Growing up is stressful. Or at least it's become stressful recently.
The first 20 years of life seemed like a care-free ride of enjoyment. From action figures to my triumphant victory in the fourth grade spelling bee to high school prom to all the drunken freshman nights, it seemed life was just here for me to enjoy.
Sometime recently, though, reality has set in.
That anxiety I felt while applying to nine colleges my senior year of high school has returned. There's one problem though: graduation is not around the corner for me. I am only a sophomore. I've got a long way to go.
Regardless, I can't help but think that every decision I make regarding school and employment is going to have an effect on the course of the rest of my life. Things just seem...heavier.
Am I majoring in the right thing? Why is a political science major who's changing to radio, television and film working for a newspaper? Am I losing all my good friends by working hours on end for that newspaper? Do I have any clean boxers left for tomorrow...?
Pair this stress with the unhappy news that bombards us about how the world's going to hell in a hand basket, and things can seem pretty precarious.
Thus is the life of a generation Y college student. These are uncertain times. We want to find the same success our parents did but are fearful the world is shaping up to be much less kind to us than it was to them.
Without landing an internship at a legit company, the prospects of making the big bucks look bleak for a liberal arts major who's horrible at math. (You can stop reading now, engineers, you'll be just fine.)
It seems you can either flounder in a fit of anxious panic attacks or remain optimistic and find a way to perservere against the odds. I choose the latter.
I look for my strengths and identify my passions. I've known for a while that writing is my craft, and if God put me here to do anything, it is to write. I'm passionate about music, sports and the Latino culture.
So, even if I've resigned myself to the fact that I will never be a rock star, soccer phenom or a Venezuelan, why can't I write a movie about a Venezuelan soccer star who discovers he has the reincarnated voice of Frank Sinatra?
If I go the reporter route, chances are I'll eventually get to interview Usher or Christiano Ronaldo. Right?
The beauty of writing is you can always live vicariously through your subjects and creations.
Whenever I feel overwhelmed by the stresses of undergraduate life, I always return to my passion: writing. Wherever life takes me, I know there will be a pen and paper (or a word processor) by my side.
I don't know what my world will look like when I'm 50. I don't know if I'll be a millionaire. Chances are I won't even be a hundred thousandaire.
Even so, if I'm doing what I love with someone who I love by my side, I think I'll be just fine.
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