"So have you declared a major yet?"

"Any big plans for this summer? Internships? A job?"

"Still no boyfriend?"

And that's just the beginning of the non-stop questions that are inevitable this time of year. Gathering your extended family all together under one roof is a festive and heart-warming way to celebrate the holidays. However, this is also the notorious time of year where college students tend to be bombarded by questions left and right on where they want life to take them.

If they're in a relationship, people ask them if it's getting serious. If they're single, they're asked if they "have their eyes on anyone special" (a direct quote from my nana). Their inquisitive nature is always rooted in good intentions, but sometimes it can just be overwhelming. It's a reminder of how uncertain our lives are right now and adds to the already instilled pressures on us to figure everything out at the ripe age of 19.

Steering the dinner table conversation away from your personal/professional life can be a difficult task, especially in a small family where there might literally be nothing else to talk about. You could, of course, direct questions towards a much safer, more polite topic of conversation, such as politics, climate change, or your Uncle's third divorce.

Kidding.

I'm personally dealing with this worry myself right now. I have no idea what I want to do with my life in the slightest. It makes my hands sweaty thinking about explaining to my family why I still have no clue what I want to major in, despite needing to declare by the end of next semester. My plan? One option is to completely make up a major to bring the questions to a close (basket weaving? jump-roping? the business of procrastination?) My hopes are that if I throw enough words together and pour enough wine in my relative's glasses, they won't be able to tell the difference.

Another option is for me to voice to them the reality of my situation. Talk about how there's an unfair amount of pressure placed on students to figure out our lives before we've even begun living them yet. And how nothing that I think about pursuing ever really sticks. I might go off about how I might switch my major. And then switch it again. Resume workshops and advisor meetings will hopefully guide me to an internship and then maybe one day a job. Or maybe not.

But I shouldn't have to stress about that right now. I'm 19 years old. It's Thanksgiving dinner, Aunt Janet. Where are the mashed potatoes?