Being a student Über driver in a big college town, I get asked various questions. Most are drunk confessions in the back seat followed by the occasional invite to hangout. But, one of the most popular questions I get is, “What do you want to do with your life?” My response is generally the same, “I don’t know what I want to do with my life”. The reaction I receive from the rider is usually something along the lines of, “Oh thank God, I don’t know what I want to do either!” The fact of the matter is, not many college students know what they want to do and THAT’S OKAY. Honestly, I don’t think I could actually trust anyone who knows EXACTLY what they want to do for the rest of their life. Besides you nursing majors who will probably be helping my future wife give birth. Trust me, it’s better you than me. I give props to those who do know exactly what they want to do. But, I’m here to calm down the larger crowd who doesn’t know what they want to do.

Young adults these days are pressured to know exactly what they want to do with the rest of their life. What kind of job do you want? Where do you want to live? What kind of retirement fund do you want? It’s almost expected of you to just get out of college find a long term job and basically work there until you rot in the ground.

Yes I get it, you want a job to pay off these nasty college loans. So do I, but I also don’t feel like sitting in a cubical nine hours a day and five days a week until type two diabetes sits in. Don’t stress about it too much! I for one, along with others, know nothing about our future. I couldn’t tell you what I’m going to eat for dinner tomorrow. I change my mind daily and will change my mind many more times.

Personally I wanted to be a chef, a pro baseball player, an actor, a writer, a music producer etc. Honestly I still want to do/be some of those things. I have been to five different schools since I graduated high school. I won’t give bore you with all the details but; I went to culinary arts school and played college baseball, then a community college, then a small college for theatre, then back to community college, followed by acting school in Manhattan, and now UMass Amherst.

In doing all that moving around I found so many things I loved but also things I disliked. What you need to understand is its okay to not know anything about what you want to do for a career. It’s okay to want to do numerous things and to not know anything about your potential future. You live in America and go to college; which gives you the chance to do anything you want! People change their minds constantly, and as I’m writing this I probably have changed my mind. There are people everywhere who change careers multiple times in their lives because they have so many different interests and passions. Ken Jeong, the actor who plays Chang in the Hangover, was a licensed DOCTOR before he became an actor. Your major doesn’t determine your job! A friend told me that the Deputy Warden at South Dakota state prison was a computer science major; go figure right?

Now isn’t not knowing anything about your future part of the adventure? Not knowing what you want to do may be the biggest blessing in disguise. It gives you time to go out and explore the world while finding things you love and hate. You’ll find areas you never knew existed. Experience different cultures and people. You might even find someone who reinvents the word magic to you in the form of love. Not knowing what you want to do for the rest of your life gives you the chance to explore yourself and the world.

So coming from a guy who knows nothing about his future, my advice to you is stop worrying about your future. Yes go to career fairs, pass your classes and apply for jobs; but don’t let the mystery about where you’re going to be in the next 5 years run your life! If there are things you want to do that you’ve never tried, now is time to do them. Enjoy your time in college, enjoy your friends, and your experiences. Don’t be afraid to screw up, this is the time where making mistakes can help shape you and your future. Find the things you love and find the things you hate so you don’t have to do them ever again. It’s so cliché, but you do have limited time in life. Why not try and experience the majority of the things you want to do? Never be afraid to say “I don’t know” because truth is, no one really knows.

So next time you’re asked by a classmate, family member, or stranger about what you want to do with your life; just say “Everything.”

via">http://giphy.com/gifs/make-ok-everything-eUbGqYTpW... GIPHY