There's a quote by author and philosopher Howard Thurman that I stumbled across the other day that goes like this: "Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." As a college student who is still trying to figure out what she's supposed to do with her life, and still determining her likes and dislikes, this quote stuck with me for obvious reasons.

Now, what I've noticed to be a problem with students nowadays is that they do things for the sake of getting credit for doing it. In other words, students will volunteer at an organization so that they can put it on a resume, or join a club just for the sake of being involved. But, when you think about it, that's a pretty disheartening truth. People shouldn't ever do something solely for the sake of “doing something”.

For example, don’t stay in a soccer league when going to practice has started to make you hate the game. Don’t become a chemistry major when you didn’t even enjoy one day of your general chemistry class. Don’t volunteer at a place just because you “need the hours”. You’d be surprised at how much happier you become after you start doing things with an actual purpose, and how much easier it is to be productive, active and social when you enjoy what you’re doing. You can still get the hours you need and the experience you want on your resume just by committing to things you actually care to be a part of. You shouldn't ever need to force yourself to be a part of an extracurricular.

Furthermore, there's a reason why you have the passions that you do. There is a reason why God created a person who loves to paint his favorite parts of nature, and that wasn't so that he could spend all of his time at the science club because it's "more creditable". There is a reason why a girl was gifted with a passion for writing, and that wasn't just so that she could invest all of her time in English courses that she dreads going to. If you are lucky enough to know exactly what kind of things make you come alive, I beg you to keep them a constant in your life.

What I'm trying to get at is just like what Howard Thurman was getting at in that quote I mentioned earlier. The world needs people who are excited about their lives. You have to be able to find the things that make you feel like you have a purpose, and follow that. Don't waste your time doing something else because you think it's what the world wants from you. What the world wants is you in your fullness; the world is going to want you for the exact same reason that God made you, and you can't give it that unless you find the things that make you come alive.