To those feeling the same way I do:
"What are you planning to do when you graduate?" I get asked this question quite often. It's a funny thing when you get asked a question that you're constantly asking yourself. Not only do I get this question but I also get "When are you going to graduate?" I hate these kinds of questions because I don't even know the answers to them. When I started college I had figured that I would go to school for four years and get my degree. I have always been a good student and I never thought I'd fall behind. Well plot twist. Transferring happens and credits get lost, majors get changed and you take classes that you don't even need. I still believe that I'm an excellent student even if it will take me five years to get my bachelor's.
My point is that it doesn't matter if you don't know how long it will be until you graduate or where you're going when you're done. Life's an adventure and not knowing the future is the beauty of it. It doesn't matter if you are a freshman who is an undecided major or a junior who decides to change majors, it will all be okay. You will figure out what you want to do and you will eventually reach your goal of graduating if that's what you truly want. So what if your friends all graduate before you? You're still in school meeting new people and having the time of your life while they're in the workforce. Don't worry so much about what people think of you if you are a little bit behind. That just means you took a little extra time to be completely sure you knew what you wanted to do for the rest of your life.
Who cares if you're clueless about where you're going to live when you finally do graduate? If you want to move back in with your parents where you're comfortable then that's great! If you don't and you want to go somewhere new then do it. If you have no idea where you want to go, then just go explore. Opportunities will come to you no matter what you do so don't panic. Let things fall into place the way they are supposed to, don't try to force things to work out in your favor. Quit worrying so much about five years down the road, live in the present and enjoy every minute of it. We can only control so much. Sometimes we have to learn that certain things are out of our hands and we just have to go with the flow. I believe that's what it takes to grow up. That's what truly living life is, it's rolling with the punches.
So the next time someone asks you about your future, don't be afraid to tell them you don't know what you're doing. Take pride in the fact that you're keeping your options open because chances are that's when everything in your life will fall right into place.
