For as long as I can remember, I have loved children. If I look back on my life, I can't see why on Earth I didn't see that I wanted to spend the rest of my life working with them every day earlier on. When I started babysitting at 16, it became clear to me that children were definitely the people I wanted to work with every day. From the innocent comments that no one, my age, can get away with saying, to those sweet little laughs they come out with sometimes... Kids. Are. Amazing.
As a college student, I'm asked almost constantly what I want to do when I graduate. My answer? I want to work in a child care setting, whether it be with early intervention services or teaching one-year olds like I do now. That, though, isn't enough for some people. There are two kinds of people, you see, when it comes to the reactions on people's faces when I tell them what I want to do. There are the encouragers, the smiling faces who support what I love 100%. Then, there are the discouragers — the ones who look at you in disgust, or who say "oh, OK" or "so, you're not looking to make a decent living," or "that won't last."
These "Discouragers" are the worst kind of people. They're the people who can't be happy for you. They're the people who don't see the beauty in someone following their dreams. They're the people who see dollar signs when they look into their futures instead of happy memories.
So, in case no one has told you "discouragers" lately... STOP. Stop making people feel bad for wanting to follow their dreams. Stop telling people that they won't make it. Stop laughing in the faces of college seniors who want to change the world. Stop breaking people down.
You, my friends, are what is wrong with the world.
You need to STOP.
My dream is beautiful. My dream is to change lives. My dream is to instill wisdom and intelligence into little minds. My dream is to hear those little giggles, to clean messy faces and hands, and to watch tiny humans grow every day, month, and year for the rest of my life.
My dream is beautiful, and so are yours.
Don't let anyone take away what's yours.