If you don't like where you are, move. You are not a tree.

Let me be honest here, I had a very difficult time thinking of the topic for my first post. I first thought maybe I should write about a funny occasion; like the time I had to take the walk of shame to the bathroom when the plane turned slightly and a cup of water fell on my pants, but then I decided to write about something that has always been a predicament to the youth of this generation err.. everyone really.

Deciding what you want to be when you grow up. This is something that every human has to think about, whether it be in high school when you're picking the college of your dreams, or in the womb, where all you want to be when you grow up is a human.

 

First, let me tell you a little bit about myself and how at 20 years old, I still have no idea what I want to be when I grow up.

Ever since I was 5 years old, I wanted to be a Veterinarian. Helping out animals and people through what I thought was a happy medium. I went to a high school where I earned my Veterinary Assisting Degree and I had my dream college in mind, my grades in check, leadership blah blah blah. The point is, I had spent 12 years of my life preparing to become a veterinarian. Then ... The Talk happened. No, not the birds and the bees talk, but the talk every parent gives that usually starts with this question: So ... what are you going to do with your life?

I felt confident with my answer, yet my father, a doctor from Peru, thought otherwise. He somehow convinced me to pursue a career in Human Medicine by giving me a hypothetical World War III scenario. I don't recall what he said exactly, but he mentioned Hitler and hamsters in the same sentence and it surprisingly made sense to me at the time. Anywho, now I am in my Junior (3rd) year of college as a pre-med student and I felt as confused as a husband in the feminine care aisle.


I looked outside my car window thinking of what I wanted to do when I graduate. I looked at the streets and thought life is definitely not a highway... it's more like a regular city street. Let me elaborate. When you get in your car to go to Walgreen's, you are taking the first steps in starting your life (school, job, clubs etc.), then you head out to the main road and you encounter various green or red lights and some options to turn left or right. The green lights are the opportunities you have and the red lights are the opportunities that you need to wait for. You have the option to turn right or left if you don't want to wait, and this where the fun begins. You get lost. You explore a new street that you have never explored before. You expand your horizons by trying something new. So now you are trying to find your destination (your career, life, passion, future etc), but at the same time you want to explore more. You know how there is more than one way to get to the Walgreen's at the corner (of happy and healthy ...haha)? Well, there is more than one way to find out what you want to be when you grow up. Some might take longer than others, but you will always find your way.

I decided that I want to take a different road. I decided that what I want to be when I grow up is not the question everyone should be asking. The question is... what do I want to do with my life. I want to learn more about the world before I settle down. I want to make a difference in my community and strive to become a better human being by meeting new people, traveling, educating, and spreading awareness.

Now, I have a question for you. Have you had any red lights in your life lately? Maybe it's time to make a turn. It's time for more people to realize that it's okay to get lost once in a while because that is where the best memories come from and that is where you will find yourself. If you don't like where you are, move. You are not a tree.