Where Am I Going?

     As a college student, I have been asked this question, in one fashion or another, more times than I can count. When I was little, I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. When I was in high school, I was asked which college I was going to go to. Now that I am in college, everyone wants to know what my major is, what job I plan to get with that major, and how much money I will make in that profession.

It can be very scary planning out your entire life as an 18-year-old. Even so, I feel that after thinking through my options for many years, I have a pretty good idea about what I want to do with the rest of my life. When I sit down and visualize where I want to see myself in 20 years, I do not know all the specifics, but I at least have a rough sketch. I see myself waking up every day to the person I love so much it hurts. I see myself having a large family and our days being filled with love and joy. I see myself going to the job I love, and I see myself being genuinely excited to work. I see myself spending time with my family and just enjoying every second that God gives us. I see myself being happy. No matter what physical means I accomplish in my short life, I will be successful if I am happy and if my life glorifies God.

At this point in my life, as stated before, I do not know all the specifics that my future holds, however, I do have some goals that I am working towards. I have wanted to be many things: an architect, a ballerina, a marine biologist, a lawyer, etc. Even so, there was only one profession that I could ever actually see myself doing. I have always loved helping people, especially children. I have been a dance instructor since the age of 14 for children ages 3-16, and that has taught me how much I love working with kids. They are the most genuine people you will ever work with and they just have a certain way of making any day better. I have also grown up in a medically oriented family. My mom was an emergency/cardiac/flight nurse for several years and is currently working as a family nurse practitioner. I grew up listening to her stories and sitting in awe of everything she got to do on a daily basis. My dad was a paramedic and firefighter. Also, my uncle was a volunteer firefighter and currently works in the lab at Bristol Regional Medical Center. Recently, I was also able to shadow a Cardiologist and Interventionalist at Bristol Regional Medical Center. Overall, I have been lucky enough to see several sides of the medical profession throughout my childhood. This has taught me that I want to help people, and the way that I feel that I am best equipped and have the most passion for doing so, is through medicine. Right now, I hope to be a Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgeon. The specificity of the exact job I want to do may change, but I am fairly certain that the medical field is the place I see myself after I finish school. That is the direction that God has lead my heart thus far, and if He decides to open my eyes to another profession that He feels I will do the most good in, then I am very open to other options, however, right now, I feel that medicine and working with children is the track I am supposed to be on.

As stated before, no plans are set in stone, and I know that at any moment I might discover that God has another plan for my life, but I feel that I have a pretty good picture of my life later on. I know that no matter what, as long as I allow God to light my path and lead me in the direction He wants me to go, then I will never be lost. There is a quote by Ralph Abernathy that I feel applies directly to the theme of this post, “I may not know what my future holds, but I know who holds my future.” Whenever something is too stressful or does not seem to make sense at the time, I try to remember this quote because no matter what my plans are, God’s are so much greater and He knows what my tomorrow looks like. He knows who I am supposed to be. All I have to do is trust in the Lord and follow Him, and in that I know my future is secured.