My parents wake up at 5:30 a.m. every morning in a  dreadful mood and unmotivated to work at a job they consider horrible and boring. Every day my parents come back at 4:00 P.M. just to complain about how bad their day was at the government, which is where they work.

The same routine happens every day. I recently began asking them about why they chose this career field, and they have responded that it pays exceptionally well. What this has made me realize is that my parents never chased their dream and they wake up every day not enjoying what they do. The only true benefits I can see from this job is for spending money on the weekends or when they take leave to go on vacation.

How do I determine career success versus how society determines it? My definition of a successful career field is being able to enjoy going to work every day and being passionate about what you’re doing. It also means being able to make a living out of it and being able to support those living with you. Society’s version of success is determined by how wealthy you are and how luxurious your living is – like big houses, flashy clothes and cars – but this is not really mine.

We have but one life to live on this Earth, and we live in the country where dreams are made possible through hard work. When these two sentiments come together, it makes me wonder whether one can have career success, and also live a life that allows them to pursue their passion. I have always worked hard, and I have overcome adversity. This has led me to one goal: to pursue my  passion of having my own talk show. What made me realize that I need to pursue this dream is my passion for public speaking and my natural ability to connect well with others. I have  started pursuing this already by participating in many of public speaking opportunities such as giving graduation speeches, joining a public speaking club, being the voice of my school radio, and having my own YouTube channel. Though this is a difficult dream to accomplish and not an entirely usual career path, I want to achieve it. I am sure that I will be highly criticized by my loved ones for pursuing this dream but, at the end of the day, it’s my life, and I don’t want to live for the money or regret anything when I’m older.