Ever since I was a little girl, I dreamed of being a mother. Of course, my dream to be a future mom looked like this: the white picket fence, loving husband, adorable children, and me-- the stay-at-home housewife. And every time that I have envisioned this picture-perfect fantasy for myself, I forgot to imagine the most painfully difficult decision I will probably have to make in my life: Do I want to raise my family or pursue a career?

The question "What do I want to do when I'm older?" has never been crystal clear for me. As I have grown older, so have my interests and hobbies which has made picking a career path for myself more difficult than others. But now that I am a college student, I am interested in pursuing law, which means more than just three additional years of school for me. It means that I want a career that is known for demanding an extraordinary amount of time and dedication from each employee, which can be distressful for anyone. But as a woman, pursuing a career path that could possibly lead to me being a future attorney means that it will be even more difficult to raise a family--something I have wanted since I was a child. And in the most generic of instances, that really is not a thought process for a man who chooses the same career path.

This does not mean that I should pull the "woman card", which translates into me complaining for eternity about how unfair the "system" is or that I am a victim of the unending patriarchy. Because I am sure men ask themselves the same question. There are probably plenty of men who have sacrificed certain careers and jobs because they are too time-demanding or far away, and they would prefer to come home to their family every night rather than spend an entire night at the office. And I am sure there are plenty of men and women who have miraculously balanced a successful career and a family. And there are probably plenty of couples who switch roles where the female is the breadwinner and the male is the one who stays at home and raises the children. The possibilities and answers to this question are perhaps endless and up to the individual.

The fact is: this is an important decision that comes with a price. The question then becomes: what do you want to prioritize in your life? And that question is not meant to degrade anyone who might choose or think differently than me. If there are women who pursue success in their career over being a stay-at-home mom, then they should be commended just as much as the mother who sacrificed everything to raise her children. There are beauty and value in both decisions. However, I have been influenced by my own mother's footsteps. While she was incredibly successful in her career, she worked up until I was only a toddler, sacrificing her career to raise my siblings and me. Every moment of my childhood, I can remember my mom being there for us, and the lessons I have learned from her presence are countless and the ones I will always treasure the most. So, knowing myself, I will probably make the same sacrifice when the time comes for me to raise my own family. That does not mean that the decision is easy or that I will have the white picket fence in my future.

With that being said, even though I want a family, I still want a career for myself. And that is why I will not let the fear of choosing between my family and my career or the fact that I am a woman affect my decision to go to law school. And I know that decision means putting in as much hard work and dedication as I can into my career, and of course, every job demands work and effort but no job is easy--not even being the stay-at-home mom. Too many times have I read Odyssey articles that describe choosing to be a mother and housewife as easy because my Mom can attest to the fact that it is definitely not easy to do so. And even if I make that choice later in my life, I do not want to be misconstrued as someone who was eager to settle down just so they could stay at home with my future children. No, I want to be a successful, independent woman with motives and aspirations for herself, and maybe one day I will sacrifice my ambition for my family, but that is up to me to decide.

The decision between a family and a career for a woman comes down to what that woman freely chooses to do with her life. I have seen female CEOs and mothers, and it is no surprise that both are successful. You should never have to sacrifice something that you do not want to do. That is the beauty of being a woman in this century. Women can be just as successful lawyers, CEOs, accountants, etc. as men can be. Women like me can graduate from college and aspire towards graduate school without being driven away by the social pressure to stay at home because they are female. The women of my generation make the choice that they see the best fit in their lives, and although that decision may be one of the most difficult ones I will ever have to make in my life, it definitely will be a crowning testament to the successful woman and mother I have always aspired to be.