At this time, I was taking a Grade 12 English class where we studied The Death of a Salesman and The Great Gatsby. Both novels dealt with the theme of pursuing an empty dream which resonated with me deeply as I began to see the cracks in my parents’ dreams for me. For the ISU project that we had to complete for the class, I chose to do it on The Little Prince and The Alchemist after searching up two books that had similar themes.

Reading The Little Prince and The Alchemist completely flung a door wide open in my mind. I felt like I was reborn. My worldview and perspective on life were completely changed. I have been raised with the idea that any career in the arts was unrealistic and that I had to choose a realistic job. The Great Gatsby, The Death of a Salesman, The Little Prince and The Alchemist told me otherwise. I learned that only through pursuing my dreams and realizing my innate talent will I be able to achieve happiness and lead a fulfilling life. Grateful to that English class for opening my eyes to the futility of chasing money, it made me realize that maybe my dream of becoming a songwriter-music producer, was not so unrealistic after all.

Unfortunately, I already accepted a spot in University of Detroit Mercy’s 7-year BS/DDS dental program and knew that my parents would never allow me to pursue my dreams, so I kept this revelation to myself. My classmates would be talking excitedly about university programs that they researched and applied to. Since I did zero research on universities and just applied to the ones that Mother told me to, I pretended to be preoccupied with schoolwork, keeping my head down whenever these conversations came about. I felt aimless and unsure that entire summer. I did begin to get restless as I wasn’t doing anything productive and to be honest, I was excited to go to university. I wasn’t excited for the program, but I was excited for a change of atmosphere, to live away from my parents, and to actually be doing something. University was always portrayed as a place where you can explore your interests, make new friends and find yourself. I was ready for that experience. Unfortunately, it was not what I expected. Not at all…