Colorado by Rachel

Colorado by Rachel - December 2015 Scholarship Essay

Ten years seems like a long time, but one thing I have learned in my seventeen years of life is, the older you get, time passes more quickly. I remember being younger and time seemed to stretch on and on, I would be amazed at just how agonizingly long an hour seemed. An hour was an eternity in my tiny brain. As I grew older time became a more precious thing. I realized time was limited and things became less exciting, birthdays and holidays we not as exhilarating as they used to be. I used to stay up and anticipate christmas morning and the first day of school. Now those are just regular days for me. I watch my eleven year old sister gets so upset over having to wait three months for her birthday, unable to grasp the concept that three months is not that long of a time. Six months is not that long. One year is not that long. Ten years is not that long.
In ten years the only thing I can hope to be is content with my life. I’ve watched my parents lose their jobs and end up in careers they never anticipated for themselves. I know a teacher who never expected to teach human anatomy to high school students, but that is exactly what he’s doing. If I was to ask them ten years ago if they saw themselves there, they would say no.
My interests change so quickly that I do not know if I will still want to be on the career path I have chosen in a month, let alone ten years. Ten years ago I wanted to be a veterinarian, five years before that I wanted to be a ballerina. At this point in my life I want to be a teacher. Im still not sure for what age group or even what subject I want to teach, all I know is I want to help kids understand things. I don’t see my desire to help people changing any time soon, but I will say that ten years is very far away to be completely sure what I will be doing.
High school stidents are constantly expected to have their lives planned out, but how can we do that when things can change so quickly. Just because ten years is not that far away, does not mean that many things can’t change in the meantime.
I think that asking where I see myself in ten years is a very complicated thing to ask because, simply, I just don’t know. It is hard for me to predict where I will be because I know that what I say will most likely not be where I end up. I’ve seen many adults change career paths, many college students change majors, my boyfriend's father has had more careers than I can count. So I guess all I can be sure of is in ten years I want to be happy.