Life With Challenges Essay Example

they had no problem with this. Everyone knew what they wanted to do. This made me extremely insecure when the topic of “the future” came up.

The insecurities that I faced in result of this challenge began to take over every aspect of my personality. I faced a huge problem with ambition. Since I was so unsure of myself, I felt as though I could not amount to anything. Even if I was faced with an amazing opportunity, I did not go out to get it, simply because I was too scared and insecure.

Erikson says that usually, “older adolescents are encouraged to take time off to actively explore to figure out what commitments they want to make” (S.Unger, 2018, pg.16). This was not the case for me at this time. I did not have the motivation to go out and explore my interests and disinterests. As one can imagine, this made things much worse. Seeing all of my peers decide on easy and obtainable jobs was frustrating because I was struggling hard to find my purpose.

Towards December of Sophomore year, I was being pulled towards the idea of following the crowd. I almost came to the decision that instead of doing what I wanted to do, I’d rather just take the easy route. I could easily study to be a nurse, a manager, or a dentist. These were basic careers. I convinced myself that’s what I wanted, simply because I didn’t know what else to do.

I just told myself, “just do what everyone else will do, you’ll make money either way.” This was not a healthy mindset to be in. Erikson says that if you fail

to overcome the challenges, you will face a negative outcome. This negative outcome is the “inability to establish sense of self” (S.Unger, 2018, pg.16). This means that when I felt like I should settle for an obtainable

career, I was not overcoming this challenge. I was falling down the path to the inability to establish my sense of self. Erikson clearly states that failure to overcome this stage would cause major issues within one’s self. If I continued this way of thinking, things would have only gotten worse.

Luckily, in January of 2016, everything changed. I was watching the Grammy Awards with my family, and a commercial came on for something called “GRAMMY Camp.” It immediately got my attention and I looked up at the TV. GRAMMY Camp is a camp that is run by the Grammy Foundation, to educate musical high school students on the music industry. During GRAMMY Camp, you are trained and mentored by industry professionals to help you improve your craft. As soon as the commercial ended, my mom looked at me and said

“You have to apply for this. This is made for you.” I denied it immediately because I felt like I could not amount to anything as big as that. I had no ambition and no motivation to even apply, but I was very interested in it.

After weeks of my mom begging me to apply, I decided to do it. This was a huge step for me at the time. I did not feel like I was going to be accepted, but I decided to try. I applied for the Music Journalism track of GRAMMY Camp. This meant I had to

submit pieces of my writing and submit a video audition. I was terrified. I didn’t know what the future held for me, and that is what scared me the most.

In April, months after I applied, I received a long awaited phone call. It was the people from GRAMMY Camp. I remember this moment so clearly, as if it happened just a minute ago.

Everything began moving in slow motion as I heard the words, “we would like to accept you into our Music Journalism track in Los Angeles, California with a full scholarship.” My jaw dropped.

This was something that I thought could only happen in my dreams. The one thing that I truly loved, music, was turning into a hobby that could form into a career. I was ecstatic.

I attended GRAMMY Camp in May of 2016. The 10 days that I was in GRAMMY Camp were the best days of my life, even to this day. In the days I was there, I was able to relate to Erikson when he talks about adolescents going out and experimenting with their interests. I met people that I fit in with.

These people shared the same fears as me, and the same goals. We bonded over the fact that we never fit into the crowd. And the fact that the only thing we know is that we want to have a career in music. These people made me feel safe and comfortable in what I wanted to pursue, because they were just like me. My mentor during this process was the top person that helped me overcome this challenge, he helped me form my identity.

During my time at camp,

I had to write several articles about different events happening around the camp. I also had to interview music industry professionals, fellow campers, and other instructors. While doing this, I discovered my passion. My instructor and mentor, Steve Baltin, is a writer for Rolling Stone.

Him and I worked closely throughout the whole experience, so he could help prepare me for the industry and for my journalism career. I fell in love with the art of music journalism. For the first time in my life, I felt like I was good enough at something to actually turn it into a career. I never thought that I would be able to overcome my fears of the future, but this experience made things so much more clear. It completely flipped my life upside down, in a good way.

So, what is life without challenges? Life without challenges is like an ocean without waves. Without all the ups and downs, you would never be able to find yourself. Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development accurately represents the stages of certain challenges people will go through, and what happens when you overcome them or when you don’t.

Although you cannot see it in the moment, the challenges you will face throughout your life will help form your identity. The saying “everything happens for a reason” is true. I am so happy that I did not settle when things became difficult. More importantly, I am extremely happy that I was watching the Grammy Awards that night.