This is my dear, dear friend Stephanie. I've known her for most of my life. She has not had things handed to her.
She decided at a very young age that she wanted to be an engineer for NASA. This, my friends, is not an easy career path. Many sleepless college nights, long conversations running the gamut of emotions, lots hard decisions, lots of money (and loads of time) spent, and plenty of mistakes.
She made it.
It's so easy to stop when life gets hard. And, in this day and age of "feelings," it's socially acceptable to call it quits when something doesn't "feel" right, or good, or perfect, or (any other positive adjective).
BUT...
There is much to be said for picking a thing, then sticking with and working for said thing no matter what obstacles pop up. As I get older, I'm convinced that good cannot exist without the bad. AND, nothing of value is ever achieved without hard work or sacrifice.
I would say the best things in life are those you struggle for, sacrifice for, and ultimately succeed for. And if you embrace this idea, you realize life kind of gets interesting when it's hard. It becomes adventure.
Stephanie has already had quite an adventurous life. Looking forward to where she takes it.