I want to go to college to study journalism. I want to speak

“I want to go to college to study journalism. I want to speak French fluently, to travel. My mom was a journalist and it’s in my blood.” — thus spoke Mandy Moore, and in her words we hear the voice of youth filled with longing, the desire not only to live but to live with purpose. It is not merely a list of ambitions, but a declaration of inheritance, a recognition that dreams are not conjured from nothing but flow through veins, passed down from one generation to the next.

The wish to study journalism is more than a career path—it is a yearning to seek truth, to bear witness, to shape words into lanterns that can light the hidden corners of the world. To “speak French fluently” is not only to master a language but to open doors to another culture, to enter into communion with a different history, a different rhythm of life. And to travel is to answer the timeless call of the soul that refuses confinement, that longs to see horizons wider than the walls of its birthplace.

The mom in this story is central, for she was a journalist herself, one who walked the path before her daughter. To say that it is in her blood is to acknowledge that vocations are not always chosen—they are inherited, planted like seeds within us by those who came before. Just as the blacksmith’s child once felt the rhythm of the hammer echoing in their bones, so too does the daughter of a writer feel the cadence of words, the hunger for stories, and the weight of truth coursing through her life.

Consider the example of Alexandra Kollontai, the Russian revolutionary and diplomat. From her youth she felt within her the pull of her mother’s fierce independence and her father’s intellectual curiosity. Though she could have lived quietly, she chose instead to travel, to study, to write, and to give voice to ideas that shaped nations. Her story shows us what Mandy Moore’s words suggest: that when something is in your blood, it is not easily denied. It calls you outward, into the world, demanding fulfillment.

The origin of this longing lies deep in the human spirit. We are not creatures meant to remain still; we are born with yearnings that stretch beyond our immediate lives. The hunger for learning, the love of language, the desire to roam and see—these are not distractions but ancient instincts, reminders that to live fully is to expand beyond one’s beginnings. Moore’s words capture the universal cry of youth: “I want to grow. I want to see. I want to become.”

The lesson is clear: listen to the longings that stir within you, for they often carry the wisdom of your lineage and the whispers of your destiny. Do not dismiss your passions as childish wishes, for they may be the very compass pointing you toward your life’s work. When you feel something is in your blood, honor it—recognize it as a gift from those who came before, and as a responsibility to carry forward.

Practical action follows: nurture your ambitions with discipline. If you long to study, commit yourself to learning. If you dream of speaking another tongue, practice it daily, for fluency is born of persistence. If you wish to travel, prepare yourself with courage and humility, so that when the journey comes, you will walk it with grace. And above all, remember your roots—honor the ones who placed in you the fire that now burns, as Moore honored her mom.

Thus Mandy Moore’s words endure as more than youthful desire. They are a song of inheritance, a recognition that the call to truth, to language, to the wider world is not random but written in the blood. To follow such a calling is to live authentically, carrying forward the legacy of those who came before while carving out a path for those yet to come.