Becoming who I am

In Parker's article, he discussed about success and how that applies to us. As I have stated in previous blogs, success is defined, to me, as a life filled with happiness. Happiness is me waking up everyday and enjoying what I will do, and not living with regrets. I would love to be a millionare, and not struggle financially, but I would take struggling financially, if I love what I do. Many people ask me, "What do you want to do when you graduate college?" When they hear my response they automatically put me into a category in their head, and they believe that I am going to be just like every other lawyer, or doctor. It is not true though. I do not need to fix myself to fit a job, but find a job that fits my personality.
The first thing I need to do before I get a job, is figure out who I am. I can never be successful if I never take the time to actually look at myself, and discover what will truly make me happy. I agree with Parker, that I should be finding who I am rather than who i am suppose to be. He makes several valid points throughout the reading, and his understanding of vocation and success are similar to mine. As I have stated above, before I worry about finding my true vocation and being successful, I need to indentify who I am first.

When I was younger, people would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I automatically responded a teacher, than a couple years later I responded a baker, and than after that a dancer, and the list continued to grow on. When my goal was to become a world wide Irish Dancer, I realized that it could become possible, because that was one of the many talents I had growing up, but eventually that idea faded into the background and I was stuck with nothing. One talent that I realized throughout all of these phases was that no matter what i chose to do, I threw myself into it, and realized that I am going to end up with a profession that I love and that I am good at. Recently, my potential occupation is becoming a baker. Several years ago, I was experimenting with fondont, and I realized how hard it is actually to use it, but it didnt stop me. It took me hours but I realized once I finished, and it looked good, I felt on top of the world! This was the time that I discovered that I can truly be a successful baker, if I wanted to be. Ever since then, in my spare time I bake and will spend hours on learning and reading about different tricks to enhance my skills. If I could open my own bakery knowing it would not fail, than I would open it. That is truly my dream job and is my goal is to open a bakery and be successful with it. When  I say succcessful I define it as my own happiness. I am not saying that I need the bakery to make a surplus of money ( which would be nice), but I need to be able to want to go to work each morning. I do not want to go to work every morning hating my job. In order for me to be successful, I need to be happy with my work and my life. Becoming a baker is in my reach, and I will not stop until I reach my goal.

I do not know where I would be without my family. We are not perfect, but no matter what I know they are there for me. They have helped me throught so much. When I was younger I was told that I had seizures. The type I had was not physically shown, so many did not realize when they were occuring. I struggled with my education because during class, I was present physically, but not mentally. As I stuggled, my family helped me and was supportive of my average grades, which I worked so hard to achieve. As I grew up, they taught me how to be patient, when patience seemed out of reach. They taught me to be kind, even to those who were not kind to me, and they taught me to be myself even when people wanted me to be just like them. Without my family and everyone in it, I do not think I would be as whole as I am now.

 

As I stated that I do not know where I would be without my family, I have no idea who or where I would be without my friends. They have proved that no matter what they care about me and that they will always be there for me. I did not realize the true definition of friendship until I came to Mount. My huge group of friends have supported me through so much, but the two most prominent are my best friends Claudia and Alexis. They became friends with me when I had nothing to offer them other than being myself, and they will do anything for me just as I will do anything for them. They helped bring me to my true self and I will never be able to repay them and hope that I have done the same for them. Yes, we are all leaving for college next year (hopefully), but I know that they we will be friends for a long time and that not just them, but my group of friends will stay in touch for a long time.

 

The last thing that has shaped me into who I am today, is my dancing. I am an irish dancer and have been one for 9 years. I am so proud of the fact that I am given the chance to be able to dance. I may go through phases occasionally, when I just want to give up, but when I stick with it, I soon enough discover why it means so much to me. I love to dance in general and being able to win competitions and show people my talent is a great feeling. Danc has taught me determination, perseverance, and dicsipline. Dance has helped shape me into who I am today.