I’ve been in a self exploration phase recently and sort of spending a lot of time in my head. I think it’s a natural process that comes with getting out of your early 20’s and realizing life isn’t just about YOU. Then again, in my mind I feel as though I’m closer to my early 30s.
I started this journey into self exploration close to a year ago. When you’re not even 16 and your doctor puts you on antidepressants that make you numb, it is only after coming off of them that you start to really experience life. So my journey began when I told my doctor, “hey man, I want to have feelings and emotions. Take me off of this crap!” When you’ve been emotionally sterile for a years at a time, feeling everything again seems like a gift. And it truly is a gift! I believe that God intended us to have emotions – the good and the bad.
Where I was once just going along with life and just letting it happen to me, now I’m trying to really take more control of things and be proactive. Of course the question that this boils down to is: What do I truly want to do with my life? Since graduating high school I’ve gone from not having any clue as to what I wanted to be… to thinking I was going to major in business and just stay in the family company… oh yeah, and then switching my major to communications because how cool would it be to work on television shows and meet celebrities?
After realizing all of these ideas were unfulfilling, I started to look deeper into who I really am. The one thing I’ve always wanted to do in my life is make a difference in this world. I’ve always possessed this yearning to help others, I just didn’t know how that would translate to a career. Oooo scary word – “career!” So the good news is I think I’ve finally figured out who I want to be and where this will lead me. Any guesses?
If you guessed in the general category of social work then you were right. For everyone who did not guess right, don’t worry. There’s no prize for the people who did get it right. Suckers!
My self exploration led me to social work for a few reasons. The main reason is because social work is a field that is entirely dependent on one’s desire to help others. In general, people do not become social workers to make millions of dollars. I’ve done tons of research on social work programs and I feel as though a specialization in health care policy or child development is where I will eventually find myself.
With all of that said, I’ve changed the objective and tone of this blog to really become an outline and journal to document my foray into the realm of social work. I know that many young adults my age are still trying to figure out what they really hope to do with their lives. I hope that my experiences can help others see that they are not the only ones feeling this way, and eventually we all end up where we are supposed to be. The journey is the destination!
