What do you want to do with your life?

This question is the bane of every college student’s existence.

It is asked by well-meaning family members, professors, peers, family friends, Dentists, baristas and perfect strangers in line at Target.

You think I’m over exaggerating? I promise, I’m not. Ask any college student ever.

The problem is, this question is natural. It is so natural that I find myself asking it to other college students forgetting how much it perturbs me.

So, to all of my fellow college students being bombarded with questions about your future, I simply want you to know that you are not alone.

The future is the future for a reason. It is the unknown. You are not supposed to know because guess what, you are not a psychic (at least most of us aren’t).

No matter how much you plan and prepare and organize for the future, you will never be fully equipped to know what it holds. The future is a mystery for a reason. If we knew what every second of every day for the rest of our lives was going to look like, then we would be ridiculously bored.

I know it's hard. In high school, we knew exactly what we wanted, right? We knew that we wanted to go to college and we had a pretty good idea of where we wanted to go. Without a question, we knew what the next step in our lives was going to be.

Now, we’re in college. Every day we face the white elephant in the room that is the rest of our lives. The options are endless. Grad school, gap years, internships, jobs, marriage, move home, live on your own, volunteer and the list goes on.

And then, there’s what exactly we want to do with our vague business or communications major.

So…what do you want to do with your life?

(Insert college students spewing out a variety of unrelated ideas and opportunities in the hopes to trick the questioner into thinking that they actually have their lives completely figured out.)

Seriously, stop.

You’re not fooling anyone.

Just admit that you don’t know. You’re not supposed to know.

College is a time to figure life out. So, take some time to do just that. Stop stressing about the future and enjoy the only thing that you can be completely sure about right now…the present.

Take each moment as it comes. Face every single day, one at a time. Most importantly, make the most out of this chaotic confused jumbled mess that is college.

Try a lot of new things. Travel. Eat weird food. Go a little crazy. Work really hard at school. Take a class outside of your major just because. Volunteer. Read as many books as you can get your hands on. Spend time alone. Meet as many people as possible. Make time for a hobby. Delve into the community around your college. Appreciate your family. Stress, but don’t stress too much. Have fun. And, most importantly, learn a lot.

That’s what college is all about. It is about new experiences and learning. I don’t mean mere classroom learning, I mean really learning about life, the world, people and yourself. These learning experiences are not always easy, but hey, they call them growing pains for a reason.

So, to the confused college students desperately searching for an answer to the omnipresent question is stop stressing and enjoy the journey. You are far from alone and I promise, everything will be OK.

Enjoy the present because right now, that’s all we have.