What Do I Want in Life? [Practical Tips to Find Your Niche]

The new semester started, and I saw many new faces. On the first day of school, all of the students and teachers got together, and we introduced ourselves to each other. I met many new classmates from all over the world, and I was so glad to see my old classmates and professors. 

The next day, we started our formal classes. In a new professor’s class, the first task involved two people in a group talking about their interests. This topic was good for us to get to know each other.  My partner was a new classmate. He told me that he is a flight instructor and is interested in flying. He also pointed out on the map where he has lived before. His life seems very interesting. However, I told him that I didn't know what my interests are. When I was young, I always asked myself what career I would like to do, but I never had an answer. Therefore, I told him my interest is to find my interests. I spent more than ten years working in a job that I didn't like, and one of the reasons was that I didn't know what I liked to do. 

On the third day of school, two of my old classmates came to class. The first thing we had to do in that class was introduce ourselves. I did not want to introduce myself again because my old classmates already know me, so I asked my professor, "Could you let my old classmates talk about me?" I want to know what other people's impressions of me are. However, my professor rejected my request. Maybe he thinks I am an uncooperative student, but I am just a little bit naughty.

On the fourth day of school, in grammar class, we had to interview partners to ask and answer six questions about our personal feelings as part of a diagnostic activity about noun clauses. I thought seriously, but I couldn't think of any answers. I arbitrarily picked one of the questions to answer in the class. The question was, "What is something you are proud of?”  Maybe this is subconscious because only this question seemed to produce an answer in my mind. I am proud of my sense of investment. The investment return provides good financial support to my family. Even though I don't know what my interests are, I know what I want. I want financial freedom. When I was 23 years old, I started to engage in investment. I am good at using my brain, thinking about how to use money to make money. After ten years of my operation, I achieved my goal, so I quit my job when I was 33, then focused on taking care of my baby. Uh oh!  When my professor sees this blog, she will find out I didn't give the same answer in the class!

In fact, clearly knowing about what we want and firmly believing we can do it are important. Also, understanding our character will be very helpful for us to find a suitable career. Otherwise, we may waste a lot of time. We have to objectively evaluate our abilities such as our physical quality, social skills, leadership, mechanical operation, and so on. Is our character introverted or extroverted, and how is our level of perseverance?  What level of failure can we accept?  We must find out what our strengths and weaknesses are. Understanding ourselves in order to take a job that can match our character and abilities will be greatly helpful for us to find success. 

Apple Wong is an English language-student at Seminole State College in Sanford, Florida. She is originally from Hong Kong, where she has lived for 40 years. She decided to come to the United States with her two children, ages 8 and 10, to experience American education. She is planning to study at the university with her children.

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