I remember when I was first thinking about careers back in undergrad I would bring up a field and people would say, "oh wow that's really tough to break into", or ,"yeah that's a really competitive field". I don't know about you but to me when somebody says that it translates to, "yeah I don't think you'll be able to do that". I made the mistake of taking such words in that way when I was younger, specifically when I thought about being a sportscaster or sportswriter. Instead of thinking that I would never make it in such a career I wish I would have taken the attitude of, "Ok it's competitive, I guess that means I'll have to work harder than all the other people who want it". When I was an undergrad at Penn State I had a Spanish class my Freshman year with a really outgoing and social girl. That girl is now on the Elvis Duran morning show on Q102, showing that there was a person exactly like me who followed her dream and is now on a nationally cindicated radio program. It just shows me that if I had stuck with my dream of being a sports writer or sports caster I could have done it.
Now I'm not saying that I don't want to be a teacher, I know I'm going to love it. That's the thing about me, I don't feel like I was born to do one specific thing, but that I could be happy doing a number of different things. I'm not bothered by my career choice, I'm bothered by the fact that I gave up so quickly on a past dream. Now I don't want to blame others, it was my decision to change my major from communications and move onto psychology, but I really didn't feel much support from those around me that I could make it as a media figure in sports. Do you ever feel like there are more haters out there than people who will support you? Sometimes I feel like the majority of people out there believe that you'll fail rather than succeed and this can really hurt your confidence, if you're not already a head strong and driven person. What I've been though with my roller coaster ride of undergrad major changes and now grad school has taught me that no matter what the odds are, if you have a dream than you've got to follow it. Be your own inspiration and support system if nobody else has your back, because in the end you're following your dreams for yourself, and not for anyone else.
A few weeks ago I guy I worked with was telling me how he'd really like to work for The Onion in New York City, or at least get an internship. He was telling me that he didn't know how he was going to do it and that it's really competitive and I stopped him right there. I told him that if he really wants it to go for it and not let anybody hold him back. Even if it's competitive just work really hard and do whatever you have to do to get in. And hey, even if you don't get there, your hard work usually opens you up to new possibilities along the way. All I'm saying is if you have a passion, a dream, work as hard as you can for it and make it happen (unless of course it involves hurting people, if that's the case you probably should go talk to a professional). Cast aside the haters, and listen to the supporters even if the only supporter you have is yourself, because in the end that's who you'll be pleasing most when following your dream.
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