My Mother was an activist. So as a result, my brother, Xander, and I were activists. We went to rallies for pro-choice. We marched for the ERA. We woke up early and rode in the car stuffing envelopes to take to the Governor of Missouri and all the Senators.

We were on first name basis with the Governors secretary.

So one day, when I was eight, a bunch of women were hanging out talking about how much better life would be if we had a female president, so I proclaimed loudly “I’m going to be the first female president, and i’ll be the best in history!”

The women all laughed and shook my hand, telling me that if I wanted to be President I had to shake everyone’s hand.

So I did.

Whenever we were in a gathering of Activists, I would shake everyone’s hand and tell them I was going to be President someday, and would they please vote for me?

They all promised they would.

So, I began writing my philosophies down, and deciding what I was going to do once I was president (this was back hen I thought that being president would make me the most powerful person in the world) including free health care for everyone, and help for children of people with auto-immune diseases (this was also during the height of my mother’s physical illness). It also included putting a stable in the white house, but i was an eight year old girl so what do you expect.

So then I was reading this book about powerful women, and they interviewed girls ten years older than me, and about six out of ten girls decided they wanted to be the first female president, and, being eight, I had not expected anyone else to think of my plans.

So I decided that I would become a secret agent. Then I wanted to be Trinity from the Matrix. Then I wanted to be an actress, then I wanted to be a writer/photographer.

I’m stuck on that last one.

College is coming up really fast. I have less than one year to decide where i’m going, how i’m getting money, and what I want to major in. I know I really want to get a job travelling. Photographing for National Geographic is probably my dream job, but I don’t know how to get there.

Any advice? Any ideas? Any college/financial aid ideas. I’d love to hear them.