Follow your career passion
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By Brandy Ball   
Monday, 28 March 2011 12:39

 

Make your dreams come true.

Make your dreams come true.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Picking the right major isn't easy.

 

Imagine going through life knowing with no doubt what you want your career plan to be. You have the tenacity and the passion and there is nothing that can stop you. So you think.  Getting a higher education in today’s economy is enough to discourage any student, but for me it altered my whole outlook of my profession.

Talking comes easy for me, so easy that as a child my nickname was Brandy-bug. I was inquisitive, which is a good word for nosy, but whatever the case I knew that being informed and informing other people was something that was in my blood.  I couldn't wait to graduate to pursue my college education. I was going to be the next Oprah. I was that confident that I could dethrone the talk show queen. Despite the many life obstacles I had, I stayed focused on getting a Bachelor of Arts with a concentration in Broadcast Productions. I might not take the queen's crown but I was planning on making a name for myself.  Again so I thought.  After graduating with my Associates, what I thought was a for sure thing became real clouded really quickly.

It was the last few weeks of the fall semester and instead of rejoicing about being at the halfway mark, I was stuck in a 'what should I do limbo?'. I was making last minute decisions concerning my major.  The economy was not favoring journalists, whether print or broadcast. Hearing hardcore facts about the salary that I should expect was depressing, as well. No student wants to hear the phrase 'be prepared to be broke' once they have completed a bachelor's degree in any field. There was no way that I was putting my heart, time and passion into an education that was not going to pay me back financially. I was officially in an OMG moment.

I decided to revamp my major. So instead of journalism I went all the way to the left as a business major. Please forgive me but the business thing was not my type of dream major. It was stuffy and stifling, where mass communication was free and creative. Business seemed more financially sound, however.  I had to make a decision for the next semester. Should I go with my passion or should I go with the major that is number one on many best job lists? I chose the coward's way out and chose the business major, and it has been hard for me ever since.

All of the hard work I put into my journalism classes was all washed away. If I transfer and go into a business curriculum, many of those credits will barely make it to the university. For this whole semester I have been a robot, mechanically doing class work by deadlines with no love or excitement for my assignments. Before,  I loved going to school to learn something new in my field, but now I have to pep talk myself out of bed. 

I asked myself for a long time why I didn't have enough faith in myself. Instead of running I should have believed enough in my dreams that I've had since I was a little girl. Despite the fact that I'm pushing through this semester because I don't want to mess up my Pell Grant, I decided to go back to my passion. Great people don't falter when confronted with obstacles. That is the time to show what you are made of. My grandmother always told me to find something that I love doing and I will never work a day in my life. Sound like a plan.

 

Last Updated on Tuesday, 29 March 2011 11:19

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