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A Letter To Who I Was When I Applied To College

I have just one piece of advice: it's okay to not know what you want from life.

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A Letter To Who I Was When I Applied To College
Abby Pieger

I have just one piece of advice: it's okay to not know what you want from life.

I know it all feels so scary now, but have faith in your choices, and know that wherever you end up is going to lead to some of the best memories of your life. As I write this, I am having a hard time believing that nearly four years ago I started looking into where my future would begin.

Would I end up in Virginia? Florida? New York? Would I study to be a speech pathologist or a nutritionist? Would I go in undecided? I thought I had to have it all figured out: the where, the what, and the how.


I am almost a college senior now, and the where, the what, and the how are often the most daunting parts of a future. I know that you thought applying to 12 different schools would somehow make this process easier, but it turned out that your future and your happiness were sitting right under your nose the whole time.

Curry College was not on your list of dream schools; it's totally okay to admit that. Massachusetts, (or New England, for that matter) was not exactly your idea of a dream come true. I'll be honest with you; it still isn't. Boston is great, but it's cold! That being said, I promise you that your doubts in the school will soon turn into hopes that these days will never die. I know you expected to come into college and have some sort of epiphany about yourself and your future. I'm sorry to tell you that it wasn't that easy. Your freshman and sophomore years were pretty mediocre, and you hopped from idea to idea of the perfect job. You dabbled with food science and exercise physiology, and even thought about double majoring in psychology (who knew, right?) to help youth with eating disorders.

You became pretty cool, I'm not going to lie.

But you went through nearly three years of experiences here without having a plan and I know how scary that is to you.

You started a club in your first year at Curry and when you felt insufficient, you pulled through and your club, HIPS, became the Club of the Year 2015-2016. You just finished your third year in the Orientation program, and climbed the ladder to be one of the Orientation coordinators for the summer of 2016. You won three awards in a two-year span.

When others doubted you, you proved them wrong and became an RA after first being told no. You don't think you're ever going to hear that word, and that you will simply succeed because you will be given all that you want, but you will actually succeed despite all of the "no"s. People are going to tell you that you can't do something, and I promise that you will prove them wrong.

I am about a month and a half away from my senior year, and now begins the application process all over again; grad school is calling your name. It took you a very long time, but you finally have some sort of idea about your future. Don't pass up the opportunities you are given, because it turns out your college job would become so much more. You have thrived since you left high school, and most of the time you had no idea who you were or what you were doing.

There was never anything wrong with that; you'll find your path.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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