In high school everything seemed a bit simpler, didn’t it? Every day was the same routine. Wake up, get dressed, eat breakfast, go to school and attend the same classes every. Then go home and fall into whatever afternoon routine there was. Eat, shower, go to sleep, wake up and do it all again. At times it became boring and there was always hope that the end was near, dreaming that graduation would come quickly. But there was always a pretty solid plan for five days of the week.
In college, it isn’t that simple. Most classes aren’t held five days a week; you don’t necessarily have a set time for lunch; and you have a whole lists of other things to take care of before the day is over. Plus, your classes aren’t picked for you. Yes, there was a small amount of freedom in high school, and there was the choice of which extracurricular classes you wanted to take, but that was about it. That’s the biggest issue for me. In high school, I always knew what I should be doing and what I was working toward until the day I graduated. I set goals for myself. I was determined. I went above and beyond what was asked of me in the high school setting. I excelled in sports, played in the band, was active in many clubs, took the ACT multiple times to reach the score I needed, and graduated with the class rank that I wanted — number one.
Now, everything is different. Am I saying that I need someone to hold my hand and tell me what to do? No. Life being different now isn’t a bad thing. What I’m saying is that life just isn’t as easy as it was for me two years ago. No, it’s not supposed to be and I didn’t expect it to be. I’m a young adult and at some point or another I’ll be out in the world completely on my own figuring things out for myself, but right now I’m just trying to be a decent college student.
I’m still just as determined to achieve greatness as I was two years ago, I’m just filled with a different type of determination. I’m determined to really make something of myself and to graduate with a degree that I can be successful with rather than have a 4.0 every semester. I just don’t know which direction to go in order to do so. It’s no secret that college students often change their major at least once or twice while in school. At least it is for me, having already changed my major once. As of now, I don’t intend to change it again and I don’t want to, but at the same time, I still don’t know what I want to do with my life. I enjoy doing lots of things and I think there’s several career paths that I could choose and be successful with. So, the question I continually ask myself is, “Which way should I go?”
Being told to pick my life path at 20 years old, 18 really, is a daunting task. College isn’t cheap and I can’t see the future in order to see what I’ll be doing with my life 10 years from now. It’s like I’m holding a map that I can’t read. I’m not necessarily scared because of this, it’s just stressful and worrisome at times. I guess I’ll just have to wait and see where the road I’m on takes me. I’ll continue to be determined, I’m just lacking direction.
