Six Year Old Me Got it Right by Natasha

Six Year Old Me Got it Right by Natasha - June 2017 Scholarship Essay

Sitting in the living room at home massaging my family members was the first time I ever thought about my future career. “I want to be a masseuse,” I told my family. Of course, at that time they supported me fully and encouraged me to do what I wanted. As years went by, I continued to think that I would be good at that career field. Then middle school happened.
I have always wanted to do something that would make people feel better. Giving people a massage seemed perfect. It was a well-paced job and I seemed to be good at it. In middle school, I came across my first job working in a nursery and started understanding money better. That is when I decided that I needed to pursue a job with more respect from my family and a better pay. I started getting interested in nursing and all through middle and high school I wanted to be a nurse. During my undergraduate degree, I started my first two years in the pre-nursing program and was accepted into the program. I took part in one and a half years of nursing school before I realized it was not what I wanted to do.
Nursing drew me in because I wanted to help people and give them better quality of life. Simple as that. My third year in college I started to notice that I was losing passion in nursing and it was because I wanted to help people before they even got to the hospital. I felt this way for over a year and a half but didn’t take action until my senior year. I was so worried about what others would think of me quitting nursing. I was worried about losing out on the nice pay check I was going to receive from being a nurse. However, none of that mattered. No matter the job and the paycheck, I want to do something I am passionate about. That passion will help me be the best I can and give my patients the best they deserve.
College opened my eyes to two big things in life. I loved nutrition and there is more than one way to help people with their quality of life. I decided to quit the nursing program and pursue a career in nutrition. That is what brings me here today. Pursuing my new dreams to become a nutritionist.
It may look like I changed my mind a little throughout the years, but looking at it closely now I realized I have always wanted the same thing. Since I was six years old I have wanted to help people and make them feel better. Growing up and experiencing life has just changed the way I want to go about doing it. Six-year-old me had the right idea back then, and now life experience has shaped the way I want to do it and I am very excited.