“Wow. Last semester of college! You must be so excited to get out of that place! Are you ready?”
“Are you ready?” The question that seems to keep nudging at me no matter how many times I say, “Oh, are you kidding?! Of course I am.”
Am I ready? Am I ready to be pushed out of the nest and forced to fly on my own? I mean, I feel like I blinked and suddenly, I’m taking pictures in my cap and gown. I feel like if l blink again, I’ll be on stage receiving my diploma. Four years. Four years gone and still no idea what I’m doing. Four years of studying Psychology and I have yet to find my greatest passion. Am I ready?
To be completely honest, I feel like I’m having a mid-life crisis at the age of 21. There are a million questions running through my mind about what my future could be and if I set myself up for failure or for success. Will I be living in a city or somewhere closer to home? If I’m in a city, will I be in LA or NYC? Will I be working at a desk all day or running around a set fetching coffee for directors and actors? Do I want to be doing any of those things? Do I want to be one of those directors or actors? Did I even choose the right major? Am I ready to graduate?
Obviously, I panic and frantically explain to my best friend that I feel like I haven’t accomplished half of what I wish I would have by the age of 21. I finally say out loud that I may not be ready. I am absolutely terrified to graduate. In response to my minor freak-out, she told me, “You’ve worked extremely hard to get to where you are today and have the rest of your life to figure out what you want to do. You aren’t bound to the first job you get out of college. Not knowing what you want to do is the fun of it. You get to explore.”
You get to explore. I could potentially do all those things in my lifetime. I could live in NYC and LA. I could have a desk job. I could work on a set of a show. I could even (attempt) to be in one of those shows.
It’s okay to not know what the heck you’re doing with your life right now. Exploring your options is never a bad thing. Although it may seem like everyone has their lives together, a lot of people don’t. There are some people who are still trying to find what they love to do at the age of 40. That’s okay. You’ve worked hard to get to the places you are today and although it may take some time, you will find a path that makes you happy. You are ready.
