As one grows up, they are often faced with a multitude of choices concerning their passions and future. Although many tend to believe that they should immediately find one main activity to focus on, that wasn’t the case for me. I floated from one box to the next, trying out everything from art to basketball, with no avail in finding my one true passion. 

During my sixth grade year, I was introduced to the world of writing. I began writing solely as a hobby, then worked my way into competing in Ready Writing UIL when the season began. I competed in Ready Writing all three years of middle school and continued with it my freshman year of high school.  

Although writing was always a constant part of my life, I never completely recognized it as something I wanted to follow through with until eighth grade. Throughout those years, I constantly had something else going on. I did art for two years, until I realized that it was something I liked doing on my own without the pressure of a grade weighing on me. I played basketball for two years, and I absolutely loved it, but it wasn’t something I could see myself doing in high school. Running track was the same way, being that it was a lot of fun, but it just wasn’t for me.  

There were a lot of different activities and clubs I tried during that time, but never did one seem to pop out as something for me. However, that made me realize that I didn’t have to find one sole passion to pursue. It was completely normal if I decided to change hobbies and activities, and it was fine if I ended up participating in multiple activities at once. It wasn’t necessary to put myself in a box and force myself to stay there for my whole life. 

Now, I’ve become incredibly passionate about writing, but it isn’t just stories anymore. I compete in UIL Journalism, and I still try to creatively write whenever I have time. However, I still keep myself open to any changes, and I let myself embrace the possibilities.

Now, I hope to let anyone who might be struggling with finding their passions know that it’s fine to both exceed their limitations, and to not have any limitations at all. You absolutely can do more than one thing, such as doing band and art. Or, if one year you truly love a sport, but the next year you might want to try something completely different. There’s nothing wrong with changing your mind or just not making your mind up at all. Create your own category instead of forcing yourself into someone else’s.