“Do what you love, love what you do” is one of my favorite quotes to live by. A lot of the time we find these things we love early on in our lives and through different phases of our journeys, we seek continuations of these passions.

We may question how to continue something we love when everything around us changes. We are growing up and we want to bring our passions with us. Our passions motivate us to grow, push ourselves and reach for our dreams and goals. Who would want to let go of that?

Growing up as a competitive dancer since I was in the first grade, it was hard for me to adjust to not dancing 15 hours a week, competing with my dance family endless nights at a time, feeling the dedication and passion when the hard work pays off and overall letting it go that things need to change after graduating high school.

As we mature, our lives move with us, along with our passions. My solution was continuing the study of dance in college. I picked up a minor in dance along with my major in journalism. Two areas where I feel I shine most. Although a dance minor is not nearly as much dancing as I am used to, I am able to apply what I’ve learned for 15 years to be part of my education and express myself in the studio a few times a week as well as our yearly showcase.

There are other ways to keep other passions alive in your life:

Join an organization or team- There are endless opportunities at any college or university to get involved. Say your passion is baseball, but you don’t want that full commitment of possibly walking on the D1 baseball team. A perfect alternative is to join a club baseball team where you still get to play and travel, but there isn’t a huge amount of pressure surrounding you.

I found this by joining a student ran organization called The Rider Dance Ensemble. I was a little skeptical when joining since it was student ran, but I’m so glad I did because I’ve learned so much. I’ve grown my passion by starting to choreograph dances and performing multiple times a semester. Joining the dance ensemble, one of the largest student-ran organizations at school, was one of the best decisions I’ve made to keep my passion alive.

Open your mind to new things- Try thinking outside the box just a little. Look for art classes in the area, take up pilates, volunteer at the animal shelter, join your town softball league. Within your own community there are opportunities surrounding you to follow your dreams and passions.

Life is full of adjustments that we have to make here and there. Branching out and finding new ways to keep your passions stirring is part of the growing process.  Keep an open mind and continue enjoying what you love to do.