By Alexis Steagall, Copy Editor
You have the power to make your life as simple or as adventurous as you want it to be. If you really want to get a desk job to answer phones and email for the rest of your life, then please, don’t let me stop you.
But for some, when it comes to finding a lifelong career, an office job just won’t cut it. Discovering yourself and what you are capable of is a difficult process. For those that are soon leaving the Hawk nest and flying away on their own, your long journey in life may be scary.
Oh, high school. All of the years spent building up pressure from maintaining grades, taking the ACT, and preparing for college can be mentally draining. The struggle of balancing the stress with a healthy, socially active lifestyle can be overwhelming. There is a chance that some of you may have been told that you wouldn’t make it this far; whether it be in high school or just life in general– but they were wrong.
If I were to ask you 10 years ago what you wanted to do with your life, you probably wouldn’t know how to answer that. Now, if the question was asked at this moment, odds are that you still wouldn’t have a crystal clear answer. This is totally okay. No one knows for sure exactly what they want to do or where they will end up. Having an unclear future is just a part of life. Yet some people know from the moment they started school the career path they would take and how to get there. Regardless, only you have the power to control where you go from here.
From the rough transition of child to young adult, you are bound to change your career choice. But sometimes our path can get twisted by people who supposedly “know what’s best for you”. It’s not uncommon to feel the pressure from parents to own the family business, to become a doctor, or to find a prestigious job that makes a lot of money. I know it’s hard, but you have to push their voice out of your head and fight for what you want. Sometimes you have to put yourself first; learn to trust your own decisions and love every second of it. If following someone else’s dreams isn’t what you want to do in life, then don’t. Your life is your life!
What’s that saying about love? “If you love something let it go.” There is not another quote that I despise more. If you love something, you give it all the fight you have and never let it slip from your grasp. If you find a job that you are in love with then don’t give it up. So what if your salary isn’t six figures. If you’re happy then what else is there to complain about? I don’t want us to be known as another generation that hasn’t fallen in love with living. I want us to be known for our strength and perseverance, for getting pushed down in the dirt but pulling ourselves back up. Right now, you are only a teenager trying to get through high school, but you are so much more than that.
You are you, and that’s all that really matters.