Chase What Brings You Joy

Chase What Brings You Joy

I pondered for some time on what truly brings me joy. I think this is a question that everybody should be asked at least once in their lives because this topic is something that can really open one’s eyes about themselves. The answer to it could be extremely helpful for those who are uncertain of what to do in their life. I feel like there is a time in all of our lives where we are met with uncertainty. One of those times for me was when I graduated high school. I had to ask myself this question as a teenager going into my freshman year of college. I went to college fresh out of high school so I didn’t take much time to really think about what I wanted to do in my life.

I was playing high school football in Las Vegas at the time and I wanted to keep going with it and play at the collegiate level. The hardest thing was that I didn’t have any scholarship offers and I didn’t have many college coaches talk to me. I didn’t have a destination and it was time for me to make a quick decision. I was stressed for a while because of the pressure I was putting on myself to make a decision before the semester started in the fall. After thinking about it for some time, I realized that I can just go to a college and walk-on to the team and see what happens from there. I didn’t really care which college I went to as long as it was away from my hometown. I thought I was going to find joy as long as I was leaving my hometown. I wasn’t really thinking about what brings me joy.

When it was time to pick a major I was hesitant at first cause I felt like I had to stick with it all four years in order to graduate on time. I tried to put less pressure on myself and chose one that I thought would bring me the most opportunities when I did come back home after I graduated college which was Hotel and Restaurant Management. Hotels and Restaurants are a really big deal in Las Vegas. At first I felt that it would’ve been something that I wanted to do when I was older but as I was going through my first few weeks of classes I realized two things. One is that I didn’t really think of what brought me joy when I was picking a major. And the second thing was a question that I had to ask myself. “Why would I go through this program at this small mountain town university that I’m attending when it would’ve been more to experience in this field if I were to do it in the big city of Las Vegas?”.

After realizing that, I knew that I had to change my major to something else but I had no idea what to do until I thought about what truly brought me joy. I had to really look at myself in the mirror and think aloud about all my interests as I was growing up. Then I started to realize the little crafts or activities I did when I was a kid. The subjects that I find interesting while going to school. The thing that makes me smile while doing it. This thing for me is writing. Writing is the craft that has brought me joy ever since I was a little kid. I switched my major to Creative Media and Film after my freshman year of college and never looked back. I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Creative Media and Film in 3 years. Moral of the story, chase what brings you joy.