Through my 12 years of education, my aspirations for what I have wanted to do with the rest of my life — like many others — have fluctuated. The biggest influence in making my decision, however, has been focusing on the importance of my future happiness.

For a very long time, I thought that one should focus their career on what they were good at to ensure success, and only that. Their career needs to be something that has played a part in their life since near birth. It has not been until quite recently did I realize that that kind of standard is incredibly high and does not have to be met by all.

I originally wanted to be an artist, a strict one at that who would do nothing but get her pieces into art galleries for a chance at success. The idea of such a risky and unstable lifestyle, however, intimidated me. I later focused on something more “professional,” that being psychology. While I am interested in psychology, the thought of having such a traditional and limiting career left me fearing that I may be left living a repetitive, colorless lifestyle.

I was constantly trying to balance a promising career with a professional one, all the while not thinking about what would make me happy. It would not be too soon before I realized my true fear; living an unhappy life. It would be after realizing that fact that I would allow myself to truly think about a lifestyle that would make me, overall, happy. That is when I looked to the world of video games.

Video game technology is constantly advancing, and it combines technology, art and science beautifully, all the while entertaining and bringing joy to people. In this job field, not only could I submerge myself in a work environment primarily working with people in my age range, but I could also educate myself more in the subjects of coding and programming. Those are things I have always wanted to know more about, but never knew where to turn to learn or even where to use those skills.

I managed to get in contact with a representative from my dream college, Indiana University of Bloomington, to ask about their media school where they offer a three-year course in video game programming and design. I got more details about the school and their requirements and instantly knew where I wanted to spend the next four years of my life. Now I am, truly, waiting for my life to begin and it starts in August of 2018 when I step onto IU grounds.

Finding out what I truly wanted to study, that there was a place where I could study it and getting accepted to said place have made me happier than ever. By focusing on what truly makes me happy, I have been able to knock down obstacle after obstacle to set myself up for a future with a comfortable lifestyle suited just for me.