Real college life is about earning a degree and working on your dream job. As a college student, I always thought that college was about being average and making it through the wilderness. Until i realized to use the strength behind my youth, in order to compete within my own comfort zone. And it didn’t occur to me until last summer when i experienced the coldness of the “real world.”

On a regular day i went to Bay Park Center for Nursing & Rehabilitation, a place of lost dreams. I encountered diverse people there, with different goals and perceptions about life as a whole. On a quiet room there was a convention taking place, informing the “rehab” people about the different opportunities waiting for them outside these walks. I always wanted to understand people’s background and after three years of attending Mercy College i had accepted one thing: the better you understand others, the better decisions you do. I am a full-time student but i am also a part-time employee at an extremely time consuming retail store. Once I saw my limits, I was more aware of my expansions and reconnecting a death soul with a functional mind has  become a true nightmare for these individuals. Then i asked to myself “what is right and what is wrong nowadays?”

We all tend to follow a certain type of formula that helps us move forward in life. The energy that I felt in that room was amazing because it taught me a point that is very overlooked. Sometimes the first choice is not always the first, but the last. Across the room there was a lady giving an emotional speech of how she recovered  from drug addictions. She currently works as a teacher and created her own foundation to help others facing the same type of issue. She ended up her speech in harmony. It was mesmerizing! Yet, at the same time very inspirational.

Being at Bay Park brought me back in time when i was undecided about my professional life. Throughout my life, i can remember i was very insecure. Everyone works differently and somehow i needed to develop confidence for a better future. At one moment in our lives we must stand alone, leaving behind childhood and welcoming adulthood. My family always made note of my communication skills and i graduated more than ten times due to the careers options they had for me.

“You should be a lawyer, you should be a doctor, you should be a psychologist, you should be this and you should be that. So i figured,”Maybe i can do it all?” I was so lost within my own thoughts of confusions.

It wasn’t until after i entered college that my confusions started to clear out. One of my two career options was psychology, in fact i thought i was going become one. My mentor at the time emphasized students’ interest to guide them on this hard process. Psychology was a career that demanded constant research and study and i was willing to do so. However, i didn’t had the best experience. Once in the classroom, I was exited to make psychology part of my existence. I thought I will be good at something, but it turned out to be an absolute damage. My professor wasn’t what i was expecting and in fact i fail the course. I was unnoticeable. I felt horrible and i had to make a huge decision, quit college, or learn from that particular experience and move forward.

Probably psychology is good for others, but i realize it was not the right plan for me, eventually i took the same class and even more and i passed them with outstanding grades. Do i regret not continue with psychology? Not at all, am a believer of destiny and in this case psychology was  a profession chosen literally by peer and family pressure. Now can you guess which career is my true passion ? That’s right, it is journalism. Growing up I had always to depend on someone in order to “survive,” so making choices for me was a way of learning some of the hardships.

Sometimes i regret of not being as prepare as some of my  peers, but then a part of me began to understand that everything comes in the right time and growing academically  was actually a part of my growing up process. Yes, feeling on the right path feels amazing, but on the other hand, thanks to my confusions I was able to build character, get more confidence, learn how to make choices, and how to thing like an adult using a boy’s body. Not saying there is anything wrong with not knowing your true path in life, but there is a time in a young adults life where you have to make an ultimate decision about your professional destiny. For some that is not a difficult thing to do, but for those who can relate to me, well we’ve been doing this for a long time now and it’s easy to transition into a professional after being an insecure adolescent.

Another positive outcome from this is that my studies ethic is highly noticeable.During a moment in my life I had the opportunity to work as a model with Adrian Alicea, a well known designer in the Spanish market. I learned from him that life is a school itself. He is a CEO, photographer, model and designer who did not went to school to accomplish all of this. And he is one of the best designer in the spanish market. Do you want more? Sometimes school is not the right choice either. There is a huge part of me that feels like I missed out on some great opportunities in life, however I am extremely proud and blessed to have had as many opportunities as I can.

Everything in life comes in the right moment.