As college students, we all want careers that will make us happy; however, many of us may never obtain that goal.

One reason is life does not always go as planned. Another reason is most of us refuse to follow our hearts. This was my problem during the first few years of my college career.

For the majority of my college career, I believed I was destined to be a doctor. The only reason I decided to pursue the field of medicine was wealth. My intentions were misguided. I am not saying don’t choose a career that is lucrative, or don’t choose a career for income.

Whatever motivates you do it, but for me money wasn’t adequate.

After a few years in college, I was doing very well. Then one summer changed everything. During this summer, I read over ten books and only two of them were about my major—most of my readings were African American History books. It was the beginning of the end for my pursuits in the field of medicine.

I began to enjoy my humanities classes more than my pre-med classes. At that time, I was unaware of the genuine love I had for history classes and, once I finished all my humanity courses, I began to hate college. I asked myself, why am I here? What is my purpose? Am I just going to be a doctor and that’s it? I constantly contemplated dropping out.

Luckily, my mentor convinced me to finish my courses for my associates degree. It would have been easy to give up. It would have been easy to continue in the field of medicine, but nothing has ever felt better than when I changed my major from pre-med to history. I am very happy.

I bet on myself and continued to pursue higher education. I had no idea what I was going to do with a history degree. My future was uncertain, but I finally felt like my life was in my hands. Now that I have been a history major for a few semesters, I know I made the right decision.

It was not easy, but after everything I have been through, I finally listened to my heart. I gave up my perceived dream, scholarship (which was a full ride), pride and maybe even some respect that my family and friends had for me.

But I would do it all over again, because I believe once someone follows their passion, anything is possible. Since I made that decision, so many wonderful opportunities have become available to me.

I have joined the UTSA pre-law academy where I earned my certificate for legal reasoning. Also, I discovered a passion for writing, which lead me to become an assistant editor at the Paisano, and I recently started an internship at the District Attorney’s office.

I have been able to achieve so much success because I stopped lying to myself. I stopped looking outward, and I began to look inward. College is about finding what you want in life, and doing it no matter what anyone thinks. The only person you must please is yourself. So be honest with yourself, and do what you want to do in life. You only get one.