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My friend Kerry invited me to this Mentor's Forum at UCI she got invited to. It seemed like a good opportunity for some networking, so I was more than eager to attend the event. To my surprise, Kerry and I were two of three females who were at the event. The room was filled with men!!! Many men were successful business professionals, along with male students from UCI. This male-female ratio made us stick out like a sore thumb, and attracted the attention of all the businessmen wanting us to sit at our table, for the fact that we were accomplished females in a male dominated world (well that's how I like to look at it.)
Coming in to this situation, I was just focused on networking with other professionals, but when it really came down to it, I wasn't dealing well with the pressure to get to know people just for their great business success and importance they can have in my future. All I can do was be myself and see if they would respond to that, which they did!! Everyone was so0o0o0o nice and welcoming. Despite each man being worth millions of dollars they were the most genuine people you can meet on a first-hand basis.
During the event that included a full course dinner, the actual Mentor's Forum was not business oriented like I had presumed. The two speakers both ended up speaking about their testimonials - yes you guessed it, religious epiphanies. The basis of their two testimonials really hit home to me. Not only was I really stressed with school and all the things I'm involved with, but lately I felt that I haven't been having a great relationship with God. I've been putting him on the back-burner, and putting other things as my priority in life.
Lessons they have learned and had an impact on me was how money can only provide happiness for a limited time, but not everlasting joy. Growing up, I have always admired the lives of the rich and famous, hoping that one day I would follow in those footsteps. But these successful men, who were millionaires and possessed anything their heart desired were not happy with all their material possessions. Once you have everything in life, there's nothing to look forward to in the future. How long will our dream car make our happy before we start looking for the latest model out in the market? Being very blessed in life in terms on wealth and success, these men found that they still felt empty in their lives. When they realized what they were missing was God in their lives, their life became one of purpose and meaning again.
These presentations had inspired me to put God as my priority. I know I'm not the greatest follower of my faith, but now I feel inspired to have a role in my everyday life. The last time I felt this inspired to further my relationship with Him was during my Junior year retreat in high school: I had never felt so close to God and it was great. Now that I have put all of my life and doings in his hands and being the best person I can be, I have now cleared my head of all that was troubling me each and everyday. Though it is a struggle to let things that bother you pass you by and take the higher route, the results that come from it feel better already. I find myself having less things to stress about, and now I'm trying to take each and every single day with great conviction. Knowing that God is always here for me, makes me feel like I am not alone and gives me more confidence to be the best person I can be.
Reflecting on what life has taken me through thus far, I can say that my family and I aren't the richest, but the love we share for one another makes us rich in our own right. I am so grateful to have great parents who have always been there for me and who have the greatest confidence in me and I cherish the relationship I have with them every chance I get. All my friendships I have acquired throughout the years, despite the fact that we may not talk all the time, but when we do have that time to see each other every few months is as if we were never apart.
I don't know what the future has in store for me but all I can do for now is to take it with open arms. I believe I am a woman with big dreams who can make any opportunity a successful one. Even though I have dreams of being a broadcast journalist, I don't even know if that's my calling. What if i am a great business woman? Only time can tell what the next step would be, and I have great confidence to say that God will always be with me.
You Just Do You, Imma Do Me
Camille
Sophomore year I landed an internship at Ocean Magazine as an Editorial Intern. I was so psyched because I LOVE LOVE LOVE everything fashion and being in that industry was something I've dreamed about. My next internship was again in the editorial field as Online Editor Intern for Coast Magazine. This was the perfect opportunity for me to write my own articles, which happened to be posted on their online website. I mean it wasn't exactly material from my own mind, but the basic ideas were mine such as articles about OC related: holiday happenings, perfect winter coats, non-profit organizations, and travel opportunities.
Even though I'm a Business Economics major here at UCI, I still find myself at a stand still. In my Labor Economics course this morning, the topic of where we see ourselves in the future came up. Everyone in my class being the same major as I said business/finance related fields. While this was happening, as I was thinking about was, "I want to be a broadcast journalist."
This feeling of utter confusion suddenly came upon me where I'm questioning where am I going in life? Am I pursuing the right fields? Will my internships actually pay off? Who am I to think I'd actually make it into the media industry?
I just know that my dreams are extraordinary, something alot of people only dream about doing and never coming close to it. I just want to keep working toward my dream so that I could be the person I really want to be. I have so many aspirations and broadcasting and journalism are just a few of them. Is money or happiness more important? This is a question I ask myself while I'm in class. I can two choices: the money route and the happiness route. I know with my degree in Business Economics, there are so many opportunities to make money. I was even pondering the idea of becoming a Financial Analyst, since I know that if I was ever going to pursue a career in my degree, it would have to be a job involved with money. The happiness route earns me a meager starting salary, but an increasing salary over time. But following this path would actually be something I want to do - therefore I would succeed more in this area since I'm so passionate about it.
For the meantime, all I can do in the present is just keep on pursuing my degree while pursuing my dream. Who says you can't do both things at the same time right?
You Just Do You, Imma Do Me
Camille
