Ask Me Monday: Life Questions

Happy Monday everyone!

Today's Ask Me Monday question is this:


Dear Julie, have you ever questioned why you have become the way you are now? (by this I mean where your life has taken you) and would you change anything about your life?
-Angelica


Hm.  Where my life has taken me.

Well, I wanted to be an author for years and years, ever since high school I believe. Originally, my Life Goal was to "be a veterinarian when I grew up," but around 7th grade, I discovered the amount of MATH and SCIENCE you had to study to be a vet.  Two subjects that I, 1). barely eeked by in, and 2.) hated with a passion.  So, after that, my focus shifted, and I decided that I wanted to write books for a living.

From then on, I knew I was going to be a writer.  My family couldn't afford a computer when I was growing up, so I wrote longhand in 5-Star notebooks.  Everyday.  All the time.  These notebooks went everywhere with me so I could write wherever I was (even in Math class, which did not make my teachers happy.).

(Short side story: My dad was talking with one of my old high school teachers the other day, and the subject of my books came up.  I went to school in Hawaii, and it seems someone had seen my books in one of the stores in my old town.  My teacher's response?  "Yeah. She wrote all of her books in my class."  XD)

Anyway, even after I (barely) graduated high school, I continued to work on my writing.  I wanted to be an author, and I wasn't going to stop until I got a book published.  I never went to college.  Again, my family couldn't afford it, but really, it never crossed my mind to get a degree.  I didn't want to be anything else; I wanted to be a writer.  I didn't need a college education to write books.

Looking back, this was probably not the wisest career choice.  I absolutely recommend everyone get the best education they can, and have a backup plan in mind, because the road to author-dom is long and hard, and you still need to make a living.  But for me, for my path, I wouldn't go back and change it, even if I could.  One of the best decisions of my life was to attend an annual writing workshop, even though I could barely afford it (one of the downsides to not having a degree; you have to get by on minimum wage), because that's where I learned a great deal about writing, and its also where I met my agent.

Of course, there are things in my past that didn't work out so well.  We all make stupid mistakes when we're young and don't know any better (and even when we're older, and should).  But I do know one thing: I wouldn't go back and change any of it.  Mistakes are a part of life, but they don't have to define you.  And some of those mistakes led to where I am, now: blissfully married, in my dream career, doing what I love every day of my life.  If things went differently, who knows where I'd be?

So no, there is nothing I would change about my past, my choices, or my life.  If you want something, you have to go for it.  There will be setbacks, and roadblocks, and rough patches that you'll have to weather through.  But it you keep slogging forward and keep your eye on the prize, eventually, you'll get to where you were always meant to be.


Thoughts? Comments? Feel free to discuss below.  And if you'd like a question answered, ask me in the comments, and I will answer another next Monday.

-Julie