Its been 21 years since you finally figured out what you wanted to be when you grew up. You only told one person, someone who you were so sure would believe in your dreams. And then he crushed them without a second thought.
"I wanna be a scientist!"
"Well, scientists believe in evolution so they're stupid. You want to be stupid?"
You were only five years old. And he was your big brother. If he said something was stupid, then you didn't want to be that thing. So you quietly stopped letting yourself enjoy learning science. You learned what was needed for schooling as you grew up, but that was all.
But that passion that you felt the first time you learned science never went away. Although religion was used to manipulate you into believing things that had no basis in truth, you continued to follow the rules your family laid out. Evolution was demonized, to the point of watching documentaries, movies and lessons about "gods great plan".
You gave up on the biggest dream you have ever had.
And then you started to grow up in ways your parents didn't approve of. You began learning things far beyond your limited education. Things that you shouldn't have understood, but you somehow did. Your parents found out when you mentioned quantum physics for the first time.
You were mocked ruthlessly, made a laughing stock of the family. You closed yourself off from your dreams again.
You cried yourself to sleep most nights you thought about what may have been. You were always the weird, quiet one. You always wanted to know how everything works, why things work the way they do. You would organize toys and snacks by colors/flavors while family laughed.
Years went by, and you continued withdrawing as your environment was made more and more toxic. Eventually, learning, the very thing you always loved became the deepest source of pain, and so, you stopped.
For years, you became a shell of the person you had been becoming. And then something in you changed.
You used some of your meager pay to put yourself through ged classes at the local college. Suddenly, you were thriving in the new environment where learning was encouraged, evolution was a frequent discussion, and learning science was required.
You were happy. And then graduation came around, and you had to focus on working as much as possible.
Now, 8 years later, you've trusted your best friend with your dream, and for the first time, you were immediately met with encouragement, love, respect and validation.
Science education materials and pamphlets are suddenly appearing in the places you spend time, your best friend is screaming that you can do this, and everything seems to be pointing you in the direction you've always wanted.
You're afraid to chase your dream, and that's okay. But it's time to stop hiding what you love, and time to chase it.
Ever since you got to witness the Artemis mission, something in your very soul has changed.
Its time to for you to do the things you've always dreamed of. Now go and live the life you want.
-yourself