Valuable Life Lesson by Tiffany

Valuable Life Lesson by Tiffany - October 2013 Scholarship Essay

One of the most valuable life lessons I learned outside of the classroom was to do what makes me happy and stop trying to please everyone else. Back when I was in high school, people would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I never really knew what I wanted to be so I always said something like teacher, or doctor, or lawyer, or anything that would make my parents happy or make my friends happy. My parents thought I would make a great dentist because I always enjoyed going to the dentist, and it never really bothered me. While that career choice was somewhat interesting to me, I mostly chose it because it is what my parents wanted for me. I understand that they want what is best for me, and I appreciated that at the time, but it was never really something I had a passion for.
In high school, all of my teachers said that I was really gifted at math and should consider becoming a math teacher or professor. I actually considered it for a while because I was good at math, and I enjoyed teaching; however I was still ignoring my own passion and just choosing to do what other people wanted me to do. Math was not something I wanted to do the rest of my life, and it was fairly easy to give up on that because it was not something I had a passion or calling for. When I finally found what I wanted to do, it was hard to explain that to people because of the ideas in their head that they all had for me.
Since I was a toddler, I was always on the computer, learning how things worked and always trying to find an easier way to do things. By the time I hit double digits, I was teaching my dad how to do different things on the computer that he, an avid computer user, did not even know. I was always proud of my knowledge of computers and had a real passion for them. However, I did not know how to make this a career choice. It was not until my second year at community college while I was dual enrolling that I finally realized what I wanted to do, and it was not necessarily what others wanted me to do. However, I was finally able to think for myself and I decided on majoring in Computer Science at the University of Central Florida. After going through so many different career choices, it was very difficult to convince my parents that this was what I wanted to do. But I finally did it, and I could not be happier with my choice.
If I had not learned to do what I wanted to do, or what makes me happy, no matter what other people tell me, I would still be choosing a career path that I had no passion or drive for, and it probably would not have ended well. It is so important to pick career paths that are the best for one’s personal life because we all have our own life to live, and we should not be living for someone else. The most valuable life lesson I learned outside of the classroom was to do what brings me joy, and not let other people decide what makes me happy. I am so thankful for this life lesson because now I am on my way to a job that is going to make me very happy and I am going to use this passion that I have to change the world.