Only 30 percent of adult Americans are happy with their jobs, according to a 2013 Gallup survey. Are you going to be part of this small percentage after you leave high school?

“It’s rare that people love their jobs, whether they are people who’ve been doing that job for over twenty years or just starting. I think it’s a lack of a passion, or thinking that job is the only way to support their family,” Carl Krause, college and career counselor, said. “Maybe it’s where they started, and it was safe and easy, so they chose to stick with it. They may have learned to like it, but not love it.”

Students are always encouraged to do what they love and love what they do, but the reality of pursuing passions after high school seems, at times, impossible. We are constantly surrounded by union strikes, complaining parents and friends, and even lawsuits against previous employers. Fortunately, according to Krause, it is possible to be passionate about one’s work, but there are some limitations. Students must take the jobs they can get as well as keep realistic expectations in order to succeed in their field.

“[For example,] I love golfing. I’m not very good at it, so without having the time, energy, or money to get good at it, I can’t make a living out of it, but I can still enjoy it,” Krause said. “We have students who did theater in high school and are now performing on a stage. We have those people who are good enough and dedicated enough to their actual passion that it became their future. Some of it has to be talent, but a lot of it is persistence and drive.”

Bear Facts followed up with three LZHS graduates who pursued their high school passions – and turned them into careers. Find out how, and why, they managed to be part of the 30 percent.

Jenna Meyer, LZHS class of 2006, is now an art teacher at Round Lake Middle School, IL. She attended North Central College in Naperville, IL.

Q: Why are you so passionate about art?

A: [Art’s] creativity and hands on. I don’t have to sit and write papers or do math problems all day. I get to use my creativity, build from scratch, and create new ideas.

Q: What are some obstacles you’ve faced while trying to follow your passion?

A: Scheduling and getting everything done in four years [of college], and sticking to [my major]. People tend to change majors several times throughout college, and not giving is what I had to do. The job search after I got out of college was very difficult. I subbed for a year before I found a position in art. It’s is not the biggest field.

Q: What motivated you to keep working with what you love?

A: I liked what I wanted to do. I knew if I stuck with it, I’d eventually find something. Substitute teaching taught me more after college, so it was a good experience. I dealt with the worst of the worst because kids are always [bad] for substitute teachers. So if I could survive substitute teaching, I knew, ‘Once I get a job, it’ll be awesome.’

Q: What are some of your proudest accomplishments so far?

A: I’m proud of the fact I’ve been in the same district for four years. From the time I started until now, we’ve developed a really strong curriculum and strong classes. It’s come a long way and I’m excited to see where it goes. The previous teacher had projects he never changed. Every single year, he made a coil pot. Now, the kids enjoy the projects more because there’s more flexibility and creativity. They can draw what they want and still meet our objectives.

Q: What’s your favorite part about teaching art?

A: Getting to teach what I love to kids and seeing them grow. I’ve got a lot of students who have been with me now – since it’s my fourth year – for all three of their years. They were so shy and quiet in 6^th grade, but I saw the potential and said, ‘You have to be in art club.’ Now, they’re 8^th graders and they’re our Art Room Groupies. They never leave and do nothing but create art.

Q: If you could give advice to a high schooler who wants to pursue their passion, what would it be?

A: Don’t get discouraged. Stick with it [because] in the end, it’s awesome. My best friend in college wanted to drop her major because she hated this class and hated the teacher, but she stuck with it. Now, she’s best friends with that teacher. There’s always going to be something you won’t want to do, and it will be hard, but if you stick with it, it’ll be worth it.

Q: What art related classes did you take in high school? How did they help your development?

A: I started with Art Foundations and realized I liked photography and 3D, which is sculpture and ceramics or anything that’s not flat on paper. I went with those tracks, and when I went to college, I realized I was into 3D more. [These classes] solidified the fact I love art and that it was something I wanted to pursue. I also didn’t just want to be an artist, I wanted to expand and work with kids too, so that’s how I go into art education in college.

Q: What are you currently doing with your students?

A: We’re on one of my favorite projects. For our 2D art [class], we teach them how to use colored pencils, and they create a morphed animal, like a bear and a peacock or a zebra and a seahorse. After they draw it out, they have to write a descriptive story about it. The trick is we give the stories, not the pictures, to our 3D class. They read the story and problem-solve to guess what the animal looks like, and then they actually get to build it out of clay. It’s two completely different projects, but they cross classes. [The 3D kids] really don’t get to see the picture until they’re totally finished, and you put the two next to each other.

Jordan Service, LZHS class of 2010, is now a fashion designer for Splendid in Los Angeles, CA. He attended the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) in San Diego, CA.

Q: When you were in high school, did you know you would follow through and get a job in this field?

A: Definitely. I was completely dead-set on ‘This is what I want to do and this is how I’m going to do it.’ It wasn’t, ‘Can I do this?’ It was, ‘I am going to do this.’ That’s the attitude you have to have about things if you’re passionate about them. There can’t be a question in your mind.

Q: What are some obstacles you’ve faced while trying to follow your passion?

A: When I graduated from school, I hit a roadblock getting that first job. I did this elite program at my school which had about ten people in it, which is cool but very intense. When I finished the program, I was expecting to get a job right away. I didn’t. It took me four or five months before I came across really anything, which really sucks. That’s a short time comparatively, but it felt like a really long time. It was disheartening.

Q: What fashion-related classes did you participate in high school? How did they help your development?

A: I took art all through high school and that was the biggest help. Mr. Winkleman actually bought me a fashion-illustration book my sophomore year because there weren’t any in the school. Every single year of art I did fashion illustration, and in AP Art Studio, that was my focus. Teachers were supportive of what I wanted to do, which was really nice, opposed to them just following the class guidelines. I did take some fashion classes, which was another supportive environment. Because I had been doing it for a bit, it was like, ‘Yeah, I already know this,’ but it was still awesome.

Q: What motivated you to keep working with what you love?

A: It’s because I was passionate about what I was doing. I could’ve been doing a different job and making a lot more money, but I liked what I was doing, and if you like what you’re doing, you’re willing to put up with a lot more. It pays off in the end too, so you have to think long term. If I was thinking short term, I would’ve been working a retail job in Beverly Hills for twice as much money, but it probably wouldn’t have led anywhere.

Q: What are some of your goals for the future?

A: My goals have changed a lot since I moved out here. There was the goal of wanting to be a designer and see people wearing my clothes. And that’s happened, multiple times, which was so cool. I was in IKEA and a girl was wearing my top. I thought that was the ultimate goal, but now that’s accomplished, what do I want? … I think at this point in my life I have the least amount of plans. Achieving your dream is the scariest part. I’ve been working towards becoming a designer for so long, and now that I’ve became one, I’m like, ‘Okay now what?’ You don’t know what you’re supposed to do next; you just go with it.

Q: What advice could you give to someone in high school who wants to pursue his or her passion?

A: Do it now. Don’t be like, ‘Well I want to be this in the future…’ There’s no reason why I couldn’t take a sewing class in high school, or teach myself how to sew. Chances are someone around you has a sewing machine, even if you can’t afford one. You can learn. If there’s a will there’s a way. Don’t wait for your future to do what you love.

Q: What are the advantages of finding what you love in high school?

A: If you do it while you’re in high school, you might realize you don’t love it. My friend wanted to be an interior designer but had never drawn a layout of a room or redecorated a house. Now he’s in college like, ‘This is what you do?’ You should test the waters before you walk into it. I was lucky I took sewing classes and art, so I got a lot of experience and found out I really wanted to do this, and that I was good at it.

Tony Gonzalez, LZHS class of 2004, is now a news reporter for the Tennessean in Nashville, TN. He attended Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, MI.

Q: When did you first become interested in journalism?

A: Going into high school, I was interested in writing, and I thought there was a chance I would become a writer. I was not very gung-ho about newspapers. However, my freshman year girlfriend, now my wife, was in Ms. Wagner’s first journalism class when we were freshman. By sophomore year, she had lured me onto the newspaper staff. I had to learn about journalism. I started going to the newspaper planning meetings with my own story ideas. There weren’t many reporters who were doing that. Most of the time there were assignments, but I had my own ideas, and editors usually let me write those stories, which got me pretty excited.

Q: What journalism related classes/activities did you participate in high school?

A: I was a reporter and then an editor for Bear Facts, and I’ve been a journalist ever since. I was writing and doing the newspaper thing as much as I could during high school. I went from having no journalism skills to steadily learning ethics and legal protections, how to interview people, and how to organize information. In every way I got my start through working Bear Facts. There’s nothing else I’ve wanted to do.

Q: When you were in high school, did you know you would follow through and get a job in this field?

A: From when I first started working for the school newspaper, I’ve always wanted to be a reporter. I’ve done everything I could to make it a reality. I wasn’t really thinking about whether it was realistic or not, I was just kind of living and breathing writing, and I was just curious about what’s around me.

Q: How did you get to where you are now?

A: I worked for my college newspaper and was eventually the Editor-in-Chief. I did internships while I was there each summer at different newspapers. I also did freelance writing for a local newspaper while I was in college. I took every possible opportunity to report and get real world experience. I did not go to journalism school, so my degree is in economics, but I always planned to be a reporter. There’s a debate out there whether it’s best for someone to go to journalism school or not, and I decided I wanted to take more of an experience route.

Q: What motivated you to keep working with what you love?

A: Now, newsrooms are smaller, there are fewer reporters, and there are a lot of debates on how to best use the Internet, but I think journalists are putting out stories that are presented better than ever and that are distributed to a wider audience. For me, despite all the industry challenges, I’m really excited about the possibilities. What’s funny is people think the Internet is a place for fast news, like breaking news, but I think people are finally realizing the Internet is where you can do deeper stories that live forever. Print newspaper is permanent in the sense you can print a piece of paper off and hold it, but a web story has a lot of value and is going to be there forever. I can still link you to it, and [readers] might gain from that story later since it still exists online. There’s huge potential to do meaningful and lasting stories.

Q: What’s your favorite part about being a journalist?

A: I think my favorite part is still very similar to what I liked at the beginning, which is meeting interesting people and going interesting places and trying to share that with the readers.

Q: If you could give advice to a high schooler who wants to pursue his or her passion, what would it be?

A: Experience is invaluable. You have to take initiative to get experience in whatever it is you care about. Let’s say you want to make music videos. You can go to class and go to college to do that, but you can also just turn on a computer, shoot some video, and try editing it. With a newspaper, you call your local paper and ask what you could do to help them. My advice is to have initiative and not to wait awhile for something to come to you.