I have come to the point in time where I have to start thinking about what I’m going to do with my life. I’m a senior in college with only two semesters left before it’s time to receive that expensive piece of paper called a diploma. Yes, all the hard work from spending hours of writing up lesson plans and prop boxes to the hours of crying because I felt overwhelmed will be worth it, right?
Well, considering my life plans are to become a teacher at a preschool straight out of college, you would think it would be easy with a diploma in hand. Why do I have the feeling that it isn’t that simple after getting that piece of paper, even if I do have some time before that happens? That’s because it isn’t. I never liked to speak as a pessimistic person, but I will briefly to get my point across— it isn’t easy.
A few years ago, I thought that I would become a nurse. In fact, I planned this out my entire life. Maybe because it fit the stereotype of the typical Asian career choice. Being a nurse made my mom proud because she knew that it would mean that I would be making a lot of money. I thought I wanted to help people, but I wasn’t able to understand anatomy classes, for example. This made me decide that I didn’t want to do nursing at all. We have all been in that situation where we may have changed our mind about what kind of major we want to pursue in college, or what we want to do for the rest of our lives. People around us then criticize our life choices, especially if you are an Art major, an English major, etc. All of a sudden, we worry about finding a job that will support us in the future and pay for all those student loans. It feels like your major has been decided for you to be somewhere you aren’t happy. It wasn’t until I decided to become a teacher, when I became happy for my future. Yes, we all have different paths; we aren’t all going to be lawyers, accountants, and surgeons.
What I realized was that you need to find something that you love. This is one life to figure out what you want to do, and it might as well be something that you are happy with. Everyone has heard of the saying, “Choose a job you love, and you will never work a day in your life.” I have never found something to be truer. Ever since I changed my major, I have been blessed to get into the early childhood education program at William Paterson University. I have had experience with working with children as a teacher, and I can’t even begin to describe my joy over working with young children. I have found my passion that keeps me going. In other words, don’t let others dictate what you should do with your life.
Don’t feel pressured to finding a career that will make you successful as a working adult. Don’t worry that you won’t get your dream job right away. It takes time for dreams to come true. Let what you do be something that makes you happy. Everything will come to you eventually. Even if I walk out of college without an immediate job as a teacher, I know that time will come when I get to do what I love to do. Chase your dreams, my friends. You will be glad you did.
