As children, we would prance around our rooms, closely following the subtle steps of the instructors on our television screens, or happily cook beside our parents, dreaming of owning our own restaurant. It would come as a shock that many of our deeply longed for passions may not be sufficient in helping us build stable lives. 

Coming to this realization as students applying to college became increasingly excruciating to bear as we recalled the voices screaming “you can be anything.” But how can we be anything without the validation of our future salaries? 

“With the possibility of making a lot of money, some students might pursue STEM fields despite their interest for other career options,” shares DailyToReador. Knowing this, there has been a rapid increase of college students majoring in engineering, nursing, biology and psychology, to name a few. In turn, committing to a major you did not originally want to pursue would be extremely detrimental to your personal and professional life. 

Here is how to remedy this underlying fact: if you are deeply passionate about something that might not earn a huge salary, find a major that is similar to that passion. CBS News revealed that about half of college graduates earn jobs that expand beyond their degrees. Finding a similarity to your passion might land you a perfect connection to your original passion.

Try it for yourself. The chances of landing a perfectly paid career with your passions are slim, but never none. All those successful dancers and chefs we looked up to did it; why can’t we? 

Pick up a STEM major and invest in your passion with your desired salary. The waiting game can be long and troublesome but putting in work to acquire money and actively live out your dreams is rewarding in itself! 

There have been others who have been successful in achieving their dream. We see it on social media all the time. The rise of social media serves as a huge encouragement of our passions and utilizing that tool might be the perfect balance between our passions and our jobs. TikToker @thebellanguyen works as a nurse while simultaneously becoming a social media content creator. 

Nothing is impossible within this age; it is all about making connections and decisions. Let your passion take you as far as it will, do not fight fate. 

Photo by: Antoni Shkraba via Pexels