“What are you planning to major in?”
“What do you want to do once you graduate?”
“Where do you see yourself in ten years?”
Lately I’ve been hit with an onslaught of questions from concerned family members and curious friends regarding my future. It seems like just yesterday I was being asked where I wanted to go to college. And now I’m just supposed to have my entire life figured out? Well, I don’t. Not even in the slightest.
Newsflash: I’m only 19 years old and I am NOT ready to plan the rest of my life. Please, I can barely plan out my weekends without having a mental breakdown. How do you expect me to plan out career path?
It’s not like I have a better idea than the current college system in place. I most certainly don’t. But I do think it’s crazy to have to decide the trajectory of my life before I can even have my first legal alcoholic drink.
Even if I were to select a career path right now, what if I end up hating it? What if I can’t find a job after graduation? What if I can’t get into graduate school? What if I wish I had chosen a different major?
It’s not like I can just pack my bags and head back to the University of Michigan for another four years. As much as I wish it wasn’t true, we get four years here and then it will be time to move on with our lives. I will truly be an adult and I will have to face the “real world” on my own, like it or not. To say the least, that's scary.
I’ve always had a plan for my future. In high school, I knew I wanted to go to the University of Michigan before I even started my freshman year. But now, the path seems so uncertain. I can’t even decide what I want to study, let alone my future plans.
I might be crazy for worrying about these things right now. After all, I’m just a sophomore. But as I watch this year’s graduating class walk across the stage, I know that in a few short years that will be me.
So I’ve decided to embrace this uncertainty instead of fearing it. I am lucky enough to attend one of the top public universities in the entire world, and I plan to take advantage of every opportunity given to me. Maybe I didn’t walk into my first class freshman year knowing exactly what I wanted to do with my life.
But I know one day I’ll figure it out.
