Last week while hanging with some friends, the name “Jim Caviezel” came up.
Not only is Jim Caviezel one of my favorite actors, starring in movies like “The Passion of the Christ” and “The Count of Monte Cristo,” but he is also currently starring on my favorite TV show “Person of Interest.”
I was interested to know that he grew up in Washington, but I was pleasantly shocked to discover that he went to Bellevue College. Jim Caviezel, here, at BC? Not only that, but he’s come back and spoken at Bellevue College? How did I not know this?
Later, as I was mulling over this revelation, three thoughts occurred to me. First of all, if I really do love him as much as I claim to, then I really need to research Jim Caviezel more. (That is beside the point, but it’s the first thing that occurred to me.)
Secondly, how many other famous alumni from Bellevue College are out there that I don’t know about? And lastly, will I be famous one day and have students here look up to me? In 20 or 30 years, will other BC students be thrilled to discover that I attended this school?
That got me thinking about the next 20 or 30 years. Looking at my goals, I started mentally calculating what I’m going to do in the next few years. Finish college and earn my degree in English, hopefully get a job in some kind of publishing house or newspaper, write a book, maybe get married, write another book, have a few kids, another book, etc.
Of course, I have other goals and dreams, but in terms of my career and what I want to do the rest of my life, it’s writing books. Will I become world-famous for my books, like C. S. Lewis or J. K. Rowling or J. R. R. Tolkien? (Will I use my initials too, since they all did it?)
Hopefully yes. Looking ahead, I hope that my life will have a big impact on others, maybe even big enough so that students 20 years from now will become more excited about their education because of me.
As I am transferring in the fall, I have been incredibly busy attending orientations and registering for classes. When I declared my major, the advisors handed me a list of alumni that had also been English majors. In addition, it showed me a list of jobs English majors usually do.
I was inspired to check out all the alumni so that I could find someone to mentor me. (OK, I didn’t see any world-famous authors on the list, but I could be the one to change that.)
As I work my way through college and begin my career, I find that I really don’t want to be average. I want my life to make an impact. I really, really want to accomplish all the goals and do all the stuff on my bucket list.
So I’m going to start making an impact right now, in every little way that I can. Maybe I will become famous. Maybe I might even meet Jim Caviezel.