The summer after graduating eighth grade is the summer I will forever remember, more so than any other. The death of my childhood and middle school best friend, Casey, has made a lasting mark on my life. The first funeral I ever attended, that experience sparked a need to do something to help save and better the lives of other people. Since a few months after this tragedy I would be starting high school, a completely new chapter of my life, I knew I was going to take advantage of this.

Shortly after beginning high school, I sat in class and we were prompted to take a career aptitude test. At the time, I remember thinking this was way to soon to start thinking about what career I wanted to pursue, however, I slowly realized I was wrong. This test told me I would fit most into the career of nursing. Having always been exceptionally passionate about medicine, science and helping comfort other people, I was not all that surprised by the result. What this result did tell me was that it was not at all too early to start using this to my advantage. I realized that this was telling me not necessarily that I should be a nurse technically, but that my passion for helping better others lives was not just something I thought I was passionate about, I really was. Whether it be volunteering at the local hospitals in various ways, volunteering at The Rise School in Dallas, or just simply trying my absolute best to speak and act in Christ-like ways, I was starting to use this career idea already.

Time really flies and now I am in my second semester of college, believe it or not, as a nursing major. Along with pretty much everyone else in this major, I believe it is extraordinarily difficult and more information than I have ever had to study or learn in my life. Along with every other stress that comes with adapting to college life, not a day goes by where I don’t question my major and think to myself, is this really for me and is it really worth studying every night of the week for hours on end, being up until morning hours almost every night, and still not getting the grades I want on exams? Is it really worth poor grades and endless stress? Well I continue to tell myself, yes.

I haven’t even gotten past my first year of nursing and I’m not doing anywhere close to as well as I would like. But If you chose this major in the first place, you were obviously passionate about the medical field and/or helping better the lives of others. What I continue to tell myself is that one exam, and one incredibly hard class that you aren’t doing well in, doesn’t mean you aren’t passionate about the field and shouldn’t stick with it.

I’m not one to say that I won’t end up changing my major cause there absolutely is a possibility, but I can tell you that regardless, I will find a career where I get to put forth these passions and directly or indirectly better and save lives. What you must realize is that you have passions; find them, find careers that allow you to use those passions, and I promise you there’s a perfect career out there for you, you just have to be willing to search and work for it.

So, whether it be a tragedy you experienced as it was for me, a place you worked or volunteered, or just simply a friend who spoke wisdom into you and revealed to you your passions, use them in creative ways and stick with them, even when you think giving up is the only option. The journey there may be difficult and seem impossible, but a career and life where you get to explore what you are passionate about each day is absolutely in every way worth it and that is what I continue to tell myself each and every day. What we cherish and want most in life is not going to come easy.