After a while, it hits you: what it’s all about.

You could spend years in school in order to earn (or receive, in some cases) a piece of paper that may or may not suffice while you strive toward a position in society as a decent, upstanding citizen.

In order to survive, you get a job that you might possibly begin to dread going to and at the end of the day, you’ll come home to your family, if you’re lucky. If not, you come home to an empty thought of what could have been…what should have been and in the end you wonder if it was all worth it.

Right now, I’m at a pivotal point in my life. Yet, I have no idea of what’s ahead of me. I guess that’s part of the adventure. I just hope I’m headed in the right direction…

I’ll soon be graduating from college (finally!) and I’m excited about closing this chapter of my life and moving on to the next, and the uncertainty of it all no longer looms in the back of my mind.

It’s funny that you can do all the planning you want, and life takes you in completely different directions: ever since I can remember I’ve wanted to become a lawyer. I remember writing a five page essay on “When I Grow Up” and, of course, my topic of choice was the fact that I would become a lawyer.

Back then, I thought I had it all planned: I would graduate from high school, undergrad at Georgetown (B.S. in international studies), JD/MBA from Harvard. After completing my schooling, I would practice law and somehow manage to launch my media company, along with all of its subsidiaries. I would eventually leave the legal field to concentrate more on my business interests and philanthropic efforts.

So much has changed since then.

I didn’t go to Georgetown. I didn’t major in international studies. And as time has transpired, I’ve become less and less interested in becoming a lawyer.

For a while a couple of years ago, though, I had lingering aspirations of attending law school, but no intention of practicing law. Ironic, huh? I’ve always thought so. I guess I always felt that because it was a childhood dream and everyone around me not only knew about it, but expected it, I had to make it happen; if not, it would be as if I failed and a failure I am not.

It finally became apparent to me that I was more interested in appealing to those around me as opposed to myself, and I have since made a vow never to do that again. Thanks to my bouts with pancreatitis, I began to realize that my plans do not and will not supersede the original plans.

After taking an Interim course titled “Excursions in Elementary Education”, it hit me. That course ignited my passion for teaching.

When I tell people I want to be a teacher, they automatically inquire whether I know how much teachers make. Yes, I know how much teachers make, but more importantly, I know what teachers make. Check out the video and Taylor Mali will tell you exactly what teachers make.

I’ve mentioned the writing effect and although I could both teach and write, I feel I’d do a disservice to both and am currently concentrating on writing. Regardless of what I do, I have to do good and do well (DGADW) because that’s what it’s all about.