A Tribute to my Six-Year-Old Self by Molly

A Tribute to my Six-Year-Old Self by Molly - June 2017 Scholarship Essay

When I was six, mysteries enamored me. I loved any sort of tale in which there was a brave hero or heroine searching for clues and escaping dangerous situations. My dream job at the time directly stemmed from this and it was to be a detective. Little did I know that there wasn’t a strict job category labeled detective, filled with people who just solved whatever mystery they happen to come across (that was something I discovered several years later, much to my disappointment). Still, I loved mysteries, and I grew up loving the tales of Sherlock Holmes, Nancy Drew, and even Scooby Doo.
When I reached middle school, and had more in-depth science and biology classes, my ideal employment changed. I wanted to be an environmental researcher, specifically dealing with wildlife. Documentaries such as Planet Earth filled my free time, and I loved reading and researching about the world around me through the lens of nature. To this day, Planet Earth is always a stress reliever for me and can entertain me, no matter how many times I have seen it.
As time went by, however, I began to pay more attention to the current events happening. As I reached high school, I became more knowledgeable about the injustices in the world. These were things that we talked about in our classes, or that I learned about in my AP history classes. It was evident to me that there were a lot of people who needed help, but not as many willing to give it. It was around junior year when I truly realized my dream job lied in a career which could allow me to help people, to maybe make their lives a little bit easier or safer or more just. I knew if I could achieve that, for even just one person, I would be happy in whatever I would do.
This interest in public service led to the subject of law, specifically criminal law and international law cases. Becoming an attorney to defend the rights of others is an incredibly important dream of mine, as I know it would truly enable me to truly help people. I am currently double- majoring in Political Science and Anthropology, with a minor in Criminal Justice and History, and I plan to attend law school after undergrad. My minor in Criminal Justice was in partly a tribute to my six-year-old self, as that is still an interest of mine, to this day. Influenced by these classes, I began to research careers in law enforcement, and I realized that now my dream job is to work for the FBI. I still plan to work as an attorney, both before and after I work for the FBI, and I know that both of these careers will enable me to help people and provide safety, hopefully helping them live better lives.
I always think that it is funny that my childhood dream job is so similar to my dream job now. It makes me happy to think that it is because I feel like in some ways, we often know more about ourselves and the world around us when we are children. We can still see the beauty in the world, and we still see everything around us in almost a magical sort of way. Children are often full of hope, and I think that is something we should all aspire to be. As a six-year-old, I saw the world in my own way, before anyone told me how I was supposed to see it. After all these years, I have learned so much, which has only supported my dreams and my motivation to achieve them. I used to see the world as full of goodness, and even though I now know that it has quite a bit of evil in it, I believe that by working in the FBI and as an attorney, I can return some of that goodness. I like to think my six-year-old self would be to proud of that.