Last Wednesday I went to the Rose Cafe and heard Laura Rodriguez de Simons speak about her career path and her work in advocacy. Laura Rodriguez de Simons currently works in the Advocacy center right here in Ithaca which provides free psychological support services. However she also described how she has done advocacy work in other parts of the world such as African and South America. Her work in Ithaca was admirable and it was interesting to hear about but I cannot imagine how strong someone must be to be in this line of work. I’m sure it must be incredibly difficult and an emotional struggle to help people who have gone through addiction or sexual abuse while remaining professional.
Although the speaker’s work was incredibly interesting, I really liked the part of her talk when she spoke about finding something that you’re truly passionate about and pursuing it. This is advice that I feel like is always thrown my way, but it’s difficult to actually do. I always feel like I should be safe and earn a degree in a field that I know will set me up well to live comfortably in the future. Oftentimes the things that people are most passionate are fields where it is difficult to make a living. The speaker described how she studied business, got her MBA and was working in the real estate industry in New York City. But after doing this for about a year she decided to pursue something that she was actually passionate about, which was social justice and advocacy. Going from an incredibly lucrative industry like real estate in New York City to working in social justice is a huge switch, and I truly commend Laura Rodriguez de Simons for taking that leap and pursuing her passions.
Hey Tayyaba,
I wish I had been there for this Rose Cafe, it sounds like it was a really interesting and meaningful discussion. I read through a couple of the posts about it so I was starting to get a sense of what the talk had been like, but I was surprised to read in yours that Ms. Rodriguez de Simons initially worked in real estate before switching to social justice work. I wonder how her passion developed/how she treated it alongside her career in real estate – I imagine she must have felt her efforts were divided or she was neglecting one or the other. I also wonder what sorts of challenges and rewards she has found in each path, and whether she misses/regrets aspects of either.
Although the phrase “pursue your passion” is stated a lot, it still holds its meaning. Whenever I used to think of this phrase, I would start to think about what I was passionate about. After spending some time understanding what I was passionate about, it has become clear to me how important the phrase is. If you choose to do what you are passionate about then you will have the energy and patience to achieve your goal.
This is really important to hear as college students. We’re all still trying to find our way