Picture if you will: A kindergarten graduation. Four-year-old Emily is wearing a paper graduation cap and holding a little rolled up piece of paper with a ribbon around it. The graduates were asked what they wanted to be when they grew up and their answer was announced with their name. So it went as follows, “Emily Guth. She would like to be a hairdresser when she grows up.” My parents giggled.

That phase, as well as the painter, cook, and model phases, lasted for all of a day at most (or maybe a full season of "America’s Next Top Model"). Anyone who knows me now knows that my hairdressing capabilities don’t extend past a ponytail, I can’t draw/paint to save my life, I can’t cook anything remotely edible, and, well, I’m not a size 0. I’ve never really known what I wanted to be when I grew up. I suppose I figured I would follow in my parents’ and older brother’s footsteps and be a music teacher. It only took a year of music theory class in high school to rule that one out. The only thing I ever did with passion while growing up was dance, but I never saw myself doing it for a living. Needless to say, I’ve always been superbly jealous of the kid who wanted to be a doctor in elementary school and is now about to graduate from med school. I’ve never been anywhere near that kind of person.

When the time came to apply to college, I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what I could do. How could I contribute to society? I honestly wasn’t sure. I applied to a few dance programs (8 a.m. ballet was not for me), I got into photography school (art school, also not my thing), and got into one school on an academic decision then backed out of my dance audition because I was scared I wouldn’t get in. That last school, Marymount Manhattan, was where I ended up, although I had no idea what I would study when I got there.

So I moved to New York to attend Marymount when I was 17. I didn’t really have a plan but the kind-of plan was to go for a semester, get some gen-eds out of the way, and then decide what I wanted to major in and declare it for my second semester. My interest turned towards the Musical Theatre program. Then I got bored. I would’ve had to endure another semester of gen-eds before declaring that major, and I couldn’t think of anything worse. So I declared a stage management major. Why? Who knows. No surprise, stage management, also not my thing.

By spring break of my freshman year, I was miserable. I told my parents I wanted to transfer. When they asked what I wanted to do, I said I wanted to do theatre, but without the gen-eds. Now, I’m not sure if that was really what I wanted to do, I just wanted out of where I was, and theatre was something I had been surrounded by while growing up and I thought maybe I’d fit in there. So, after some searching, I auditioned for and got into the 2-year Professional Training program at CAP21 Conservatory.

I didn’t really know what I was facing. I wasn’t an actor, I could sing fairly well (thank you choral director blood), but I was a great dancer, and I thought that’d be enough to get by. WRONG! My two years at CAP were the hardest but most rewarding two years of my life. I changed for the better as a person and as an artist but, yup, you guessed it, I still wasn’t happy! I didn’t have that crazy love for acting and for this career that my friends possessed. I didn’t want to audition everyday of my grown-up life and I realized that dancing was the thing I did for me, not for others to judge. Somewhere in my two years, I found a love of feeling strong and healthy-- two things you needed to get through that program. So I decided to, once more, head to a new school and work towards my bachelors in exercise science. I’ve never felt more sure of a decision in my life. I had finally had the lightbulb moment that flashed, So this is what it feels like to know you’ve made the right decision.

My point? EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON! I truly believe you end up where you should be. If I hadn’t moved to New York, I wouldn’t have found CAP. If I hadn’t gone to CAP I wouldn't have met my collection of amazing friends and great mentors and I wouldn’t have discovered what I really love. My education at CAP was a stepping stone to where I am right now. I don’t regret for a second spending the money on my two years there. They were two of the best years of my life, and I gained a family who will be with me for years to come; and I will use my new education to help that family in any way I can.

Let’s look at the stats:

• 80 percent of college students change their major at least once
• 51 percent of college students transfer schools at least once
• 27 percent of college students don’t end up working in their chosen field
• Students who take a “gap year” tend to be more successful in school
• 20-50 percent of students come to school undecided/undeclared

It's ok, to change your mind. It's okay to transfer. It's even ok to take a gap year. You're human! Do what's best for you and no one else but you!