The kid gloves came off when I went to college, my parents were no longer there to give me the landslide of advice. Sure, they were a phone call away, but I would not be able to rely on them as closely.

Learning to spread my wings and fly out of the nest was difficult at first. As a freshman with a declared biology degree, I just assumed that I would just breeze through and be OK as some nurse.

Well, that did not work out.

I failed math and barely passed chemistry.

I was chugging along my biology degree and then switched to psychology, which I had also chugged through. I really was not deeply thinking about what I wanted to do in college, even for the rest of my life. It was a bit daunting, and I just did not want to think about it too much; it made me anxious.

It eventually dawned on me that I had to pick up my own weight and really get going. My life was changing and so were the times around me... it would only be natural for me to change along with them.

The major question that stood out to me the most was, "What do you want to do in the next five years of your life?" The question seemed a little scary; I did not have a clear picture of how I wanted to live my life and would not know where I wanted to be. Let alone know what kind of person I would be at that time.

I just knew that I had to really think about what kind of person I was.

This type of journey was something I had to make on my own. Asking my parents their point of view about their life would give me some sense of direction, but they lived in a different time and at different places. They already made their own journey. I have yet to find out what will happen in my life.

Unlike how I was when I was a freshman, I want to take control to become aware of what options there are for me out there in the world. It's cheesy to say it, but I have control of my own destiny. The question is, will I be able to go the distance?

Sitting around and waiting for things to happen is certainly not the answer. I have to want change and make it happen. Then, a plan can to be implemented, and things will fall into place.

Don't get me wrong, I know that things won't always click and I will make mistakes, but it's the positive attitude that counts. Believing that things will turn out for the best is a way for me to keep moving forward, to lose faith means that I would lose sight of the path of my destiny.

I want to embrace change; I want to follow a path to a sustainable future. To do this, I will strive to be the best I can be with by being positive, patient, and being a hard worker.