This is going to sound cliché but if you told me 10 years ago that I would be a Mercer graduate, majoring in Technical Communications, working from home, and currently working my master's degree, I would think that you are crazy. But then again, I was 14. I was focused on school and video games. And I would also say: get away from me stranger!
In all seriousness, I cannot believe my life now is what it is today. I really thought I would follow the footsteps of either my father or my uncle.
My father was a merchant marine. I remember when he was younger that he would be gone for 6 months or longer, traveling across the world and shipping goods to different port cities. I was lucky enough to see his job in person in different instances and remember them when I was younger. Even though I did not see him as often as I wanted to, I am thankful that he provided my mom, my sister and I everything that we needed.
My uncle on the other hand was a doctor. He was so smart and educated himself that I'm surprised he was not part of Mensa. He graduated the top of his class, owned his own private practice, and each of his patients truly appreciated the work he dedicated for them.
Because of these two amazing examples, I was expected to be either a merchant marine or a doctor. When I was in middle school, I had straight A's in all my classes and I was also part of the honors program. I wanted to make my parents and family because the expectation bar was set so very high for me.
For some reason, around the time I was in high school, my heart was not into school. I felt kind of lethargic and, to be honest, I kind of wanted to run away from it all. I was so stressed about every single project and I was upset that I did not get an A in some of my classes that I went into depression (a topic for another article). Luckily, I snapped out of that funk and kept on studying and graduated.
During my senior year, I really did not know what to do. My sister was in the military and I was given the option of joining her as well. I passed all the physicals and MEPS but, again, I just did not feel as if I wanted to go that route as well.
Luckily, after waiting for colleges to respond to me, Mercer University accepted me. At first, I wanted to become a computer engineer. Once again, I expected myself to excel in this field because I was great in math back in high school. So during my freshman year, I struggled and I almost wanted to quit school. I really thought that this was my career and this is what I would be doing for the rest of my life. I was really upset and I went through another depression phase.
At the start of my sophomore year, I was introduced to the major of Technical Communication. It was under the engineering school so the classes I took, and passed, during my freshman year still counted. I chose to switch my major once I heard about this program.
Fast forward to May 2015, I finally graduated from Mercer and started my internship at Univar. I was their Instructional Design intern, and because of my success during the internship, my manager offered me this position full-time.
As you can see, there were numerous occasions that were expected of me. From my family and even to myself, I was expected to be something. But life had a different path for me. Even right now, I never though I would go back to school for my master's. The long, long point I am trying to say is that it is okay to break away from expectations. Yes there will be times where it may seem like it's rock bottom but it is okay. The only to go is up. As long as you stay humble, work hard and work smart, you will be exactly where life wants you to be, even if it is not where you expected to be.
