When Opportunity Knocks, Make Sure You Answer the Door
You just finished spending a whole year choosing what college to attend, what to major in, and what career path you want to take. Finally, you figured out exactly what you wanted to do — and then, something else came up. You seemed to just walk right into it, but before you knew it, you were completely indulged in an activity you never thought you’d have any interest in.
Now, projects in this subject are becoming more plentiful, even successful. Eventually, maybe someone comes up to you and offers you a job — or another great opportunity — in this field. What will you do? It’s not in your major field, and it’s not what you thought you’d be doing for the rest of your life, but opportunity just knocked, and it’s time to answer the door. What will you say?
If this sounds like something you’re going through, you aren’t alone. That’s exactly what happened to me. I started college as a music major with a small interest in writing — so I joined the school newspaper on a whim one day. I never would have known that my articles would be shared thousands of times, and websites would approach me asking me to write for them. Now, I’m a journalism student who writes articles for a living, instead of having to get a boring fast-food job.
But that never could have happened if I hadn’t taken the opportunity presented to me and given it my all. Sure, it wasn’t exactly what I thought I would be doing, but it turns out that I absolutely love what I’m doing now. You can do the same thing.
If you are approached with the chance to be successful, why wouldn’t you take it? You can rewrite your life plan as many times as you want; nothing is ever set in stone. You have to allow yourself to blossom into everything you can be, and not hold yourself back by what you previously planned to do. Whether you decide to switch career paths now or twenty years from now, the important thing is that you get to where you’re supposed to be. It could be right in front of you, or just around the corner.
Success in any field is earned, but if the opportunity comes around to get a kick-start in a certain direction, it’s time to seriously consider rerouting. Sometimes in life, new doors open in front of us, and we need to take a second and recognize that it’s okay to step through them.
This is the beauty of college. It’s okay to learn, and make mistakes. You can (and should) get involved in everything that you can, because you never know what could come from it. Trying something new can be both exhilarating and terrifying — but that’s the best part! Who knows? Maybe an opportunity will present itself to you soon. Will you run with it, or just let it pass you by?