One year ago, I would have told you I knew exactly where I was going and what my life would look like years from now. Anyone who knows me knows that I have a plan, and I never ever stray from it. I do not like things to not go my way.

As I planned another one of those “Things College Taught Me” articles, I decided to instead focus on the one thing college taught me the most. That no matter what your plan is and how dead set you are on it, that will not be the plan you end up with at the end of your first year of college. No matter how stubborn you are about it, you will end college with the least amount of ideas as to where you are actually heading.

You will know your major, where you are living next year, and maybe your summer job. But you will not know what the next summer is going to look like, or the one after that, and for sure will not know what you are going to be doing after graduation. College is going to knock you off your feet, kick you a few times while you are down, and then extend a hand to try and help you back up.

All of this is to teach a lesson though. Everyone talks about God’s plan for them, and where He will get you; that you just have to trust Him. I know that as a college student, something this big is hard to just say “wherever it leads me, it leads me.” But, you have to.

The first year of college is going be one of the craziest experiences of your life. You will not realize how much you’ve changed until the last few weeks of school, and you reflect back on everything from friends back home, to friends here, and family. You will begin to see that you have changed so much, and that is why things in your plan do not always go “to plan.”

How can a plan that was designed around who you were then work around who you are now? It can’t, and it won’t. So, don’t try to fight for it. Let things just be how they are, and take things one day at a time.

My biggest thing this last month of college has just been taking things one day at a time. I’m trying to figure out who I am now that so much has changed over the last year. While I still have some friends from high school, and I’ve got my family, I have this whole new life started in some completely different part of the country.

But don’t spend so much time trying to find those “three words” that describe you. Spend time just enjoying the mystery of it all, and working towards who you think you want to be. Do not say you want to be outgoing and adventurous, but rather morally sound or driven. Strive towards values, not traits. Traits comes along with the values. It just takes time.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” — Jeremiah 29:11