Anything but a Mechanic

17 isn’t a big number. It never has been, aside for the prodigies and geniuses out in the world. At this point, they've already accomplished the impossible. I'm not a prodigy. I'm not a genius. I've never invented anything, nor am I likely to become world-renowned or end up in a future generation's history book. But, I am a dreamer.
Throughout the entirety of my life, I've dreamed, just like everyone else. As a toddler, I dreamed of being spider-man a superhero of the world and saving damsels in distress. In first grade, I dreamed of being a power ranger (the red one) , because I wanted to prove to everybody they did exist To my very best ability, I tried to assemble a team I would draw battle plans which mostly consisted of forming megazord and crushing the enemy . I took them home to show my mother, who told me, “You can be anything you want to be when you grow up...except for a Mechanic.” Of course, she had to explain to me what that was, “That's what Daddy is . That's just a big word for people who fix cars.”
As the years went by, my aspirations began to mature. In fourth grade, I was trying to get in with the “cool” kids, the ones who wore the latest stuff from AND one, because they were too old for Children's Place. They watched and played football so I watched and played football. They were also drawing cars that they wanted to make when they were older. They wanted to be car designers, so I wanted to be a car designer. I started drawing the cars, as well, and we talked about sending our designs to Lamborghini and Ferrari . I took the drawings home to my mom, and told her that I wanted to be a car designer. “You can be anything you want to be when you grow up...except for a Mechanic.”
Throughout the rest of elementary school, I was inspired to be many things. Science and English were always my favorite subject, and reading and painting were my favorite hobbies. In a time when it was “cool” to be smart, I wanted to be an astronaut and a biologist, I could discover something that would change biology as we now it I wanted to illustrate my own art, and become a famous painter, right up there with Leonardo da Vinci and Picasso, though my paintings were little above average. After all, I could be anything I wanted to be when I grew up...aside from a cosmetologist.
But then I went to Middle school. Girlfriends are now more important than brains. If you aren't dating, you aren't “cool”, so I was left behind with the other kids not looking for pre-mature love. Science, English, and art classes were still my favorite; I wanted more than anything to be a marine biologist Painting and drawing became a creative outlet. And with every painting, science project, and English assignment I