Touchstone.docx Setting Goals Later in Life Most children can remember being asked, "w

Touchstone.docx    Setting Goals Later in Life  Most children can remember being asked, "what do you want to be when you grow up." That isn't something that I can recall. If an adult asked me this, it isn't in my memory. I grew up in a small, poverty-stricken community. My mother passed away when I was seven years old. I feel confident that my family was focused on survival rather than emphasizing a child's future education or career goals.  My school was a small school, with approximately three hundred kids in kindergarten through twelfth grade. I didn't excel in school. I was mediocre, never applying myself and doing the minimum necessary to get by. My teachers pushed me to try harder, to study more but didn't push too hard because there was an overwhelming sense of pity for me because my mother was dead. The teachers showing me pity was not beneficial for me; in fact, it was quite the opposite. I needed to be pushed. One thing I have learned about myself as I have become an adult is that I am smarter than I ever believed. I can do well if I am willing to work hard and put my mind to it.  Like most kids from my town, I graduated from high school and decided to attend the community college a few towns over. My lack of ambition from high school followed me into community college. I didn't apply myself and did the minimum necessary. As is the norm at college, the professors didn't push as hard, which allowed me to miss more classes, and eventually, I quit.  My experience professionally has bee