Why You Should Always Follow Your Passion

As children we’re often told “follow your dreams!” and “you can be anything you want to be when you grow up.” But there comes a certain age when those sentiments change from “follow your dreams” into remarks like “well you won’t make any money doing that,” or “what kind of job can you even get with that degree?” 

This is exactly what happened to me.

I’ve always been passionate about reading and writing. By the time I hit senior year of high school and needed to figure out what to go to college for, I thought to myself, “what kind of job would let me read books and write all day?” I knew then that I would major in English, my one true love to combine my two passions.

Upon announcing this to my family, I received sneers in return and comments like “well what in the world are you going to do with that?” and “why don’t you go into accounting? You’ll make good money guaranteed.” I knew their comments came from a place of love and worry. After all, no parent wants to see their child fail in life. But I was confident in my decision. I saw no other option but to follow my passion. Imagining myself as an accountant having to work with numbers all day was the equivalent horror of having teeth pulled. 

Throughout the rest of my senior year I dealt with snarky remarks from adults about my choice in major. I could see in their eyes they had already made up their minds that I’d most likely be a “starving artist” trying to write the next great American novel. That couldn’t have been further from the truth. 

English will always be relevant as a major, because strong communication skills are never going out of style. I have potentially one of the greatest windows for jobs available to me as an English major. As I finish up my senior year and begin to job search, I have found a myriad of jobs in and out of my field that I’m qualified for simply because I have a strong writing foundation and solid written and oral communication skills. Turns out, I won’t be a starving artist after all. My choice in major gave me the skills that employers are constantly on the lookout for and not often finding. 

Aside from the technicalities of the job opportunities available to an English major, I loved every second of my writing and literature courses throughout college. I never went to school dreading the topics I’d be learning about, but rather went to class excited for my day, and often left feeling inspired.

My family is now completely supportive of my choice and they’re some of my biggest fans in my writing. I’m happy every single day that I followed my passion, and it feels good as I apply for jobs to be excited about the work I’d be doing. At the end of the day, you’re the one who will wake up every day and go to work at whatever profession you choose; it’s up to you to decide how you feel about the work you do. Are you excited and do you feel good about your contributions? Or, are you dreading every day and living for the weekends? You don’t have to live to work, but you can at least make a worthwhile effort to enjoy what you do to make money. My advice to you: always follow what makes your heart sing and don’t let other’s opinions hold you back. I’m glad I did!

 

 

• career
• english
• life goals
• major
• passion