The word "future" is sometimes viewed as daunting and overwhelming, I couldn't agree more.

What's interesting about the future is it's inclusivity of every living human. Whether you're five or ninety-five, poor or rich, black or white - a future is a constant variable in every person's life.

Although the idea of the future is constantly present in your life at every stage, it's extremely prominent around Junior and Senior year of high school. At this time, you're suffocating in expectations. Getting good grades and scoring high on standardized tests are important to be accepted into college. Colleges like "well-rounded" students, therefore you should volunteer, be involved in clubs, play sports, pursue music, art, work, and in your spare time maintain a social life. While juggling all of that, you should be planning what you want your major and minor to be in college, how you're going to pay for college, as well as what career you want to pursue after high school or college.

I often feel like we are expected to have a map of our future, highlighting the starting route with every pit stop along the way until the end destination. How, after living roughly a sixth of your life are you supposed to pick a profession that you'll end up with for forty or more years until retirement? Every day I add to my lengthy interests and passions list, yet I need to narrow it down to one. If you're one of the lucky ones who lack a list of professions a mile long, how do you know the career you end up choosing is the right one? How do you know you'll still hold a passion for it ten years down the road?

There is a recurring theme with college, careers, and the future: uncertainty. Uncertainty is the real culprit casting a daunting image of the future. Yes, the idea of choosing one college out of thousands or a life long job is nerve-wracking, but the real fear is of the unknown. If only colleges could be chosen by visiting every one and confidently checking them off your list. Being a doctor sounds intriguing, but what if five years into medical school you find a love for teaching? The passion you were sure you had for medicine is now overwhelmed by your passion for teaching. If only there was time and money to try out every college and profession under the sun. Because there are so many different schools and careers, we can't sort through them all. It would take ages to learn about every college and career, that unknown is what scares us. The future can be planned out years in advance, but how it truly plays out is almost never how it was expected to. That's why the word "future" holds such a nerve-wracking reputation with young adults, there's never a foolproof plan.