The minute I read the stunning “Teaching Today Dream Career” essay submissions published by other students, my heart sank at the thought of missing a profession I could thrive in and relish. For the entirety of my life, I have been—and still am—struggling to choose a career.

      Arrowhead Union High School possesses the knowledge tools for career opportunities I could never dream of, as well as taught me life skills vital to my success. It has taught me how to create, how to innovate, and forged a strong work ethic within me. Regardless of learning and refining these skills, I'm at a stalemate, and the worst part is the decision of a career. What am I going to do?

      There is no rule book or manual that can tell me where my life needs to be serviced or repaired after so many miles. There is no music I can play on my guitar that can distinguish if I should become a musician. No charts or graphs that observe a bull or bear to my career interest. What is worth investing my life into?

      If I choose one option, how could I nominate ignoring the others? Sometimes I wish I could go back to simpler times before adolescence. I remember the days my friends and I would run around the neighborhood with dart guns fighting each other. The days I would sit on the shore as a cool lake breeze stole my breath, and the Florida heat bashed against the concrete behind me. I look back at my friends today, and they know what career path to choose. Yet I still feel like I am sitting on the shoreline, gazing. Maybe I could travel back to Florida and ask for their advice, though what would that achieve after everything?

      I can only exist in the present regardless of the past calling to me. Indubitably, I must endure the strenuous journey of finding myself.

      Just as I felt like I’ve solved life’s formula, it’s back to learning how to walk. Many have told me I am too hard on myself, and that most have not figured out what they want to achieve with their life. That I compare myself to my sister that knows what she wants to do since middle school. Why can’t I just be like her? Why can’t I be like my dad who leads thousands of people to sell countless Trek bicycles? Why can’t I be more like my mom, who always puts others before herself and has a perpetual smile on her face?

      I have one thing in my toolbox, and that is time. I don’t know without error what I want to achieve, but I’m confident I will stumble upon it with perseverance. I know that to achieve maximum success and happiness in life, is to keep calm and carry on.

      Being a young adult is a difficult position to be in, in addition to the many learning curves to take away. Worrying myself with a pessimistic point of view is useless. I know what I love to do and that’s plentiful. I know I love to shred and make my guitar squeal with excitement. I know I love to bring infinite happiness to others. I know I love the fresh scent of opportunity. Most students writing their “Teaching Today Dream Career” essay realize what they love, what do you love?