Be the Change

I'm in awe at the response my last few posts have received. I am happy to note that my life has been less in shambles and the pieces are being put back in place with a little help from on High. The past month and a half has been difficult with school weighing on my shoulders, though much more bearable now that I'm on speaking terms with the Man upstairs. He's the key to travelling a bumpy road with joy.
It's quite obvious that life isn't all rainbows and butterflies. I've always hated the phrase: "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade"...especially since my family, immediate and extended, has lost so much in such little time. However, I've come to appreciate that phrase. Life handed us the sourest of lemons last summer--two, in fact. As my soul purses its lips in aspiration to be redeemed from the sourness, I begin to think, what can I make of this? 
Many of you know I've been studying English as an undergraduate, and I thought for the longest time it was the right degree to pursue. I love to write. I love to share my insights. But as the time passes, especially since grief was thrown in my basket, I took inventory of my passions.

English--as a whole--is not one of them.

It is true that I love books, and I love blogging, but that's basically where I hit a block in the road. I don't feel like there's anywhere to go from here--at least not for me.
How can I take my two passions, words and insight, and do good?
Gandhi said, "Be the change you wish to see in the world."
I never felt that I could really be the change with the degree I had chosen unless I were to sit at home and be a mommy blogger all day. Except my posts aren't suitable for that sort of career--neither is my mindset. We all know the most successful mommy bloggers are those who generate new ideas for decorating a home or spicing up a relationship--both of which are so not me, and let's face it, when I do have those ideas, they're entirely recycled from others (especially from Pinterest).
It's not ingrained into my personal being as a young woman in today's society to be a stay-at-home mom for the next thirty plus years. I personally believe that motherhood and a career can be complimentary of one another. I plan to merge the two--and when I set my mind to something, I achieve it. I want more for me, and I want more for my children. There's no doubt I'm a woman of action.
Since being hit in the face with depression from the outside and its opposite, I have decided that I want to shift gears a bit--okay, a lot--and focus my career on preventing other families from suffering a loss such as mine. Even more so than preventing grief, I want so badly to help adolescents like my brother who are fighting strenuously to combat and cope with their mental illnesses and other trials which could lead to depression, anxiety, and other disorders.
Today, I changed the course of my life; I changed my major. I changed my major to something that will allow me the opportunity to exercise my passion of advocacy for the mentally ill. I changed my major to something that will allow me to make hands-on change--to be the change. I have chosen to pursue a BS in Marriage and Family Studies, then go on to receive my Masters in a similar area, if not counseling.
Never in my high school career had I thought to engage in any coursework outside the realm of English, yet here I am four years later going against my adolescent judgment.
I have found it increasingly interesting that out of all my English courses that I have drooled over in boredom and disinterest, the one that ever intrigued me was my Young Adult Literature course where I learned how to use literature to help teens in various aspects of their lives. I didn't know then why I felt that way. All I know is it led me to where I am today: an aspiring counselor for adolescents.