I remember career day back in my old elementary school. The teacher told us to pick our future career and to come in dressed up. There were firefighters, astronauts, and doctors as far as the eye could see. My career choice back then was to be a veterinarian, like so many of many fellow classmates. A veterinarian was a popular, almost fashionable choice for a future career. Yet as I got older, the answer to the career choice got harder and harder. It was no longer about which career was the best sounding answer to the teacher. It was about which career would be best for me. My answer changed throughout middle school and through high school as my peers and myself grew. Some of my friends have found their purpose or “dream jobs” as like the rest of the graduating class. I, however, feel like an exception to this. Even now when asked about my future, I have no reply.
Right now I am at the point when I’m supposed to have a decisive goal and objective for the rest of my life. Although countless amounts of students have made this choice before me, it is not an easy one. It is difficult to imagine myself in the future because I cannot predict what the future will hold. I am only 17 years old. I have not experienced the world yet. The seven year old me that had chosen so quickly, did not know about the world and its ways.
I have lived in my “safety bubble” for 17 years, my friends and family to guide me through tough choices and issues. But this choice is not something I can ask them to do. The only person I could trust this decision to is myself. I have to find my own path and decide my own future. Regardless of the fact that I am not definite about my career, I have an idea. An idea that will develop and change over time but the basis will remain the same. I want to help people and the earth simultaneously. Helping human society advance but without destroying the environment that we live in. Yet even as I am certain that is the path I will follow, I do not know what exact that will lead to career is best for me. I want to research and study the environment but not find myself in a lab all day. I want to help advise people about decisions regarding the environment but not be stuck in an office all the time. I want to have choices in my occupation, moving from place to place and meeting new people. This is my idea, something that will both help the human and natural world. My idea is not fully developed but studying the environment and human impact is the path I want to follow. I may not end up with the popular career, but I know that it will fit me perfectly.