When I started college, I was a photojournalism major. Period. No minor, just solely photojournalism. Since then, I have switched from a photojournalism major/art minor, to photography major/journalism minor, to english major/photography minor, to journalism major/photography minor, to (FINALLY) journalism major/communications minor.
Switching back and forth between "passions" has literally taken years off my life and added a year to my college career. But here I am, a last-semester-college-senior, getting ready to graduate and head out into the world, and I still don't quite know what I want to be. To quote Liam Neeson from Taken, "I have an advance set of skills..." but no real idea what to do with these skills.
It's not easy to admit something like this. I know people that have wanted to be engineers or graphic designers their entire lives; but I've never really known what I wanted to be. I remember in 3rd grade our teacher asked us what we thought we might be when we grew up. My friends said practical things like, doctor, teacher and pilot. I said I wanted to be a spy, or ninja if there were no spy positions available. I was really reaching for the stars.
I'm currently applying for jobs in the "real world" and one application asked potential candidates to write about something they're passionate about. I started thinking about all the artists, foods, places and books that I was truly passionate about, but not once did I think about my major. And that got me thinking; am I truly passionate about what I'm doing? Clearly, from my many major/minor changes, I feel like I have a tiny grasp on what I find interesting, but I'm still about as unsure of what I want to be as I was when I was 18 and choosing my first major.
But let's make something clear, I'm not dissatisfied with what I'm doing now. I enjoy being a journalism student. I enjoy writing and I enjoy researching. I just don't know if I love it.
I became a journalism major because, I wanted to learn how to create timely content and how to fix my grammar. I didn't become a journalism student to win a Pulitzer prize one day. I am truly inspired by those who want to achieve that dream, but I'm not one of them. I want to create content that will make people laugh. I've always been the type of person that tries to cheer people up; the entertainer.
In my 22 years of living, I understand what it's like to feel down, to feel lonely or to feel absolutely bored. I want to create content that will take people's minds off of the good, the bad and the ugly, if only for a moment. I want to create a positive change, but it doesn't have to be life-changing. That may seem unambitious, but honestly, I don't care. It's the only thing that I can say that I'm absolutely certain about.
I look up to young entertainers like Quinta Brunson (BuzzFeed), Jake Hurwitz/Amir Blumenfeld (CollegeHumor) and Tiffany Haddish as my inspiration during my time of uncertainty. These successful entertainers didn't really have a clue what their purposes were, yet they still made something of themselves.
Sometimes, it's okay to have no clue what you want or what you're doing; just don't give up.
