Joana Perez
Professor Groeper and Bavaro
Wksp: Discover Your Direction
23 November 2020
Action Plan
Coming into the zoom call on November 6th was very intimidating due to the fact that
the majority of the students were upperclassmen. There I was, a freshman who had just changed
their major from nursing to undecided. More confused than I could ever imagine. I felt as if all
these students had their life planned out very well. November 7th comes along and everyone
starts speaking about their plans and all of their achievements and failures. I was feeling more at
ease knowing that they were once where I was. I started to understand that your calling does not
come to you that easily. There are many obstacles that we have to overcome in order to get
where we are supposed to be. It’s critical to be patient when waiting. To understand we may
have to do certain decisions that may be out of our comfort zone. My whole childhood up to
senior year in high school, I was set to the idea that I was going to become a doctor or nurse.
That was maybe because nurses and doctors always looked successful in others eyes, and the pay
is also something that caught my eye. When I began attending college and taking the courses for
the nursing program, I soon came to realize that nursing was not for me. I felt as if it did not
excite me as much as it should have. Part of me even felt a little guilty for choosing that major.
When looking at the CISS assessment, it gave me the option of social work, which did not
surprise me very much. Throughout my whole life I have always known I have been called to
help others in any way possible. My CISS results also showed I should pursue something with
child development which fits perfectly with me. Growing up I have grown this immense love for
kids, and for the most part kids always end up loving me. I am very welcoming and easy to talk
to, which makes others feel safe. After getting these results and hearing everyone’s output on
this, I have decided for next semester I will take an intro to social work and see if I like that. I am
aware that change could happen, and I may not like that. However, right now I am open to
whatever door opens. I am willing to take risks and get out of my comfort zone just like Palmer
once did.
Coming from a hispanic family, I have always been very attained to what my family
members thought of me. Of course, my parents came to this country for me. So I could have a
better life, a better education. When deciding a major my senior year, my parents were always in
the back of my mind. Always thinking if what I was going to pursue would make them happy, if
it was good enough for them. Nonetheless, I have learned to be a little selfish and do what makes
me happy. Palmer was very much like me. He always was thinking about others and never about
what would make him happy. However, once he stopped doing what others told him to and what
he wanted to do, he found himself being happier. Additionally, me and Palmer are very alike in
the sense where I am scared of failure. I get discouraged when I fail, but I have to realize my
limitations. Like Palmer stated, “If we are to live our lives fully and well, we must learn to
embrace the opposites, to live in a creative tension between our limits and potentials” (Palmer
55). Realizing we all have limits, and that is okay. That we may fail, but we just have to try again
and learn from our mistakes. What we cannot do, is stay stumped on that limitation, perseverance
is key.
Interviewing others about their profession made me realize a lot. Seeing how their stories
related a little bit to me. How everyone is on the same boat. We don’t realize what our true
calling is as easily as we wish we would. One of the interviews that took me by surprise was
hearing how they had settled for the route of medicine and them realizing it was not meant for
them very late on. I find that idea very crazy to me because right now as a freshman in college I
feel like my time is running out very quickly. As if I need to declare my major and stick with it.
However, hearing this just makes me more patient in knowing that this will not be easy. I do not
have control as to when I know what my calling is. I just have to keep going and learning with
every mistake. Eventually, everything will fall into place as it should. Overall, hearing other’s
experiences just makes me more excited to find what my true calling is. To be more patient and
to never be afraid.