The one thing that I learned in my last year of high school was to take time for yourself to find out what you really want to do.

Make whatever your interest is your passion. If you’re in a band, play with passion. If you’re into journalism, write with passion. If you like photography, shoot with passion. Find something and make it YOUR thing.

The world isn’t just a place we live. It’s a shared experience that everyone can improve upon with what they love to do. Ever since I was little, I knew I wanted to be a musician, but as I got older, I heard lots of bad advice from people who were older than me and people who seemed to be a whole lot wiser than me. I grew up hearing that I wasn’t going to be able to play music when I got older. Being a musician seemed to be this fairytale thing to everyone else but me.

After this, I began to look into other professions that I might be interested in. For a couple years I tried to trick myself into thinking that I wanted to design bridges and roads or fix dents in cars. Closer to my senior year I realized that I wasn’t happy with what I was pursuing.

I knew that what I love to do is write. I love to write songs, articles, poems, stories, and even just single words in spray paint. I love art and all forms of it, but music was my favorite.

Turning 18 is scary. You’re graduating high school and going off to college. Your life is about to begin, but just because you turn 18 doesn’t mean that you have to quickly figure out what you want to do for the rest of your life. Figure out what you love first, and then everything else will follow.