Can you have a mid-life crisis at 19?

More often than not when people ask me my major and I tell them "journalism", I get negative reactions.

I will agree that the newspaper industry is on a heavy decline, and typically writers don't fall into the highest income bracket. Becoming a writer takes a lot of work, frusteration, rejection by editors, and, if you're a perfectionist like me, long hours to perfectly articulating your thoughts on paper (or blogosphere).

I'm stuck right now deciding whether I want to dive headfirst into a publicly crumbling industry.

Props to all of you medical or finance majors, your job security is much higher than mine. You will get to work your 9-5 desk job, come home every night to your suburban house, and, provided the economy builds back up, collect your 401k and retire here in southwest Florida like the rest of corporate America.

I spoke to one of my professors today not looking for the definitive answers to my questions, but just a little insight. She told me that journalism is a tough career and like anything else, worth pursuing if it is something you're passionate about.

I'm not interested in society's textbook definition success, I just want to be happy.

Is that so much to ask?