From a young age I knew I wanted to have my foot in the door of the health field. I always claimed to want to be a doctor and favored the different science courses I was enrolled in, in middle and high school. These were subjects that I thought came easy to me, until I took them in college and found myself easily distracted in every class.

It wasn't until I was sitting in these college level courses that I realized these biology and chemistry classes were a complete bore to me and that I was no longer interested in what they taught. Of course this was heart-breaking to me, I no longer had any idea of what I wanted to do with my life.

We live in a society that puts emphasis on needing to know what you want to do, and pressures you to go to college and be done in four years with a job lined up or an acceptance letter to graduate school. What society doesn't seem to understand is that this isn't true for every individual.

I never saw college as being something everyone must do, I know that school isn't for everyone, but it was for me. In highschool I had my mind made up, I was going to college as a biology major and I would go to grad school then become an anesthesiologist. Freshman year of college completely changed that idea. I hated the courses I was taking, and it became more difficult to go to classes, which was strange because I used to never mind going to school, I, in a way enjoyed it.

So now here I was my second semester of my freshman year of college, and I knew something needed to change. I talked continuously to my mom and an old teacher about what to do and found myself changing my major to public health.

Changing my major was easily one of the best decisions I could have ever made, I found that passion for learning again, and do not dread going to my classes anymore. I am taking each course with an eager mind that is open to learning new things, including different career paths.

While I realized that I am passionate about information surrounding substance misuse and the opioid epidemic, and while I have hopes of eventually wanting to work somewhere that focuses on and/or directly deals with the disease that is growing at an alarming rate, I still do not know if this is where I will find my forever career.

I am keeping my options open, because I was so set on one career before, and it completely through me off track when I realized it wasn't what would make me happy long term.

I still feel out of place at times, considering a lot of the people in my classes have already found internships, or have career plans laid out while I do not, but then I remind myself, not everyone moves at the same rate. And just because I am not 100% sure of what I want to do, does not mean I will not end up doing exactly what I should be.

I could find a temporary job that I grow to love, or move around with different positions in rehab facilities or an office environment with research being conducted about how to help eliminate prevalence of the substance misuse disorder, or lower the amount of overdose deaths. No matter what I end up doing, as long as I am happy doing it, and passionate about the work I am doing than I will end up successful.

I do not need society's approval of whether or not the career I am pursuing will pay enough, or if it might run me down mentally with the level of compassion and stress that are attached. I need my own decisions to be made by myself and to allow me to live a life doing something I love. And just because right now I do not know exactly what the future holds, does not mean that the future will not play itself out exactly the way it is meant to.