Emma Storkersen

Mrs. Wold

ERWC

14 April 2021

Reflection Essay: Future Plans

I have chosen to focus my future on two main goals: success as a journalist and investing

time into my love for the outdoors. I want my life to be full of passion and I want to only engage

in activities that bring me the joy I am looking for. That begins with my college education at

Fordham University and will carry on into my career as a journalist, while I pursue my own

personal goals surrounding outdoor sports and life priorities.

When choosing my college I was considering location, programs available, and the

culture surrounding the school. I have been visiting New York City since I was 6 and overtime I

developed a great love for the city. I loved how worldly the city was and how every block could

have a different ambiance. On one street you could be surrounded by museums and large theatres

and only half a mile over lies a quite residential neighborhood. The vastness of New York City is

what prompted me to apply to New York schools. I got accepted to all 3 schools I applied to,

Fordham, Sarah Lawrence, and The New School. I chose Fordham University at Lincoln Center

because I loved how centralized the school was. Fordham is located on the Upper West Side in

the heart of the artisitic community. I plan to major in journalism and I wanted to choose some

cultural/social studies minor. Fordham’s journalism program is excellent with opportunities to

intern with top news organizations in the city. After exploring their minors, I became fascinated

with their humanitarian studies minor. Because of my chosen area of study, I felt like New York

City offered many opportunities to succeed in the field of journalism due to the large amount of
news channels, magazines, and newspapers in the surrounding area. Lastly, I wanted to go to a

more left-leaning school with an emphasis on the liberal arts. The Lincoln Center offered exactly

that. All these factors contributed to my decision to commit to Fordham Univesity for

journalism. I believe I will truly thrive as I continue my education in one of America’s greatest

cities.

For the past four years I have wanted to pursue a career in journalism. COVID did not

change this, however, it did change how I want to go about my work and WHERE I want to

work. I’ve always gone back and forth between doing art criticism or more environmental based

journalism. I love the idea of being a theatre or film critic, however, after attending a program

with National Geographic I became invested in the possibilities surrounding journalism and the

outdoors. Before Covid, I dreamt of working for The New Yorker or The New York Times.

While these are still companies I would love to work at and be honored to even be considered

for, COVID has shifted some of my career choices. Because of my passion for the outdoors,

backpacking, skiing, and scuba diving, I want to be able to focus on this throughout my life since

it brings me genuine happiness. COVID has made me realize how many opportunities for work

there are that exist outside the traditional office building. Including, being a freelance journalist. I

have become more invested in environmental and outdoor journalism because of this. Ideally, I

would want to work freelance for Outdoor Magazine, BOAT, or even National Geographic. This

would allow me to focus on my outdoor sports passion. While working freelance, I would be a

whitewater rafting guide during the Spring and Summer seasons and a ski instructor or ski

patroller in the winter season. Freelancing, guiding, and patrolling would allow me to make a

small but steady income, allowing me to travel and write. As I become more frequently
published, my ultimate career goal would be to get paid to travel to different locations to write

stories for prominent magazines.

Education and career are some of the most important aspects of our lives, however, there

are other choices that come into consideration. My personal priorities for life mainly revolve

around making MYSELF happy. I take a lot of pride in being financial independent, as I work 38

hours a week while attending high school fulltime. I do not want to rely on a spouse or my

parents for financial assistance. I want to be able to provide for myself. However, I do not care

about abundance. I only need enough money to live comfortably. The career and seasonal jobs I

have chosen allow me to make money while doing things I am passionate about. My priorities do

not revolve around getting married or starting a family. I am very independent and the type of

person who does not want to have to be responsible for other people or tied down to one place. I

enjoy being alone. While I am not closing myself off to future possibilities of a family, it is not

something that I currently have planned for my future. Financially, I do plan to put money into a

retirement plan as well as an educational fund in case I decide I want to attend graduate school.

Planning your future is essential. Plans give you a path to follow and events to look

forward to. However, we should not allow thoughts of the future to completely consume us. It

prevents us from enjoying the people we are with and the people who we are now. While I try to

push the majority of my focus on the here and now, my plans to be a journalist, further my

education, and become self-sufficient still excite me.