A passion is something you have a large love or belief for. Someone could have a passion for everything from writing musical masterpieces to building a chair. Everyone is different, and though some individual's passions can be out of the ordinary, it doesn’t mean they shouldn’t follow them. Take the chair building, for example. To most of us, the individual who loves to come to work to build a chair may be odd to us. For him/her, they may absolutely love to use the different wood or fabric and use their artistic brain to build the best chair ever. As silly as that sounds, it’s probably true. We all need a passion so we can continue to live happily, but in this day and age in America and across the world, is it still important to find something you're passionate about?

A very very close friend of mine and I like to run. We do 5Ks and other charity runs. My Mom was a runner, so I got the running genes inside me. My friend, on the other hand, she has to work ten times harder than anyone else to run because she does not have the genetics for running. Despite this, she’s on the WIU track team (a division one team, or the highest) and a better runner than me. She’s been running for several years, and she loves it despite her not having the athletic genetic code. I never completely understood why, but she’s always going off about running and practice and the next meet, etc. This is also a case of sheer determination. She tells me these stories about how she was the worst on the team, but she’s working hard to no longer have that title. And for a sport that she wasn’t extremely good at to begin with! She grew a passion into it. She gets something out of it no one else does. That’s what having a passion is all about. Being an individual and loving something you enjoy. Sometimes it can be directly linked to something you overcame or a result of a struggle. Or, you just love it and you turn it into a lifelong pursuit.

In America and across the world, it has become increasingly difficult to find a career that both pays well and allows you to do exactly what you want. For example, here at Western Illinois, one third of the whole school is here just for law enforcement. And I'm one of them. The amount of times I asked someone what they wanted to do with that degree and they said "FBI" or some form of Federal law enforcement is astonishing. And as much as i want them to do well, the real chances of actually getting admitted into the FBI with a LEJA degree is very slim. It's what they love and want to do, but with that competitive field, getting the cliche degree will not help a lot. With how competitive the job market is, just getting a good job that you can support yourself is hard enough, let alone something you can support and love at the same time. But is it impossible?

If you're like me and still in college, it's OK that you don't know exactly what you want to do. You may have an idea, but you should be flexible and patient. Things can always change. Once you find some form of a passion, whether it be helping those in need, or fixing computers, then look for something that is related to it. If it's a sport that you love, then find a balance of work passion and play passion. You can't be all work, no play or vise versa. You may run into a job that you end up hating. It happens. Just stick with it and get what you can out of it. That job may pave the way to something you really want to do. Be optimistic, and let no one try to stop you from doing what you want.