The Hard Truth of Finding Your Passion

Everyone has their journey to their career. To say it goes smoothly, just wouldn’t be right. We all hope that it’s a straight shot to success but it’s a little more complicated than that. I thought I knew EXACTLY what I wanted since I was 8-years-old. Yet, I too have had my ups and downs and still haven’t quite figured it out. I wanted to share my story, that’s still continuing, in hopes you don’t feel alone in finding your passion.

It all started in elementary school. When I had reached the third grade, almost every one of my teachers said they would see me on TV one day. Ms. Smith, Ms. Dettling, and Ms. Figueroa were all convinced that I had a special skill for speaking and being in front of a camera.

Fast forward to middle school, I ended up in a television production class where we made videos and edited them. I was absolutely obsessed with this class, I never wanted it to end. It pulled out my creative side, in a visual form. In the 8th grade, I continued into yearbook class where we also starred on the morning school news. It was the best part of my day and I was convinced that this would be my future. I would be on the real morning news one day.

Finally in high school, I requested that I be in the journalism class but was denied. I begged and begged my counselor to get me into the class and after a few tweaks, they were able to squeeze me in. I continued in that class for three years and ended my senior year as the co-Editor in Chief of the school newspaper. Can you guess what I decided to major in?

I ended up attending FAU as a Multimedia Journalism major, no surprise there. I was in love with it every step of the way. That is, until I realized what the journalism field entailed. The long nights, extreme hours, and little pay scared me right out of it. After almost eight years of being SO sure of what I wanted, I didn’t know what I wanted anymore. Ever since I was in elementary school, I felt like I was conditioned and meant to be in the journalism field. So, now what?

I decided that public relations was the perfect field to be in. I had heard of so many journalists that ended up in PR after their career in journalism. So I figured, alright I can skip that part and just get right into PR. Only to realize, this didn’t make me the happiest I thought I could be.

So, I felt like social media was a good option. I loved making my own posts, so why not make others? I dove into the marketing field by getting a couple marketing internships and then landing a job at a non-profit as a marketing assistant. Let me tell you this, just because you like running your own social media, it does NOT mean you can run everyone else’s. Beyond social media, marketing was just not for me. I didn’t really like figuring out how to get a business noticed in the community.

I decided to take a new route. Event planning always treated me well. I have planned many birthday parties, new years parties, and more so why not try event planning? So, I got a job as an associate wedding and event planner. I absolutely LOVED working the events, but getting in touch with vendors and finding our pricing was not the most exciting thing for me.

That’s it, I got stuck. I worked through every passion I had and ran out.

Little did I know that I was neglecting the one thing I truly loved. I guess I was just afraid I couldn’t make a career out of it. Anyone that knows me well knows how much I love writing. I have loved it for a long time. I wrote poetry in middle school, wrote for a newspaper in high school, and excelled in every essay I ever wrote. When I was 17, I even wrote a book about that year of my life. How could I not realize it? And so, my blog was born.

My reason in telling you my story is to show that not everyone realizes what their passion is before they start college. I was 110% sure that journalism was the field for me. I was right, but I wasn’t looking at the right career which definitely delayed it a little. But, now I know that this is my path and I fully intend on making a successful career out of it. I hope you too succeed in finding your passion and go farther than you could possibly imagine.