We are told from a young age that we must choose a path in life. We go to school, learn about Robert Frost, and are told to take the road less traveled. But we are not given a roadmap. We are not given a compass. Yet there always seems to be a ‘right path’ and a ‘wrong path’ and we are required to know which is which without being told. The path you want to go down will take a lot of hard work, it has obstacles that will trip you up and make you cry, and it will bump you and bruise you until you feel like giving up and convince you that it’s impossible to make it to the end. On this rocky road to the ultimate goal, there is a Wall. It is made miles high of solid brick and steel, scraping the sky with its enormity. We may all have separate paths and distinctive dreams, but The Wall is apparent at one point or another on every journey. Circumstances can make The Wall appear in many forms: education, money, geography, family… but the feelings of disappointment that accompany it are the same when you are told “you cannot.” Likewise adrenaline, nervousness, and pride are the same when you tell yourself “I can.” Tell yourself that you are worth it- that you can accomplish whatever you want to despite this Wall that seems impossible to get over- because these are the very things that will help you climb it. I have encountered The Wall on my journey toward being a graphic designer, and I was told that I had wasted my talent by wanting to go into a field of art. I wasn’t good enough, and I should have been a doctor, or a lawyer, or an astrophysicist because “not many girls are good at math and science.” But my heart is not in law school. My heart is with every person that encouraged my dreams, every teacher that showed me the way, and every school that gave me a chance. My heart is with those who became my rope and told me that I could scale this Wall. Being a graphic designer is the one job that may change my life. It could be the finish line at the end of my path, the one job that could help me land on my feet despite throwing all of my energy at The Wall and still have enough strength to stand up and say “I made it.”