I don't know where I will be graduating college from—it could be here at The College of Charleston, or back at some in-state school in Florida. I also don't really know when I will be graduating—I could graduate as a junior or wait it out and graduate with my class.
From someone that likes to plan every moment of my life, all of this absolutely terrifies me. So maybe I don't know what I am doing in the next two or three years, but I know what I want to do after that. I have always imagined my life playing out like a movie, and as I have experienced these past 18 years, I have realized that there is almost nothing further from the truth.
So now, my future has become a much more realistic one—it's no longer the story on my way to being President, but instead my story of being a strong lawyer that stands up for people that can't stand up for themselves.
After traveling all over the world, I have developed an unparalleled respect for the native peoples of America. I fell in love with their culture, art and language and to see it quickly disintegrating makes me sick to my stomach.
The funny thing about Americans is that we jump at the chance to preserve the cultures of foreign countries, but we will let the culture of the people that live next to us disappear.
This is what I want to change. I want to go to some law school, I don't really care where, and do well enough to graduate. Then, I will work with Native American groups that want to stand up to the federal or state government and laws that infringe on tribal laws and rituals.
But it doesn't really matter what I want to do, as long as I am doing something to change the world and the people within it. So maybe you are an undecided college freshman or a middle-aged man that still doesn't know what you want to do with your life. The only thing you need to know about your future is that it should aim to leave the world a better place than when you arrived here.