This question "why do you do what you do?" was answered for me when I took the initiative, at the age of fourteen, to simultaneously take college courses while still in junior high. Everything was set and that was to pursue a job as an attorney. By the age of 16 I received my Associate of Arts degree and was accepted by UCLA for a full ride as a junior. I didn't expect my life to change really once enrolled at UCLA. My goal was to get the degree in Political Science and go straight to law school so I can provide for my family and do what I do best. That was why I do what I do.
I have always had the passion for zoology when I was little, but never went out of my way to pursue it. My whole family, friends, and community picked up the newspaper to find out that I was this "kid genius" and all expected me to come out as a top attorney. Why I do what I do was already determined by everyone around me. Little did people know that I was a fighter for six years, a turf dancer for four years, or even an animal lover. They don't expect this out of me because I felt so certain that I would only think about law school. Don't get me wrong being a lawyer has always been what I wanted to do, but it is a job that once you go through law school and take up that profession, you cannot just turn around and pursue another field.
That was an intro that I felt needed to be said, because my experience at UCLA has completely changed my life. Im still on the route to law school, but everything I do is to help people because that is what makes me happy. I feel that my profession whatever it may be will be successful and I will have enough money to cover my family and I. My older brother and I started working under companies as box cutters and accumulated money that was unimaginable to us. So I don't want to seem naive, but I feel like my current conditions/state won't allow me to not be successful.
This is why I do what I do; I just didn't realize it because I was blinding myself to one goal. Its hard to be honest and post this in front of possibly thousands of random people and it forces us to think and write in a certain way because we know others will see this, so I tried to be as open as I can as if this was a work that was personally assigned. I put up a name that isn't even mine because I shared information that people around me don't even know. Sometimes I feel like I live a life that isn't me, but the answer to this question won't show itself until we remove our "metaphoric armor" as Wallace Shawn coins.
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