I am very fortunate to have two teen interns who support me in understanding what is important to teens. For this month’s article – I asked one of my interns, Ross Urbina (age 18), to share his wisdom/inspiration and his journey with all of you.

Taking the First Step by Ross Urbina (Age 18)

My parents have helped people by volunteering for many organizations to try to make their community a better place. Naturally, their desire to do good for their community transferred over to me. But just because the desire is there, doesn’t mean it will happen.

For most of my life, I felt unfulfilled because I wasn’t living what I believed in; I just knew it was something I wanted to do someday. However, it all changed when I applied and was accepted to the Carlsbad Student Leader Academy, which was the catalyst for me living my purpose.

In this class, I learned many leadership lessons like how to inspire others and that listening is more important than speaking. The instructor of the class, Alex Fairmen, also introduced the class to the Community Alliance for Youth Success (CAYS), an open forum whose mission is to improve the educational system in their community. Through CAYS, I met some fabulous people and was given opportunities to attend workshops and help my community. I also received an internship from Marcy Morrison after we met at CAYS and realized our vision and passions are very similar.

Through the internship with Marcy, I am expanding my knowledge of how to help people discover their passion to do good for the world. Working with a professional in this area is helping me to learn far better than any book could. I am now strongly considering a career in life coaching like Marcy, and I am learning skills and tools that will benefit me in this career.

While the internship with Marcy turned out to be something I loved to do, not all opportunities will work out perfectly. Some opportunities you were originally interested in will make you realize that you don’t want to it for a career.

For instance, I had an internship at UCSD for a research lab that studies healthy eating habits. At one point, I really wanted to become a psychologist researcher. However, after exposure in a research lab, I realized that I didn’t like all the data entry that came with research and that I didn’t want to do it for my career.

While I’ll most likely never use the knowledge learned through that internship ever again, I learned that I did not want to become a researcher. It was better to learn that before I went to college so I wouldn’t have wasted time and money learning something that I didn’t want to do. Having internships and other opportunities in high school and even sooner will allow you to have a better understanding of what you want to do to maximize the benefits of your college education. 

By being connected to Marcy and other wonderful people from CAYS, I was given the opportunity to attend multiple workshops that helped me grow and learn how to make a bigger impact in the world. It also gave me the opportunity to give a TEDx talk about why youth should discover their passion and use it to make a needed change in the world.

All these opportunities stemmed from an initial desire to make my community a better place. However, nothing came out of it until I acted upon it by joining the leadership academy. I encourage you to take that first step to whatever your passionate about and see where it leads you.

I used to consider my young age to be a disadvantage, but then I realized that your successes are amplified as a teenager compared to an adult. People expect less from teenagers, so naturally they are more impressed when a teenager does something as an opposed to an adult. Therefore, they are more easily impressed if a teenager does something.

For instance, at the first CAYS meeting I went to, I made a very small suggestion while others were proposing amazing ideas. Despite my smaller contribution, I got more praise that night than anyone else simply because I was the youngest there. People paid close attention to me because of my age, and I guarantee you’ll receive more attention, acknowledgement, and opportunities by getting involved now at a young age.

You’re at the perfect age to explore new activities and learn more about ones that interest you. Don’t be like me and regret waiting so long to finally act on my passion. Take the first step towards whatever you’re passionate about today and opportunities will await you in the future.

To learn more about Marcy’s Passion + Purpose = World Change formula – please follow the Read More link below.

About the Contributor: Marcy MORRISON is one of Your Monthly Mentors and the founder of Careers with Wings. She embodies that which she strives to evoke in others – energy, enthusiasm, passion and fun. Often referred to as bringing sunshine to every room she enters, Marcy helps others uncover and find their dream career via her books, “Finding Your Passion: The Easy Guide to Your Dream Career” and “Falling in Love with Me: A Personal Journey and A Guide to Falling in Love with You”. She is a sought out career expert nationwide with her work appearing in/on MSN CareerBuilder, San Francisco and San Diego Univision, CBS Los Angeles, ABC Washington D.C., FOX New York City, San Diego Business Journal, and on San Diego stations including KUSI, Channel 6, FOX, and Channel 10. Read More… 

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Cover Photo by Philipp Kämmerer on Unsplash.