How many times have you tried to open a CD or Barbie box and you think to yourself “Can this be any more difficult to open”? Have you ever thought about why they package it they way they do or how many people go in to making that one specific package? I have, and that’s what I want to do with my life, become a packaging engineer, live in Boston Massachusetts and become a world traveler.

My plan is to get through high school, attend the Ivy League school, Columbia University in New York to get my bachelors degree and maybe go on to graduate school if needed. I think I would enjoy being a packaging engineer because I love math and science; they are probably my favorite subjects and come easily to me. Packaging engineers design the annoying packages you can never open, and no one ever really cares about. Packaging engineers are very important because without them nothing would be packaged as it is now, and items would most likely break. Apple Inc. probably works with packaging engineers to make the package for the Apple products in the most efficient way possible. I have no specific ideas about what company I will work for but that could change later in life. I’ll just end up working at whatever company offers me a good job.

Ideally, I will get a job offer on the Northeastern side of the United States. I would prefer the job offer to be in or near Boston. I have visited Boston before and I had an amazing time. I like learning about history and Boston is where some major historical events took place. That’s where the Boston Tea Party was held, and the famous horse ride of Paul Revere. Some of my family members live in Boston, and I have always wanted to live near family, I don’t live by any family right now. I think it would be really fun living by family, on holidays you can sit around a big table with 20 of your family members and create memories that will last forever. If I live in Boston, I know I will be able to do that. Boston seems like the perfect place for me, and I hope I get a chance to live there someday.

When I get older, I would want to continue taking vacations all over the world. I have already traveled the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Canada and a few other countries. An exciting short trip would be visiting New York City, seeing Broadway shows, viewing the Statue of Liberty, visiting Ellis Island, and going shopping in amazing, world-class stores. The type of stores where as soon as you look at the price tag, you feel like you could buy a new car with that money instead of the sweater you’ll wear once then get a big mustard stain on it. A vacation I want to do before I die is go to New Zealand. I really want to go to New Zealand because my grandma went there, and she showed me pictures. The land is so beautiful and very diverse. The movie The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe and all three movies in The Lord of the Ring trilogy were all filmed in New Zealand. I will have to save my money for a while because it is really expensive to go there, it’s halfway around the world in a complete opposite hemisphere. One reason I do not want to go there is I’ll have to travel on a plane for a long time. I hate planes. To me, every thirty minutes seem like two hours on a plane. I love to take vacations and can’t wait to go without my parents so I can choose where I want to go and what I want to see. It will be exciting to have and be able to spend my own money.

When I think about my future life, I want to be a packaging engineer, live in Boston, and go on vacations all over the world. Over my short fourteen years, my thoughts about my future have changed, and I wonder where I will truly end up in my life. So next time you open a package, think of the people it took to create that and think of me in my future self.