Has anyone ever told you what you can or can't do for a job?
I absolutely love when people decide to impart their brilliance on the topic of my life.
Becoming a writer – more specifically, a journalist – has been my dream for as far back as I can remember. Since I entered college, I have had to relay my field of study to every new person to enter my life and some have really annoyed me with their response.
Let me send a small memo out to the people that seem to know exactly what everyone should do with their lives.
I know that the newspaper business doesn't offer the brightest future to young writers these days. I think anybody with half a brain can see that the business is struggling in this, the information age.
I get it. Stop trying to convince me why I should find something else to do for a living.
If one more person I meet asks me what I'm going to school for and then follows my response up with a mini-diatribe on the reasons why I should avoid news writing, I think I might just scream awkwardly in his or her face.
First of all, what makes you Mr. Know-It-All when it comes to job opportunities? If you take a look around this country, you'll see thousands of newspapers under normal operation and the continued need for employees to fill the jobs presented by that operation.
Secondly, stop letting your pessimistic tendencies overlap into your public exchanges. It makes you seem unhappy when you constantly bring people down and look at things with that ignorant mentality.
I guess what I am really saying to these people who think they have this ultimate understanding of life is to just back off. Stop trying to shoot down people's dreams and start trying to show some support for people that are actually reaching for their dreams.
Regardless of what you may think, the person you are attempting to dissuade knows more about the topic in question than you. He or she is engulfed in that field of study and knows the risk factors of his or her career choices.
I will never apologize for having a dream and doing everything I can to make that dream a reality. I have the ability to try to do something I like to do and make my living that way – so until it becomes impossible, I will continue to strive for that goal.
Another serious risk with demonstrating these opinions is that doing so has a tendency to break people's spirits. You are bashing a person's life when you illustrate the poor condition of the field he or she has chosen, thus making life that much more stressful.
I really want to tell people who have been told that they should pick something else to do at some point to keep the faith. Don't let anyone take away your dream because, after all, it's your dream.
The road to what you want is not always easy, and it will test you every step of the way. But the end of that road makes the hardships worth it and sticks it to everyone who told you not to go for it.
I cannot wait for that day.
E-mail: matthew.parrino@ubspectrum.com
