Ironically enough, the questions we are asked by people we meet for the first time are the most important and life-turning questions that we happen to be still looking for the answers. These questions could be about the classes one is taking, their major, their ultimate life goal, and even when they plan on getting married. While it may be difficult to answer these questions, you’re not held accountable if you suddenly decide to pursue another career, or run away a day before your wedding by these strangers.
It is much more stressful when your parents, professors, or relatives ask those questions because you’re supposed to be certain and you’re supposed to have a plan. As a child and young adult, I wanted to be a doctor, then an astronaut, a lawyer, an engineer, a scientist, back to engineering, then both engineering and law (currently). I suddenly have sparked an interest in architecture, and believe it or not, medicine once again. The past year, I’ve officially changed my major three times, and three million more in my mind.
Many of those key elements in our lives are not as important as we hold them to be. Being healthy, alive, and surrounded by our friends and families is a blessing many of us take for granted. We may feel anxiety and depression that we are not living our childhood dreams, or changing the world, but what about the fact that you’re breathing this second, and reading this?
Even now, as I’m taking my pre-mechanical engineering classes at UW, I am seriously expecting the possibility that one day I decide to drop it all, and focus on a humanities-focused major, such as Law, Societies, and Justice, or Political Science.
Everyday, people are born, people die, and the cycle goes on forever. Medicine is advancing and cures for incurable diseases are found. Animals go extinct, and new species are found. Our thoughts, options, opinions, and even lifestyles are exposed to change every second, and that is completely normal and perfectly acceptable.
Accepting the reality of our curious, ever-growing minds is more comforting than stressing about your future job in 10 years or the number of kids you’re planning to have in 20. The stranger sitting in the subway next to you could be your best friend in a week, or your childhood best friend could be your worst enemy in the next years.
Just know you are not alone. We all see the people around us having every minute of their day planned for the next ten years, but is that normal? How can one predict the future and the outcomes of every risk they take? It is impossible, even if you take in all the possible outcomes and their probabilities, the steps you take in a day, and even the number of times your heart beats in a milli-second.
To all the incoming freshman, just like myself, trust me, no one has it all together and planned out, even if it looks like it. I am writing this as a letter to myself to take things easier and lighter, to work hard but to also put myself, my health, and my everyday blessings first.
