MF

It is my honest belief that in life, our time spent as an adult is utilized trying to solve the questions of your childhood. Is it a child’s amazement and imagination that drives their education and professional goals, or is it the heartache and transgressions that we face that mold the path we take on later in life? This may seem like a dark outlook, but I believe it is the exact opposite. Through the darkness we face, to whatever degree that may be, we are given the ability to make decisions and strive to create a world where others no longer have to face the scenarios we did. It is in this growth that you see the interrelation between personal experiences and professional endeavors. While most people feel motivation and success derives from the positive accounts in our journey, it is the hard experiences early in life that shape the trajectory of our professional goals. With an event that has defined my path in life, my interpretation of that event, and the personal challenges I faced in pursuing my professional goals I will paint a clear picture.

The exact moment that shaped the way I wanted to carry myself as an adult through my professional life remains a vivid account that loiters in my mind like a somber fog in a hollow. Previously, I have been a church collection plate on Sunday passed throughout my different family members, virtually raising myself in transit. I had always remained persistent in the idea that my parents would take the chance to keep me with them for good one day. The moment that shaped who I am currently, takes place the day my parents dropped me off at the train station with a one way trip. My parents told me that nothing in life is easy and nothing is black and white, we have to make a lot of hard decisions that no one wants to face. They said that it was my job to stay strong and be able to face life with the attitude that I do not need anyone else to succeed, as long as I work hard, stay true to myself and remain kind to others no matter the circumstances. At this moment, I knew I would not see my parents and three sisters for a long time, and that this time I was moving away for good.

To understand the situation that I endured and how it positively affected me, you have to understand that it was not an easy path, but it made me a stronger person than I have ever been. It was an incredibly important moment in my life, because the advice that my parents gave me granted the ability to look at situations from every different angle and adjust my position to ensure a positive outcome. I was left with a need to research and find solution to every problem that I faced in lieu of relying on the dependency of others. A study published in the Journal of General Psychology explains that the common belief of adversity in childhood destroys the future of individuals is not a very frequent occurrence, but in fact there is a positive correlation in resiliency and early childhood misfortune (Karaırmak & Figley, 2017). This makes sense of the fact that in my professional life I am pursuing education and eventually a career in a scientific field. The entire base of science is learning the entirety of how organisms, actions, and various chemicals work. It also produces the ability to understand and provide answers to the world’s questions. The idea of whether my path is practical or passion creates more questions than answers, but I feel it is both. It is a practical decision, because it provides me with the salary to sustain a secure environment for my family and me. A career path in science can also be considered a passion, because I want to be able to understand how everything works and understand why things happen the way they do. With an occupation in microbiology, I can provide people’s physicians the ability to accurately take care of their patients so that they can carry on their lives and spread happiness in the world. I want to be able to help people by providing them with the answers they need. It is easy to say passion will fuel my practical reasons and likewise, because with financial security I can better focus on work and research without having to worry about the condition of my family. 

Subsequently, I had said earlier the results of the day that my parents dropped me off at the train station were not easy and it created many challenges for me. It was up to me to decide whether or not I was going to let it drag me down into the abyss. Sadly, at first I started to drift off into a ruinous place filled with depression and trust issues. My grades in school started to slip, and previously I kept and A/B average in advance proficiency classes. Luckily, my AP Chemistry teacher pulled me from the darkness that was slowly closing in. He became a mentor to me and showed me what the world of science can do for me, in turn displaying there were people who actually cared. He gave me the final ingredient to my growth, which was trusting others. Ethos is a powerful thing that is defined as being one’s virtue and with it, you will know exactly who you are and what you stand for (Thames, 2018). My teacher helped me redefine myself and solidify my ethos, showing me that I was a smart caring person who deserved more. With this new self-image, I became the person I am today who ironically works hard, stays true to myself and remains kind to others no matter what the circumstances.

In closing, through the account that molded my professional goals, how I received and internalized that event, and the challenges I faced with how I overcame them through my ethos it is clear to see how the adversity faced in your early life lays the bricks for your professional endeavors. We are molded by the unfair occurrences that we face in our younger lives by becoming a product that seeks out and tries to correct those issues. If my parents never left me at the train station for a journey into the unknown, my path in life would hold a completely different array of ambitions, for that I am thankful for the scars I bear. I am a product of this circumstance just like many others before me, and through our personal problems we see the narrative people create for themselves in their professional lives.

14 December 2022