I have always had this self-imposed belief that if you are living a “comfortable” life, it will be a happy one. So when I came to college, I chose to study business – a major that would provide a “comfortable” life for me, meaning I would have job security and financial stability.
For the entirety of my first year, I held onto this belief for dear life. I figured that if I could afford the life I wanted to live, I would be happy. But I failed to realize two very important things. First, I failed to see that if the path to financial stability was an unenjoyable one, I would end up dreading going to class to learn the things that would provide said lifestyle. Second, I failed to realize that if I already hated learning these things, I would end up hating doing them sitting behind a computer screen for the next 40 years.
Fast forward to this semester, fall of my second year, and my life has been changing in unforeseeable ways. Things at home aren’t the greatest they’ve ever been, and work, no matter how much I love it, is too much of a distraction, so I can’t focus on school. I am taking two major courses and hate them. You could say that nothing is going according to plan.
One night, while grabbing dinner with my mom, I was asked to name one good thing about college itself. I had no answer. It took this revelation to understand that I needed to make a drastic change in my life.
I went home, weighed my options, and came to a conclusion: if I want to live a happy life, I need to pursue a career that will make me happy, no matter how stable or secure the job itself will be.
I decided to change my major to English. I have always been passionate about writing, reading, and grammar. With this major, I can pursue a career in writing, editing, or teaching. I know that these options are not always seen as the most stable, but my heart knows that they will bring me a previously unachievable level of joy. I know now that if my heart is happy, that my life will be full of goodness. I know that mindlessly sitting behind a computer screen, plugging in data, and fixing operating systems cannot do that for me. I know that making a difference using language as my weapon of choice will undoubtedly be able to do that for me.
The moral of my story is this: no matter how far in you are, it is never too late to change directions. No matter what your head says, follow your heart, your passions, your dreams. You will gain so much more from a full heart than you will a full wallet. And if you’re lucky, maybe you’ll get to experience both.