As a second-year Master's student, one of the things I find myself doing more and more, other than adulting against my will, is starting to plan for my future. The referee of life has made some good calls for me and I'm blessed to be coming out of an education with the opportunity to live where I want and dedicate my life to a field of work I'm truly passionate about. Through all these plans for the future, however, there's such a variety of variables to take into account I had never planned for. With a year left to go until the real-living starts, the following are just a few discussion points that you may encounter on your grand adventure as well!

1. The Importance of Living Near Family

When planning for the future, without even having any real idea what it will look like, one of the most frequent thoughts popping up is my family. Will I end up near my immediate family? Luckily, I've been blessed with an incredibly close relationship with my parents. As a young college kid, going back home has been an idea on the back-burner, like many of my colleagues who have been living away from home for so long now that every new stop feels like home too. You start falling in love with the idea of going everywhere and seeing everything and trying every restaurant in a single zip code... going home seems intangible. But keeping in mind the importance of living near family and visiting frequently still sits in my mind and is a huge goal (whether sooner or later).

2. Planning Life With Another Person

Once things start getting serious with a significant other, a new equation parallel to your own starts forming. This person has their own goals, their own life passions, their own history and future that they decide is important enough to include you - so it's important to include them too! Having never done so myself (but hopefully will in the future), starting out into a new life with someone in a new place in new careers seems SCARY. But with the right person, and the right planning ahead of time, nothing seems scary anymore. Like anything in relationships, communication is key - have the discussions that may sometimes feel uncomfortable, but always leave the discussions with "We will make it through, and it will all work out." Because it always will.

3. Seeing Who You Want To Be In 5, 10, and 20 Years

I try my best to see myself in the upcoming years, even though you can never predict what the life referee will call in the second and third quarter. Regardless of your accuracy, I've always been taught to plan for all the stages of your life before you're in them, and you'll be less stressed; whether it means securing finances, what you want your lifestyle to look like, or milestones you want to reach. Thinking about where I'm going to be can be intimidating, especially thinking about making everyone I care about proud along the way. But at the end of the day, you can only do what you can do, and knowing that each milestone I meet or miss is meant to be keeps me at peace.

There's a lot of us graduating college and wondering what's waiting for us on the other side (aside from death and taxes), but there are so many amazing people and places I know I'll meet along the way that my mind stays at ease. Keeping your major priorities in check and staying true to the people you want to keep with you, in my opinion, is one of the most important ways to set yourself up for success. I don't really know where I'm heading, or where I want to end up, but the road along the way is going to be pretty sweet - I've got a vibe. And so will yours.