A Personal Milestone

I found myself drawn to photography from a very young age. My dad always had a camera around, and I learned to always be ready as he was taking pictures at any given moment. He also let me test out the camera myself, and thus began my interest in photography.

When I was a freshman in college, I decided to major in photography. Around this time, someone told me, “You’re smart. Major in something else and make money to fund your hobby.” I don’t remember who said this but I remember the message conveyed and that sunk in deeper than I even realized until last year when I started reading The Artist’s Way.

The subtext was that you can’t make a career out of photography—or shouldn’t because it would be a waste of your intelligence. You can do better. Without even realizing it, that message planted itself in my mind and stopped me from even toying with the idea of doing photography as a career. Until recently.

I started to find myself envious of people who were making their passion their profession. “They’re so lucky!” I would think. “I admire how brave and bold they are!” And I started to ask myself what was stopping me from doing the same? These people didn’t have an opportunity that I didn’t have. They had made a choice. One that I could make as well.

Tomorrow is a personal milestone—the end of one chapter and a beginning of another. Tomorrow is the last day of my current job. After MUCH deliberation, I have decided to pursue photography full time. That’s right. No more cushy day job to pay the bills and “fund my hobby.” No more patching together what time and energy I have leftover to focus on my passion. No more excuses. I am giving photography my ALL.

I don’t know what the future holds, but I know that I’m ready for this new adventure. I’m leaping. Here we go.