This semester, I'm starting my third semester of graduate education. Or, the third semester of my second attempt at a master's degree. I am 28 and just working on a master's degree now. Actually, it's my second time around working on a master's degree. I was under the impression when I was 18 and a freshman in college that I had to have it all figured out. I thought I had to know what I was going to do with the rest of my life. Three college majors and two rounds of graduate education (with no master's degree of yet) and I still don't have it all figured out.
I started college in August of 2008 with an intention with no idea what I wanted to major in, but with a scholarship to be a teacher. So I began taking education classes along with classes in history. My sophomore year rolled around and I was informed by a couple of professors that I was not doing so hotly in my education classes, so I dropped my education licensure and just pursued my history degree. Well, junior year rolled around and I decided that instead of looking into graduate work in history I would graduate a semester early and look into another field.
I studied that field for four and a half of the six semesters of work that a Master's degree would have taken and decided that I could not see myself doing that work for the rest of my life. I took a couple of years off to work a job that honestly I was not really invested in, and that was not that hard. During that two years, I was determined to figure out what I wanted to do with my life, what I was destined to do. I had an inkling that I would make a good mental health counselor so I researched programs, talked to professionals in the field, and visited schools. I applied to six programs and got into one. I knew it was meant to be that I got into that one program, and so far as I have begun my studies it has been a tough, but wonderful ride.
When it comes to knowing what I am supposed to be doing with the rest of my life the only thing I've figured out is I don't have anything figured out. I know that I am loving what I am learning in school for the first time in my life. Sure, I don't love every day, or every class, or every assignment, but for the most part, I'm thrilled to be learning to be a mental health counselor. So if you don't have it all figured out today, don't worry. Take it one class at a time, one assignment at a time, one day at a time, and enjoy the journey.
