When I was little, I mean younger since I'm still pretty petite, I envisioned what my life would be like. While most little girls dream of the wedding, the nice house and possibly a baby or two, this girl did not necessarily imagine life like that.
Hi everyone and welcome to my little space on the internet. My name is Julie Marie (aka: Julz, aka J.M). I am a first generation Mexican-American daughter; talk about pressure! Growing up, the drive to succeed and be independent was drilled into me and my two younger sisters, My father is the youngest of 7 and one of the few children that did their schooling in the United States; his family is much "older." My mother is the oldest, and only female, with 3 younger brothers. As mentioned, my father's family is much older (traditional) to the point that my mom's parents are young enough to be my dad's parents children. Like most immigrant parents, my parents wanted better for us so when we were younger, our most important priority was school and education.
See, to me, "growing up and being old like 30" meant that I would be a Neonatal Cardiologist flying from hospital to hospital to see my tiny patients and then come home to my fancy loft style apartment in a building I owned with one or two puppies (who had a puppy nanny) and have a nice glass of wine with some chicken dish for dinner while prepping for my next shift. I would be able to pay off my mom's house and ensure my sisters' student loans were paid off by the time I was 30. My family and I would go beautiful destinations on vacation and spend a lot of quality time together.
Later, maybe by like 40, I would open up my own practice and be a globally respected Neonatal Cardiologist. I would be the fun Nina/Tia to all my nieces and nephews especially because having puppies automatically makes you that much cooler! See, the desire for success made financial independence and continued education my future love and goal.
Fast forward to today and that is not necessarily my life but my goals are very much still the same.
So cheers to everyone who is thirty and not thriving by their middle school definition or expectation.
