Setting It Apart From All The Rest
Ever since I was a young kid, I constantly thought about my future and what I really wanted to do with my life. I felt like if I wanted to stand out from the crowd or be special from everyone else, constantly feeling like I needed to offer something unique. At that point in my life, all I really cared about was Swimming and getting my homework done. In all honesty, at the age of 13, I wasn’t exactly the most academically inclined student either. Everyday was the same old routine of practice, school, practice again, homework, and from time to time, putting some small time in the weight room. The question always pressed me and sat in the back of my mind and I always felt the pressure of needing to solve the primary question: Aren’t you going to figure out what you’re going to do with the rest of your life? I was convinced swimming was everything I needed.
By the time I got to High School, things really started getting more and more busy. Trying to balance both High School Swim Season and constant Club Swimming all year-round right after became chaotic and kept me pretty busy. As I said before, I was never the smartest kid in the room, but I knew I had some potential, most especially in my English and History classes. I never found myself enjoying any of the Science or Math classes, but I liked the opportunity to be creative in school. Meanwhile, I already started hearing about desirable career paths from my friends. The conversation always started with something along the lines of, “So, what do you plan to do after college? Where have you started looking at colleges? Well, do you have enough extracurriculars?”. It was so overwhelming, but my answer was always just “Swimming”.
When I was around ten years old, my parents thought it would finally be a great idea to take us to California. I had never been, but I knew my mom had family out there. I had only ever pictured California as a place solely meant for surfing, Hollywood, and pretty much a place where people escape to do whatever they want. Once we get there, my dad made sure he found a spot for me to train so I wouldn’t miss out on any practice. Eventually, my Dad even thought it would be a good idea to take me on a tour of UCLA. I remember so clearly driving up the mountains and looking at the breathtaking views, only to arrive on campus feeling like I was in a sophisticated version of the Jungle Book-it was beautiful. Nonetheless, I was shown the multiple pools they had on campus. I was in awe and that’s when I realized Swimming just HAD to be it. My Dad always reminded me growing up that sports opened up such a large gateway for opportunities and this is where I finally realized it to be true.
By the time my Senior Year rolled around, I had taken a few recruiting trips to a few different schools along with constant emails to multiple different coaches, and even hand written letters. It was such an exciting time to realize: Wow, it’s almost the home stretch and now it gets to be my decision where I go next! Although, what really lingered in my mind was what I wanted to major in-I didn’t want to go into college undecided, because I just never did well with any sort of personal suspense. Many of my friends constantly talked about going into the medical field and I figured that could be something interesting to pursue. I researched it further and realized being a Physician’s Assistant sounded like a great career to pursue. Sadly, by the time I finished up my senior year, I knew I could never take another Physics class again...and therefore, my dream of being in the medical field was gone.
Considering the classes I enjoyed in High School, I found myself most intrigued by English. I really found myself passionate about writing and eventually became a natural with sentence structure and storytelling despite my lack of interest in elementary school Grammar. Therefore, I decided to apply to colleges as an English major. Although, I felt like something was missing from that. By the time I committed and reviewed the classes I was required to take, I wasn’t all too fond of it. I asked myself, what about learning about something new rather than books? What is there to do with an English degree? I researched further and found that yes, in fact, there were so many career paths to fill with that major...but I just kept feeling like I needed MORE.
Just about a month before I left for college, I told many in my close circle my personal concerns on the lack of academic fulfillment English was prepared to give me. I constantly circled back to this topic with my mother at the dinner table, and she continued to suggest Public Relations. I had never heard anyone talk about that field before, let alone being a Communications Major. Whenever I thought of that, I always thought it was related to some sort of human biological study on motor and verbal skills, but, obviously I was wrong. At the last second before I was off for college, I changed my major to Public Communications.
Once I got to college, I actually enjoyed my Public Communications classes. The Professor was pretty passionate about teaching our intro course, but I still found it pretty interesting. She was so great that I even decided to take a winter course (which really helped set up my LinkedIn profile, by the way!). On the downside, the school I was at had no specific Communications Program...Journalism? Public Relations? Digital Marketing? Nope. Once it came to transfer, I knew more than ever that all I wanted to do was take Public Relations & Marketing classes-I knew I was ready for a change, a next step, and something new that I actually enjoyed learning more about and even starting some sort of career in.
After completing my Sophomore year at a brand new University, I can happily say I’m satisfied with what I’ve learned so far. I’m even more excited to continue learning, especially taking the more advanced classes within my major. For reasons unknown, I always find myself excited to actually put in the work. Maybe it’s my mind's way of jumping at an opportunity to get better at something rather than athletics, but even the busy work of taking notes and reading I end up enjoying. As all college kids do at some point or another, classes and work can be both stressful and exhausting, which I can definitely agree with. Although, in the end, I find myself relieved and happy to be doing it.
I titled this article the way I did to really emphasize the difference in what I want to do apart from all the rest because it truly is something special compared to others. After learning all that I have for myself whether it’s emotionally, academically, etc, I’ve ended up at this point...and I’m happy with it. I hear from time and time again that my friends complain about how hard their classes can be, how much work or studying they have to do, and even how they can’t stand to sit in a two hour zoom lecture with their cameras turned off and mic muted. I can understand that, which I admittedly do from time to time, but in the end, I enjoy it. I enjoy putting in the work, going the extra mile when I don’t necessarily want to, and even asking all the questions I do (I think almost any one of my professors so far can detest for the amount of questions I email them). If there is anything I want you guys to take away from reading this, it’s that you don’t need to plan the rest of your life right away, and a lot of times, it’s better to plan as things happen. Never did my ten year old self ever think I would end up going to school in Florida, let alone be in the Communications field.
So, don’t stress over the big questions. Address the small parts of the question first in order to finalize an answer to the big one. By taking one small step at a time, you can successfully answer questions about your life and figure out what excites you versus what may not necessarily intrigue you. I’ve found that it’s important to embrace the experiences, memories, and overall what you learn from other people and even in school rather than disregarding suggestions. Being open to opportunities, change, and learning new things is truly what is going to help you find where you want to be throughout your college experience and future work.
