Maybe you’re having trouble holding onto your passions. Maybe you feel stuck or unsure of your direction. This blog is for you.
A lot of people ask me how I got into radio. And while I’ll always remember the first time I heard myself on the air (requesting a song on a local oldies station), I didn’t dream of being a DJ. Although as a toddler, I did record myself reading books and singing songs, so maybe there was a bit of foreshadowing…
My dad instilled in me a huge love and respect for the ocean. I was always either in the water, or with my nose in a nature book, or with my little face pressed up against my dad’s fish tank.
College came and I started pursuing a degree in marine biology. I wanted to either work with dolphins in open waters or at a dolphin rehabilitation center.
Then a couple years into my degree, something happened.
Exactly what, I’m still not sure.
But I started feeling pulled, career-wise, in a different direction. By that time I was constantly surrounded by music. I was always at shows and concerts; all my friends were in bands. I was starting to see my talents surface more in writing and other media. And so I switched my major to broadcast journalism. I was still unsure of where I would end up. It wasn’t an easy decision at all.
I felt like I was letting myself down.
Like I was giving up my dream.
After graduating, I spent a couple years working different jobs in music and then an opportunity opened up in radio.
And last summer, everything came together.
I spent my summer weekends in the Keys at a local marine center, helping to rehabilitate stranded pilot whales. One evening, I had a moment one evening just as the sun began to set. Orange glow on the water. The only sound the waves and the breath of the 1,200 pound animal in my arms……this was it. This was what I had been dreaming of as a child. I work in an incredible field that is far more than I could have planned for or imagined but my childhood dream wasn’t dead, just re-aligned.
Here’s what I’m getting at.
You are you for a reason.
You have been given your talents, passions, your interests, and your story for a reason. Never let them go. My goal is simply to live a productive, creative life. I don’t know what shapes and forms that will take as the years go by, but I know what grips me, and I just hope to always work diligently and have the courage to embrace opportunity.
Know who you are.
Know what you’re good at.
Know what stirs your heart.
Then don’t just sit there. Work. Grow. Constantly be yearning to learn more. If you’re in a job that’s “just paying the bills” right now, that’s okay. Work hard at it anyway. It builds character traits you may need later on. Understand that you can’t control where or when opportunities arrive. All you can do is decide how you will respond when those opportunities open up. Don’t let something go because of fear or because you feel like you’re not ready.
This summer showed me how life can come full circle so beautifully. Here’s to mystery and adventure and the future.
Here’s to being thankful for every tiny, intricate detail.
