A lot of college students have no idea what they want to do with the rest of their life.
Yeah. Everyone changes majors and everyone takes a little longer than they meant to.
But, most college students even when they figure out what they want to study still don’t know what they want to do with that degree. I was a part of this group — but not anymore.
I started out my college career as an international trade and finance major.
I was studying it because it sounded impressive and it gave me a sense of confidence that I would be able to make a substantial amount of money in that field.
I probably would have been very successful in business had I not sucked at it.
At the end of my first semester, I was left with a less than impressive GPA and I felt like I was going nowhere.
I wish the story ended a little better, but here goes.
So, now I am a senior by hours and I am in the wrong major. I am one of those people who still say the phrase, “If I had it to do over again …”
For the majority of my college career, I was dishonest about what I wanted to do and who I was as a person.
This led me down the wrong path and when I figured out the right path it was too late to start over.
In short, I want to be a fashion designer.
Not exactly the alpha male’s field of choice, but it works for me. This whole time, I spent more energy arguing with myself that fashion was a field for women and that it would be too difficult to make a living.
But, then I realized that it was what I was good at and what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.
All that was about a semester ago.
Now for the past semester, I have been focusing my energies on my career in fashion journalism and fashion show production.
Surprisingly, I have found a lot of promise in the fashion industry and the fashion magazine world.
However, I wouldn’t have ever found all this had I not gotten out of denial and picked the career path that was really what I wanted to do.
I can’t express to you enough the importance of being honest with yourself about what you want to do with your life.
The crazier and more random it sounds — the better.
Reach for something that challenges you as a person as will make you happy for the rest of your life.
Anyway, before I get too cheesey, I want to talk about something else.
A biproduct of all this self-realization is Ready To Wear — the first ever Student Media fashion show and expo.
This show was an idea that I had to complement our new fashion special section that is coming out.
Coordinating this show with other talented people has shown me that working hard gets you somewhere, and it also has taught me that I have a future in this business.
I never expected this show to get this big. I thought it would be small and very grassroots its first year in existence.
Oppositely, it is going to feature close to 20 local vendors and will include more than 100 models.
Come see it on Wednesday at the Varsity. Student Media wants to reach out to you as our readers.
It is sure to be a good time and hopefully like nothing you’ve seen in Baton Rouge.
Back to my point — do what you love and love what you do. It may not be exactly what you see for yourself but you will be a happier person in the long run.