Follow Your Passion by Johnnetta B.Cole - Essay Example

Follow Your Passion Introduction The story d Follow Your Passion by Johnnetta Cole is an inspiring storyof how the author identified her passion and pursued it. This story serves as a testimonial for many students and young people who are confused about the best career to pursue. As the author describes her experience, she offers a story that anyone can associate with and benefit from the advice she was given by her mother to follow her passion. This paper will analyze the title of the story and describe how the author found her passion.
The title of the story carries a compelling message which encourages individuals to follow their passion. This means that an individual should follow a career that he or she is interested in and not forced by anyone to pursue. Following one’s passion is bound to ensure that an individual finds satisfaction from practicing that career. Many people who do not follow their passion are characteristically unhappy. This is why the story was given this title as a form of emphasis on the importance of following one’s career (Pitzpatrick 389).
The author wanted to become a pediatrician when she was young and stuck to that dream until she joined Fisky University. However, one year later, she transferred to Oberlin College, where her career would change completely. She found herself in an anthropology class whereby the professor was discussing how to analyze cultures. The author was immediately intrigued by anthropology and changed her mind about being a pediatrician. From her first experience in an anthropology class, she decided that anthropology was truly her passion. She later would return home to explain to her family on her change of career making them aware that she wanted to pursue anthropology (390). Although there were three types of psychology, she was interested in cultural anthropology. Her family members were astonished by the change of mind, especially because they knew nothing about anthropology and were concerned that it did not pay enough to sustain the author in the future.
Her mother gave her the most outstanding advice by highlighting that she should follow her passion. Her mother indicated that pursuing a career that one was not interested in would bring disappointment each say as one had the obligation to wake up to the daily challenges in that career (391. It was different for a person who pursued her passion because the interests in that career would keep one motivated irrespective of the challenges. This was the case with the author who was able to pursue anthropology to the PhD level. Despite the challenges she faced, she still found her work interesting. After her PhD, she became a lecturer in a university where she imparted students with the knowledge she had acquired. In the years that followed when she became the principle of a college, she still lectured anthropology and mentored students in career choice (392).
Conclusion
Evidently, the story can serve as a compelling inspiration to students who are confused about their career choices. Moreover, it offers guidelines on what to do when the family is against one’s career choice. From the author’s perspective and experience, following ones passion is the solution. When one does this, there is no regret or disappointment. On the contrary, one receives satisfaction and happiness from practicing the career chosen out of passion.
Work Cited
Pitzpatrick. Angaging WritingW. Readings (Third custom Edition for Montgomery College). New York:Angaging writing W. Readings, 2011. Print. Read More