I used to hate the question, “What do you want to do with your life?” Thanksgiving dinner and Easter were the worst, because it seemed as though no one had anything better to do than ask me what I had planned for the future. I can remember thinking to myself, “How is a sophomore in high school supposed to know what she wants to do with her life?” Everything felt rushed and forced, as if I should have had a clear vision of what I wanted to do. Looking back on those conversations, I think I found them so dreadful because I wasn’t passionate about any kind of job yet, and had no idea what path I wanted to take in life. Now however, I can’t wait to go home and tell my family about the goals I have set for myself, and my plans on reaching those goals.

Although it’s a rough sketch, my ideal future would be to graduate college and possibly continue school to get a masters degree in something. I know something is not specific, I just haven’t figured that part out yet. What I do know is I want to work with the parents of autistic children to optimize their health. Food plays a major role in the mood and behavior of children and adults with autism and I would love to know more about it. My goal for my career is to be, “the best in the business,” where families will specifically ask for me to help their family. I think it would be really cool and rewarding to be a top specialist in my field, where I could help families who are struggling with their children’s special diets or their picky eating habits.

After I graduate college, I want to move to California for a little while, because I feel like I have to for some reason. After my Californian phase, I would love to move back to the east coast and have a house right close to the beach. Hopefully I’ll find some guy who thinks I’m cool or funny and we can get married and start a family. We would have to get a dog first, preferably a golden retriever, and then some kids. At the moment I want three or four kids, but I feel like that number might go down after I have my first. Ideally, I would love to live close to my mom and brother, where they are still really involved in my life and I could see them a lot.

I definitely have a lot of hopes and expectations for my future, but I would rather have a lot than none at all. I think it’s important to set high goals and standards for your future, rather than not having a clue of where you could see yourself in the next upcoming years. Of course no one can predict the future, but by having goals and a vision for the future you will have more motivation to work towards those goals and expectations for your life.