I haven't written in here in forever. Whenever I go back and read my old posts, I remember the value of having written in them so much in the past, and thus rekindle my inspiration to keep up my blog. I don't know if anyone reads it. But I will someday, when the memories of nowadays have sadly faded and I want to remember them more clearly. I was sixteen years old when I wrote my first post, and a sophomore in highschool. Now, I am 22 years old, and I don't know what grade you would say I am in now, but I am in college and should have graduated in May had I stuck to the traditional straight-through four-year program. However, I didn't. I ran into a few complications, including illnesses and a change in career path and thus a change of major after having completed three years of college.

How have my plans changed since I last wrote in here? Well, I am no longer a microbiology major. I am now officially a psychology major. I have joined the most popular major in the United States. Is this a good thing? Ultimately, yes, but I do have to face the fact that I might end up in social work or waiting table immediately after graduation. Getting a degree in psychology is very close to the same as just getting "a degree." It's like getting a degree in English. Congratulations, you can read, write, and fluently speak your native language. And think about it. But seriously. Who cares? You either teach English in public schools, or you find some other random career that could be everything from janitorial work to being a business executive for a wildly successful porn-store chain. My mother receieved her degree in English, and while she is a writer nowadays, she spent her career doing everything under the sun: inspecting meat-packing plants, writing scripts for TV news stations, and buying crude oil. Yes, buying crude oil.

Pretty much my point is that getting a degree in psychology rarely leads to a career in psychology. However, I actually want a career in psychology. That's why I have to plan on going to graduate school. I could get by with a master's, but my ultimate goal is a doctorate, as it increases my opportunities...and my salary. In the grand scheme of things, though, my drive to pursue this career is not money, status, or anything of the like. I simply love psychology and helping people. I want to have my own private practice, and yes, I want to hear people talk about their problems. I want to be there and listen to the things people can't tell anyone else, and I want to watch them muster the courage to open up not just to me but themselves. I want to think about them in a caring way, and help them devise effective coping mechanisms. I want them to spend time with me, but then to walk away never to see me again as stronger people. I want to watch them transform from scared and hurting to confident and happy.

I want to take away the world's pain one person at a time.

And I want to learn everything about everybody. Each person I encounter every day has something to teach me. I know I will learn so much through this journey. I will learn things about myself, about others. I will be awestruck by both the cruelty and compassion of the world. I will be inspired by the strength that human beings can muster even in the most dismal of situations. I will be amazed as I watch people climb from the depths of depression due to both chemical imbalances and severe trauma and abuse to a state of hope, drive, and strength. One of the messages of life that beats me over the head every day is that we are all so much stronger than we think we are. While the more we live the more we learn that life is not easy, we also learn that we can do it anyway.

"We cannot all do great things. But we can all do small things with great love."--Mother Theresa