What do you want to be when you grow up? It’s a simple question, yet it’s so hard to answer.
When I was little I wanted to be a teacher. Then I wanted to be a vet. Then a nurse or an astronaut or a baker. You see, when you're little, you want to be everything. You want to become all that you can be and you tell everyone who asks that simple question a different answer.
For me, it was a teacher, but then middle school came and went and that changed. Which is fine-- dreams change. At age eight I had one dream at age 12 I had another. Growing up my family always told me to follow my dreams. My mom being my biggest supporter had to endure many conversations about the people that tell me I can’t do something, that my dream was too big and I would grow to be very disappointed when I didn’t succeed.
In high school, I was involved in many different things. I had to be. I had no idea what I wanted to do when I graduated. I did everything from theater to robotics to being a library aide. School is hard, some people accepted me some did not but it was through being a library aide that I found myself and I found my dream. So now when people ask me that horrific question I am able to answer them.
I want to be an Editor at a major publishing company. That is my dream. That is what I am chasing. But you see what’s crazy is that people always just look at me like I've said the worst thing I could possibly say. Then they laugh and tell me that a small town girl like me would never make it there. Maybe I could just be the editor of the local paper? No. Just no.
I am so tired of society down playing teenagers dreams. Growing up society allows told us to dream big and chase those dreams as far as we could. So then why once we’re old enough to do that does society laugh in our faces and tell us we can’t? I have so many friends that have dreams bigger than mine but they're too afraid to go after it. They want to be singers, dancers, top doctors, famous authors; but instead of putting themselves out there they shy away.
Why? Because they have been told they can’t do it so many times that they’ve actually started to believe it. To tell someone that they’re dream is not possible and they will never achieve it is wrong. You might as well have just told them to never dream in the first place.
Dreaming is important. When you are a kid and your parents tell you can be anything you want to be your imagination goes wild. So when you tell a teenager that the dream is unrealistic it crushes them. You're basically telling them to never use their imagination and ambition again. So then they settle for a college close to home and in their comfort zone because now they have the fear of failure to live with all because someone told them they couldn’t achieve what they dreamed of doing.
It’s not fair. Society should be accepting not tearing young people down. So if they come from a small town like Opelika, AL and they tell you that they want to be a singer, a doctor, or even an editor, encourage them. Tell them to chase their dreams and never give up.
“The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams.” -Oprah Winfrey
