It is about that time of year, every where you look eager students are preparing for the next chapter of their lives. High school seniors say goodbye to what they have known for the greater part of their lives, and college students are preparing for their next step as an adult in this world. As I look around at all of these people running around to prepare, finishing projects, ordering caps and gowns, it makes me wonder…are these people following the path that makes them happy?
Throughout high school we were all asked where we wanted to go to school and what we wanted to be. For me, it wasn’t an easy list of questions to answer. I had no idea what I wanted to eat that night for dinner, never mind deciding where my entire life was going to take me. We don’t, one day, wake up and decide we want to be doctors or lawyers. I think we are groomed, throughout our lives, into what we are truly meant to be. We don’t see it when it’s happening but when we look back it’s crystal clear. I know I have mentioned before that my decision making process was not an easy one. I didn’t know anything about who I was or who I wanted to be at the ripe young age of 17. Slowly, though, things started making sense. As I analyzed my life as it was at that moment, along with looking back at my life, it all clicked. I have always been touched by things creatively. I begged my parents to put me in dance classes when I was 5 years old. Now I have been a dance teacher for the past 6 years. I would ask for birthday and Christmas presents along the lines of “finger paints” and “my first pottery wheel”. I always stood up to be the role model for my younger sisters and cousins. I didn’t know it at the time but I was meant to be exactly where I am; studying to be an art educator.
The point I want to make is that we don’t need to one day know exactly who we are because it has always been in us. Many people, due to unforeseen circumstances or economic reasons, seem to lose sight of what makes them happy; where their path is supposed to lead them. I know decisions are difficult and there are things like security and safety that need to be considered, but I say if your decision pushes you towards something that you feel in your heart is right, that makes your soul dance and life illuminate, do it. Find your path and follow.
