After many years of studying to be a doctor, I switched career paths. It's the common story. Parents pressure child to do one thing, and child undergoes many personal struggles while trying to fulfill their parents dream. That was me, how cliche. I did what i thought my parents wanted me to do, and because I didn't want to be a doctor, it added a lot of unnecessary problems to my life. If your only motivation is "____ wants me to do this" then you need to stop that thing you're doing right at that second (unless that blank is filled with your own name). To tell you the truth, it wasn't only my parent's pressure. I was naturally good at sciences, math, and I have the social skills. I was pretty much the prefect candidate for a plastic surgeon, minus the love for the career. The money is good, and I can make my own hours which is great if I want to have a family. Nonetheless, those factors didn't matter. The only factor that did, is that I did not love it. I took a deep hard look into the mirror, and tried to figure out what I wanted to do. The answer was clear as summer's day. I knew my answer all along, I just needed the courage to say it out loud. I needed the strength to say that for once in my life, I was going to do what I needed to do to be happy. I needed to tell myself, that maybe I don't have it all figured out but, that's okay. I will figure it out. It might not be today, or tomorrow, or even next year but it will come to me eventually. After I admitted this to myself, I knew my parents were next. How would I explain my ditching a well-executed plan of my future and leaving it for something so shaky? It was a risk. At dinner one night, the words practically swarmed out of my mouth. "Dad and mom, I don't want to be a doctor. I want to go into fashion and business. I'm not sure what yet. I just know I want to combine both." My parents gave me a look that made me believe they were experiencing their version of hell. A while after the shock sunk in, I discussed that the fashion industry might be the cruelest, least accepting, and one of the hardest industries to break into but, I must do this. It's what I love and what I look for to make me happy. The way I sink in awe after seeing the Alexander McQueen "Oyster" dress is not the same way I look at a new roll of medical tape.
So what is my philosophy?
Do what you love.
It's your life.
I may not be able to live up to my parent's expectations of me, but I am able and required to live up to my own abilities.
With an iced coffee, some amazing friends, and a magic trick called hope, my goals and dreams can be achieved.
Come on, have a little faith.
