When I Grow Up

I always wanted to be a social worker when I was younger. I had this glamorous notion that I would go out and save the world, one person at a time. I would help all of those less fortunate than myself without any true realization of what social work actually entailed. All I knew was that it was something I wanted to do. After all, didn't my friends always come to me for advice?

Fast forward to senior year of high school. I missed my period the first week of school. Dear Lord, I'm pregnant. Well, worse things could happen, I suppose. I did manage to graduate, but college was put on hold. My daughter was born a month prior to my graduation.

I had to reassess my thinking. What else did I want to do with my life? Well, what could I do? I needed to work, make a living. I certainly didn't want to be a "welfare mom". But, I had no skills to speak of. I was still interested in social work. However, that seemed completely out of reach to me. I wasn't sure I had it in me to take care of a child, go to four years of college plus get the master's degree that would be required in order to get a decent job in the field. I was no longer living in the dream world of yester-year where I thought I could just go out and "save" everyone. Life was coming at me pretty fast and furious, and I was finding it a lot more difficult than I'd imagined. So, instead, I went to secretarial school - a ten month course. I had a job within a year. All in all, I was pretty proud of myself still.

It has now been over thirty years. Guess what? I'm still working as a secretary. I never did make it back to school. I never did realize my dream of being a social worker. I will probably always regret it, too. Life always seemed to get in the way. Or, perhaps, I allowed life to get in the way. Whatever the case, the fact is, I am now almost fifty years old, and it is rather late in life to start all over. At least for me it is. I just don't have the drive I used to have. I don't feel so proud anymore, either.

So, I would like to say to all the young people out there - listen to your hearts and go for it! If you want something so badly you can practically taste it, then take the chance, even if obstacles may stand in the way. Don't wait until it's too late. You might not get another chance. And who knows, you might just succeed beyond your wildest dreams! At the very least, you won't live with the regret of not having tried.