In my AP Literature and Composition class, student teacher Katie McKee posed a journal prompt asking if we’d rather have money, love or happiness, a question I’d been considering for awhile. As graduation gets closer, so does college, and so does the time when I have to choose a major and decide what course I want my life to take.

My challenge lies in the choice between money and happiness, since I believe if a person is happy, then love will follow. Should I choose a career path that will allow me to pay off my student loans or one that will make me happy? Money has been a major worry as I’ve tried to decide whether to go for what I want and open a bakery. I know some people will think it’s illogical, which is one of the reasons I’ve changed my mind over and over. However, it’s not a decision anyone else can make for me.

It’s incredibly tempting to leave behind your dreams and choose a future that will mean not having to worry about money, but, ultimately, it’s more important to do what you love. Going into law or becoming an engineer would offer me an easy life but I wouldn’t really be happy. I might change my mind about opening a bakery and change my major 40 times, but in the end, I know I’ll choose what’s right for me, rather than what will make me the most money.

Maybe I’ll regret not choosing a different career when I’m constantly worrying about where I’ll find the money to make my loan payments, but it’ll be worth it as long as I’ll be waking up every morning to do something that I love.