for art, reading, sports, designing, or anything else because we think we have to.

Possibly one of the worst parts of life are those moments when you have to give up something you love. It just doesn’t seem fair that we have to lose apart of ourselves that makes ourselves happy, and was once a major focus for us. After all, is giving up your passions worth the reason you gave them up for?

While that answer is different for everyone, I personally believe nothing is worth giving up what you love. I have heard too many friends who have talked about how they stopped taking art, science, and English classes because they couldn’t make time for it any more, or because they knew it wouldn’t help them in the future. They needed resume builders and to be learning about subjects that would make them money.

I can’t think of any amount of money that is worth totally throwing something that you love totally out of your life. Your love for writing, music, or art may not be a financially feasible for a future career, but it is still something that matters to you. There is no amount of money that can make up for giving some part of yourself entirely.

Therefore, I encourage you to go out there and do what you can do to keep your passion alive. There is always an opportunity to keep what you love alive in college and in life. There are endless options from classes to clubs that allow us to keep our passions present and relevant in our lives. You could write online columns or blogs; take art classes on pottery, painting, or drawing; join a dance team; or sing your heart out in an a cappella group or choir.

In my opinion, you always have a chance to keep that part of yourself, and I hope that you will always hold onto that because nothing matters more in life than what makes you happy.