Pivot

It was a quiet Thursday morning. The phone rings.

Friend: I'm stressed. I need a job, but I can't find anything that works with my school schedule.

Me: You know nursing isn't the only thing you can do, right?

Now, as a much wiser adult, I find it silly that we are to decide on a major as college freshmen as if what we choose is what we will do for the rest of our lives. I started as a biology major. I wanted to become a doctor for as long as I can remember. To this day, I still have friends who call me Dr. Furagganan or think that I am a doctor, even after telling them multiple times that I didn't go down that route. It wasn't easy at first to come to terms with not fulfilling my dream. I am the type of person who is certain about things that I want. There are no plans B or C. There is only plan A. I set my eyes on something, and I get after it.

One day, I decided not to pursue medical school. Sure, the M.D. after my last name has a nice ring to it, but I realized what the dream truly was — to work with children and help people.

The dream has since been fulfilled, and then some. Great things happen when you go with your future, and as Steve Jobs said to the 2005 graduating class of Stanford University, You can't connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backward.

Less than a week after that phone call, I got a text: Thank you for your advice. I got a job.

Nothing is a loss. You can spend 10+ years in medical school and residency and change your mind. You are a living thing who is meant to change and grow. Each experience, positive or otherwise, is intended to teach you a lesson and guide you to where you are meant to go. Pivot if you must. Pivot when you no longer look forward to the day. Pivot when you no longer feel like yourself, and keep pivoting until you feel that sense of vitality you once felt when you loved what you did. Nothing is ever lost; nothing is ever wasted.