This spring break my friends and I took a road trip to sunny Florida. I had two disposable cameras, and on the way down to Florida I took pictures. Not that big of a deal, right? Well, I didn't take just any old picture along the way. I took a picture of a bridge going across the Ohio River in Louisville. I took a picture of the skyline in Nashville, and when we went to New Orleans I made sure I had a picture of the Louisiana Superdome. My friends ridiculed me and called me a big dork. This may be so, but I don't think it has anything to do with me taking pictures on the road trip. You see, I am a civil engineer. That means that I think things like buildings and bridges are cool. Since I was a kid these things have interested me. On my road trip I was showing a passion for what I want to do in life. And I think that is a pretty cool thing. I have found something that I enjoy, and even better it is something that I can have a career in.

This reminds me of my friend Joe. Last year Joe was a computer science major. He worked really hard in his classes, but the stuff didn't interest Joe. Who knows why Joe was a computer science major? Maybe it interested him in high school. Or maybe his parents wanted him to follow that career path. It isn't important. The point is that by the end of the year Joe had snapped. He decided not to be a computer science major anymore. Joe decided to change his major to music. While music is a lot more interesting to Joe, obviously it isn't going to pay as well as a computer science degree. But the point is that Joe finally decided to quit listening to everyone else and follow his passion. The same holds true for myself. I enjoy civil-engineering. But if it wasn't what I really wanted to do in life, then there is no way that I would do it. It isn't worth it to be an engineer (or any other major) if you don't enjoy it.

I feel like there are a lot of people here that are in a major because of the wrong reasons. Maybe their parents pushed them that way. Maybe the promised six-figure salary is very appealing. The point is that you are wasting life if you aren't doing something you want to do. I realize that is a very easy statement for me to make. Even though civil engineering doesn't pay the most of all the different kinds of engineering, it still pays pretty well. And so it is very easy for me to say for everyone to follow your dream because I am going to make a good paycheck out of college. I just think happiness isn't found in a corner office or a BMW. Instead it is found by doing day in and day out what you really enjoy. If you do that, then you truly will be set for a wonderful life.

• A job by any other name is not the same