Be You, Be Passionate, and Do What You Want to Do

I realized something recently that shook me to my core. It really did. I stood there, waiting at the bus stop, completely taken aback and shocked. I couldn’t believe my eyes. And what was this, this idea that almost knocked me off my feet?

I wasn’t living for myself.

When you’re in college, you’re often bombarded by all of these “responsibilities” like do your assignments, make lifelong friends, and have the best four years of your life. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve done all of those things — maybe they weren’t the best four years, but I definitely made some memories.

But there was something missing. I felt like for a long time there was no passion for anything I was doing. I was going through the motions at college and wasn’t doing anything to make me genuinely happy.

I was substituting happiness with alcohol and I was trying to be someone I was not.

It wasn’t until recently when I decided to take life by its horns and start steering it towards the direction I want to take. I never want life to guide me, I always want to be in control of my own life. As cheesy as that sounds, I really do believe you are in control of your life. If you sit there, waiting for life to happen then it actually won’t happen. Nothing happened because it was just expected to happen. Things happen because you make them happen.

Be you. Be passionate. Do what you want to do.

Find your passion. If that takes a while, find those little hobbies you have and start picking them up more and more. That one little hobby can turn into something you love to do. All my life, I’ve always loved writing. I loved going to English (and History) class because I loved learning and putting my thoughts into words. When I came to college, I found my light in writing for a national publication, Odyssey. I thought it was just a hobby — but it turned into me becoming Editor-in-Chief and me eventually starting a blog (or two). I’ve picked up two new skills on top of my passion: editing and design.

I’m not saying you should pick up writing and start a blog right this minute. It takes A LOT of hard work to start a blog — trust me. Start looking at the little things you love to do. If you love to watch cooking shows, learn some new recipes and cook for your friends. If you love giving advice to your friends, maybe consider starting a blog. Look for an internship — you get great experience and get to have fun while doing so! It’s the small things.

You can come to college to go through the motions. You can learn about anything and everything at a university. You can learn things from Calculus to Art History to cooking (I learned how to cook chicken parmesan). Outside of the classroom, you will make lifelong friends or meet your soulmate. But most importantly, you will find out who you are. You will find out who you are in the little things you do and by the time you graduate, it will come up and surprise you. It will hit you like that brick . You’ll realize all the small things that you picked up and that you’ve changed since you walked into your dorm room four years ago.

By finding my passion in my senior year of college, I have changed for the better.

So be you. Go out into the world. Find your passion. Look for the little things. Do what you love to do and I promise — you’ll find your true calling in life. Look to God who has all the answers.