Being in Grade 12, I am constantly pondering my future. I’m at a crossroads in my life, with so much freedom but with so many consequent choices. I look to my family and friends for guidance, but ultimately it’s up to me. What do I know for sure? I want to do something I love. My career path should be a thing of joy, because I believe success comes from passion for your work. Too often I hear my peers saying they’re going into one thing or another “for the money.” I’m not saying that people in high-paying careers don’t love their jobs, I’m saying that you will never be successful at what you do unless you love it. Do you have to love it so much that you wouldn’t even need to get paid for it? Maybe not. Does it have to be the single most gratifying thing in your life? No, ultimately it will be your relationships and experiences that make your life worthwhile. But a part of a happy life is work that makes you happy.
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” Howard Thruman
My friend’s mom works in Human Resources, and a large portion of her work is hiring and firing employees. She says that often the employees getting fired are those ill-suited to their profession, those that really should be in a different line of work. Sometimes getting fired is a reminder that you’re not following your passion. This “reminder” for many students happens in university when they flunk the courses they hate.
I struggle with it, I feel the need to go into a more reliable line of work, to choose a career path with a greater income average, but in the end, I’m choosing to do something I think I’ll look forward to when I wake up each morning. Maybe I will make a lot of money, maybe I won’t. But if I do, it will be because I love my work.
“You are educated. Your certification is in your degree. You may think of it as the ticket to the good life. Let me ask you to think of an alternative. Think of it as your ticket to change the world.” -Tom Brokaw