I turned 20 in February. I'll be a college junior/senior in the fall, and I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to do after graduation. Most people wonder why I decided to graduate in three years and honestly there are both advantages and disadvantages. I am saving about $40k in tuition and living expenses, and I'll get an extra year to get a job and start my career. But, I'll be missing another college football season, going out with my friends on the weekends, living with some of my best friends and being relatively carefree.
The past two years have gone incredibly fast, and I'm sure my last year in college will fly by even faster. I don't feel old enough or ready to fully 'adult' yet. I'll be forever grateful for having no more homework, but it will mean I'll be working full time and giving up one last year to 'live it up.' I plan to apply anywhere I can after graduation, the end goal is just to get hired and get my foot in the door to start my career. But, where do I apply? Do I want to move back home and stay in the Midwest, or should I move away while I'm young and have no commitments?
I am very much a homebody and love visiting my family and friends. So my thoughts of moving to San Diego are getting further and further pushed back. Maybe I need to get away after graduation and then decide to move home a few years down the road. The very thought of all this is overwhelming, and in reality, I still have at least seven or eight months before I really need to start worrying. And in the case I don't get hired anywhere, maybe I'll sell all my shit and backpack Europe or travel until I find something (because my parents definitely aren't letting me move back in with them).
There are many choices to be made and alternatives to be considered. I keep forgetting one thing. I am only 20. I am still young and my path will not be set after I graduate. I'm going to screw up, take a job I don't like, move somewhere that I regret and do stupid things in my 20s. But, it is all going to be okay. No one can make all the right choices the first time around and I'm not going to be the first. I'll figure it out. I'll switch jobs or move to a different city until I find my happiness and love what I do. For now, I'm going to focus on making my last year of college the best one yet. I'm going to visit all the bars I never made it to, attend a festival downtown and make sure that I got every golden drop out of my college experience as I could. I don't have it all figured out yet, and I might never but I know that I am going to enjoy the ride along the way.
