It feels like literally a week ago that I was a freshman crying behind my sunglasses as my parents said their goodbyes. I remember exactly what I wore, that I wished I had listened to my mom and gotten a haircut, that the sandwiches I stole from the picnic were going to go bad, and that I must be getting punished for living in a room with other people and no air conditioning.
Skip ahead four years and I am suddenly a senior. I feel like I barely have any memories of the time in between (and no, that is not solely due to tequila). These four years have flown.
Now I find myself dodging this new question. In high school it was, "So where are you going to college?" Now it's the dreaded, "So what are you doing after college?" Being asked what you are doing after graduation is like getting asked what you are doing after your funeral. "Like maybe dying idk??"
What I really should say is, "What do you mean 'after?' I just got here! I can't graduate! I need more time! I'M TOO YOUNG TO WORK!"
But, what I really say is, **(nervous laughter)** "Hopefully starting out at my dream job!"
Note: I don't actually know what that dream job is because I don't know what I want to do. Yes I took four years worth of classes, and even enjoyed some of them, but that hardly makes me qualified to be a professional adult. Right now, I can't even decide if I should go out tonight, let alone what I am doing with my future. I'm still a kid who would rather use plastic-wear than wash a dish and I iron my clothes with a straightener. I'm not ready to sit at a desk for 8 hours a day doing research and attending meetings.
The next time you are going to ask a senior what they are doing after school, bite your tongue and swallow your success. Because maybe you had it figured out when you were our age, but I guarantee a majority of us do not. The better question to ask would be, "What do you not want to do after college?" I feel like everyone knows the answer to that. I know I don't want to be back at home, job hunting from my computer in a room that hasn't been redecorated since 4th grade. I do see a life for myself outside my college and my hometown, I just don't know where that life is yet. So let me live and let me graduate in peace (and tears).
