This past week has been a huge learning experience for me. As if the stress of finals and the semester coming to an end wasn't enough to put me over the edge, I was hanging with a group of people one night when everyone began to discuss their majors and post-college aspirations. For those of you who don't know, I am a journalism major and it's probably pretty obvious that I love writing. So as I'm sitting with this group of people, I begin to talk about my major and my future goals. A key part of this story is that I was sitting with a group of mainly engineering majors, so it's safe to say there were a few chuckles and snarls as I spoke about my dreams to be an editor of an important magazine one day. Leaving the conversation I began to question myself and the choice I had made for my major. Would I be able to obtain my end goal? Would I be able to provide for a family? Would I make enough money?
As the week went by, these thoughts began to impinge my head. I was constantly questioning if I was making the "right" decisions for my life. I panicked. I was so anxious now about something I had been so sure about only months before. Originally, I applied to college as a Psychology major because I knew that I enjoyed helping others and, let's be real, psychologists make a pretty penny, but after taking a few courses, I had realized that psychology wasn't for me and that writing was my passion. Switching majors had made me feel liberated. I had made a decision for myself, to benefit myself. Why now was I going to let someone's invalid, unwarranted opinion sway me on something I was once so sure about?
Right then and there I decided I was not going to let that happen. My goals for my life will only be met and achieved by one person: me. For this reason, I should not allow others to oscillate how I view my goals. And this, my friend, is a lesson I believe we all must learn. When others question, mock, or ridicule an aspect of your life, push them out. We are capable of achieving what we work for, not what others deem to be achievable. Focus in, work hard, and make something happen because you are capable. Silence doubters with the uproar of your success.
