What is success?

Is it defined by money? Power? Luxury? Maybe for some, but not for me.

I am nearing the end of my second semester of college, and I just made a decision that I wouldn't have ever seen myself making until this semester. Coming into college, I was convinced that I was going to be a journalist. Not just any old journalist but a traveling, "New York Times" bestseller kind of journalist. The kind of freelance stuff that everybody wants, but only "National Geographic" can have. I was going to be a household name that everyone would turn to for the latest in world politics, human rights violations, and environmental progress, but my heart had other plans.

Here’s some life advice from a seasoned, 19-year-old college freshmen: don’t lose yourself. College is definitely a time of self-discovery and change. It’s this one time in life that you have the freedom to explore who you are and who you want to be, but it is not the time to leave behind all those things that always made you who you are. My entire life, my passion was serving people. Not the fancy church, mission work kind of service, or even the working in a restaurant kind of service (even though I did that for quite a while too).

I know that the only reason I am where I am today is because of privilege. My family, my economic status, my whiteness, has all carried me to where I am today. That doesn’t mean that I haven’t worked my ass off to get where I am, but it does mean that the work I put in made a difference where it wouldn’t have for someone else who fell into a different social or economic category than me. So, I have always felt that my purpose is to use my privilege to be a bridge for those with less opportunity than me. Coming into college, I lost that. My goals and my career became about me and my own personal success, which is completely okay for some people, but it wasn’t for me.

Eventually, I figured out that this lifestyle would not fulfill me, but I still wasn’t getting it. I became increasingly stressed about changing my major because I didn’t want to go through setting my mind on a new path, only to be disappointed again. I began to think about what really fulfilled me in life, and I realized that I had left it behind when I grabbed that diploma. My passion was being the bridge.

After looking into how exactly I could make that impact on the millions of communities that can’t give their people what mine gave me, my heart was pulled over and over again back to my high school AP English teacher. He made a major impact on the lives of hundreds of students, and all he had to do was care enough to pay attention to them, their lives, and their struggles. I decided I wanted to be like him, but I also want to take it to another level entirely. I want to not only be an English teacher and be that bridge for underprivileged students on an individual level but also make a difference in the way we, as a society, educate these specific communities and children that are disadvantaged from birth.

Needless to say, my major is no longer journalism, and I’m almost positive what I want to do with my life. But, how does this help you? Well, what I’ve discovered and hope to tell you, is that success is not the same for everyone. Success is about the individual. For me, that is working, for very little pay, to make an impact in the lives of people who are unable to receive the opportunities I have, but for someone else, it could literally be anything. Success, for you, may be about making money or building a family or creating something no one has ever seen before, and all of that is OK. Don’t base your success on what others expect of you or what you think society says you should. Remember what makes you who you are, and use that to achieve your success.