Many people have a hard time deciding what they want to major in. When I applied to Cedarville University, my problem was deciding what I didn’t want to do with my life.  Throughout my nineteen years, I have had a wide array of passions and dreams for my future. From a young age, I have had a proclivity toward writing, journaling, and creativity.

I have shed my share of tears over the grueling writing process. I have heard enough “this paper is vague,” “you have too many commas,” and “you’re not supporting your thesis.” No, I am past all that now. I got a 36 on the English section of the ACT and am ready for college. I take my first class, composition, and end it with an A. Finally, I can conclude: I am a good writer.

“It’s really important that you contribute to class discussions every class. ”Did I hear the professor right? It was my first professional writing class—Introduction to Professional Writing—and the professor was explaining that participating in class discussions was vital to achieving a good grade in this course.

“If you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life.” I’d heard this quote a million times but never felt like applied to me. I lived with the fear that I wasn’t on the path to doing what I loved. After many mental breakdowns, four major changes, and a lot of creative projects that I’m proud of, I’m happy to say that in three weeks I will graduate and find a job where I can do what I love and never have to work a day in my life. All because of PWID.

Senior year of high school, I took a creative writing and expository writing class, which ended up being my favorite classes from all my high school years. I was able to write pieces I had never tried writing before and learn how to form different sentence types and avoid passive voice. Graduating from high school, I felt confident in my choice to go into professional writing as a career. I mean, it was something I had always loved, right?

People always talk about “doing what you love” or “finding your passion.” Poetic and valid, yes, but the process is not exactly one-size-fits-all. You can’t discover your passion from a Google search. I came to Cedarville undeclared—I had no idea what to do with myself. I wasn’t overly worried, but I was on the edge of my proverbial seat, waiting for what the next chapter in my story might be about. Turns out, the Lord wrote it better than I ever could have.