Mr.
Odom, our guest speaker from Monday, hadn't planned on pursuing a
career in writing. He got a degree in Finance, got married, and had
children before he even considered exploring his talents. He is proof
that the decisions we make in our youth are not the deciding factor of
what we become or do with our lives.
He
spoke about his lack of confidence in his writing before he joined his
critique groups. By attending these sessions, he was able to see the
reactions of his readers, and realized that he was actually pretty good.
At these critique groups, he would provide copies of his work to each
person and read it aloud.
A question I would've and should've asked was whether or not he still wrote, and if he had only written the one book, I'm a Brat. It's incredibly difficult to make a career out of writing, especially when you only publish a few books.
Parents,
teachers, counselors, and even friends have been hounding me about what
I want to be, where I want to go to college, where I want to live, etc.
And when I respond with "I'm not sure yet," they assume that I'm a
nincompoop that hasn't thought about her future at all. They don't
realize that my future is all I think about. I make lists of possible
majors, colleges, and careers almost everyday. I take quizzes that are
supposed to tell me what I should study and where I should go. I take
practice ACTs online. It's not that I don't think about it. It's that I
have too many ideas and thoughts to make decisions right now. I'm also
really afraid that people will put me down or try to change my mind or make
me doubt myself or force their own opinions upon me if I tell them.
So
you ask, where I'd like to be in a year? I can't even decide what I want for breakfast, let alone where I want to be in a year. But, hey, I'll give it my best shot. I want to be completing my
college applications after scoring high enough on the ACT to get into the colleges I want to go to (fingers crossed). It will
be my senior year, and I'll probably be struggling to transition of being a child and becoming an adult. I'll have to start making adult decisions and doing adult things, like applying for loans.
In
five years, I'll be 21. I hope by this point, I will have figured out the great mess that is deciding on a major, career, etc. But knowing myself and knowing my tendency to be indecisive in moments of great importance and stress, there's a good chance I will still be lost. I'm hoping that I'll get to study abroad at some point in my late college years, possibly in France or Switzerland.
In ten years, I'll be 26! The only images I have of people in their late 20s are those that exist on TV shows (Friends), and my parents. I haven't given much thought to what my life is going to consists of during this weird period of educated and inexperienced. I expect that there will be a lot of working during this time. I'll be in a new career, and I'll have to start from the bottom and work my way up. I don't see myself having a family at this time, but I'm open to it.
In FIFTY years, I'll be 66. Fifty years is a long time. Maybe I'll be retired and traveling the world with a spouse or my sister. Maybe I'll still be working. Maybe I'll be dead! I'll be well past my half-life, and I most likely would've hit my peak long before this. I hope that by this point, I will be able to look back on a life of success and love.
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