Follow Your Bliss

I am a firm believer in finding your “niche” and really sticking with and doing what is your passion. While that sounds cliché, I have a different take on this tidbit of advice. I think what is missing from that statement is plurality. I do not believe that anyone has just one passion or one “niche.” I believe that as more responsibility given to us and less time is afforded to us, that we focus on the passion that is the most practical, whether it be something that provides for your family or something that you can do to survive, so the speak.

For example, I am a dual enrolled Masters and PhD student studying Industrial Organizational Psychology with a full-time internship in selection. This is one of my passions, finding the right job for the right person and vice versa. I enjoy looking into what a job requires, both explicitly and implicitly and searching for that person who will be the most successful and happy to fill that position. During my time in school, my superiors told me that this will take over my life and that I needed to put all of my time and effort into studying this subject. This meant my old sorority connections, dance training, cheerleading, community service activities, etc., had to be left behind. I heeded their advice, quit my job teaching dance and pursued and obtained several internships, and worked exclusively at my research projects.  During this time, I honestly became miserable with my choice in subject and I could not figure out why. I love all the aspects of it, I enjoy all of the jobs that I could have with it, but I was finding it to be painful to go to work and school to pursue this expertise.



I then was asked by a friend to come to a non-profit cheerleading team practice just to get back in shape and help with some of the dance aspects of it. I cheered all throughout college and though it would be a good physical workout. This decision really changed my entire mood and outlook on what I was doing. I really missed the performance aspect of dance (which I had done from ages 3-22), the creative outlet, the training and learning of new and harder skills. I only practice for cheerleading once a week for 2 hours and attend fundraising activities for LifeWalk, Aids Awareness, Susan G. Komen, etc, when I have the time. These are my passions that I left behind. I now do cheerleading, write for an Atlanta Falcons sports blog, participant in community service and attend sorority alumni events, all while STILL pursuing my degrees and expertise to the fullest. I felt that I needed to make time for my other passions to be truly successful and happy in my academic and career pursuits.

My goal for this blog is to share various experiences that I have had while dealing with several transitional periods that a lot of individuals will experience; undergraduate to graduate, graduate to professional, etc. In addition, some fun will be added in as well! From this post, I hope to convey that I have a lot of interests and passions. I want to aid people in pursuing their passions, even if it does not seem possible and/or practical. Industrial Organizational Psychology has shown me that so many people are miserable in just their jobs, and I work to help people to make work as pleasant as it can be (because seriously, it is still work). My goal personally is to help people to make their overall life as pleasant, happy and fulfilling as it could be! Instead of finding your niche, follow your bliss!