To whomever it may concern,

Growing up, I was raised in an overall traditional family with two well educated, working class parents and an older sister. My father works in the engineering field, and my mother is an elementary school teacher; both jobs being particularly notable. Throughout my years in grade school and even on into high school, I received exceptional grades and was typically near the top of my class. I was able to excel in advanced classes for a variety of subjects such as math, science, social studies, and english. I recall bringing my projects and tests home, beaming as my parents would stick my "A Plus" work onto the gallery that was our fridge, showcasing my success to anyone that ventured into our kitchen. I had a variety of passions growing up, making it quite difficult to decide where I wanted my career path to lead me. I had a knack for solving mathematical equations, I mastered plenty of scientific terms to memory, I loved recalling the history of any given nation, and I could read my way through novels within a night's sleep.

While I wouldn't say that I felt necessarily pressured to pick a specific field, I must say that my family was quick to usher me in the direction of the common core. Math and Science jobs are the higher paying and most respected fields in the workplace; they possess a great deal of challenge and work ethic. And, although I succeeded in these fields, I was unsure that I wanted to make a lifelong career out of them.

My confusion about my future continued onwards until I had a "lightbulb" moment in my junior year of high school. This was the year that we were urged to take challenging classes and achieve college credit in hopes of getting into our dream schools. Naturally, I took several advanced placement courses, including English Language and Composition. The class focussed primarily on rhetoric style writing as well as analysis of nonfiction works. While it may sound boring, I absolutely loved it. I had never quite dabbled in nonfiction style writing before this class, and it felt like a whole new, beautiful world to me. I loved analyzing the meaning and emotion behind nonfiction works and exploring how to utilizing such tactics of diction and syntax into my own writing. In that class, I felt more in my element than ever before. It was truly awesome. Towards the end of that school year, I met with my teacher and discussed my newfound passion for this area of English and rhetoric. My teacher shared my excitement and urged me towards declaring a major in the area of communications or English.

I quickly began looking into these areas of study and found myself resonating with the aspects of a Communications in Journalism degree. It sounded (and still does sound) perfect for me and I fell in love with the idea of writing and analyzing nonfiction works everyday for a living. I finally felt as though I had a plan for my future.

Unfortunately, my peers and family members did not all share my excitement. Don't get me wrong, I had plenty of supporters that told me this was the perfect field for me. However, I had several people tell me that I wasn't living up to my "true potential." Considering my talent in other subjects, specifically math and science, many teachers, peers, and family members were confused as to why I wasn't pursuing a career in any one of those fields (aka: a field that holds more prestige in the workplace and would give me a higher salary). This kind of reaction towards my choices made me feel ashamed and embarrassed. I had been so proud to find a career path that made me feel genuinely excited for the future and I knew I had a unique talent for, and I couldn't understand why others felt the need to discredit that decision or make me feel like less of a person for following my passion. It took a hit at my confidence; and for a while, made me rethink my choice altogether.

Flashing forwards, after finishing my freshman year of college, STILL pursuing a degree in Journalism, I couldn't be happier that I decided to remain on this path. In my years, I have certainly met a great deal of people that don't understand why I decided to pursue this field despite my success in alternative subjects. However, I have learned to disregard these comments and remind myself why I fell in love with journalism in the first place: It makes me unimaginably happy. No amount of money or respect will ever change that.

I understand that many young adults choose their career path based on different criteria than I did. Many choose the field that will give them the greatest paycheck, the best benefits, the highest position , or any other variety of persuading variables. I am not trying to discredit or insult these people. They made their choice based on what they value most for their future, just as I have. And for that, I commend them.

What I would like to say is that regardless of the variable that aids a young adult deciding what they want to do with the rest of their lives, they deserve credit for their dedication to whatever field that they have chosen, and, most of all, respect. No major, career, or occupation should be looked down upon or disrespected if the person pursuing such a field is happy with their choice. If they are satisfied with the life they are living, that should be enough. And for me, that most certainly is.

Everyone in this world, whether they realize it at this very moment or not, has a talent that is unique to them and only them. That is what makes the human race so unbelievably astonishing. We all have something that makes us individually special and deserves to be celebrated, praised, and recognized, regardless of its sub category, educational field, or economic benefits. We all have a right to pursue these talents and areas of expertise, regardless of the stereotypes or assumptions surrounding them.

So, in conclusion, to those who feel the need to discredit one another based on the path they have decided to pursue, it's time to take a step back and rethink your words and actions.

Everyone deserves to follow their heart, achieve their goals, and reach what they believe is their highest potential.

It is time to let them do so.