It’s nearly impossible to be a confused college student. Either you don’t understand your classes or you don’t understand who you are. College is known as the place to find yourself but that’s not always true for everyone. There is so much to be done and a spiritual journey takes a lot of work.

When I ask family or the Career Center for advice, I don’t want to hear, “Just do what you want!” If I knew what I wanted, I probably wouldn’t be asking for advice. Because I don’t have a passion, I thought my future would be bleak.

Why is it so hard to tell people that I don’t know what I want?

Honestly, if I could do whatever I wanted, I’d probably be traveling the world. Not taking one too many calculus classes. But the problem is that I need to mentally and financially support myself and my future. Unfortunately, treating myself doesn’t pay the bills.

When I ask for advice, I want to know about the best options for my circumstance and for my talents. It’s like if you ask someone what you should eat and they say “Just eat what you want!” Well if I could eat whatever I want, I would be eating nachos right now. Not asking you if I should eat them. Instead, I’m asking you to help me check my cupboards for ingredients to see what I can realistically do. But I know that beggars should not be choosy. I am asking for advice and will have to take what I get. But logistically, I think it would beneficial for both parties if we could move on from this constant type of advice.

I have been given this advice so many times that I actually started to think that everyone had their lives together. I was upset because I assumed that all of my friends had passions and that their futures were figured out. I had finally found out that a majority of my college peers were also confused more than a year into my college career.

For the longest time, I thought I was behind because I couldn’t find a passion that clicked. I could find majors that I could do well in but none really ignited a fire within me. I think this skewed train of thought was detrimental for my psyche, I stressed more because I didn’t think I was happy enough.

I must be honest, advice is hard to dish out. Especially when it’s about someone’s future or college related topics. I am not even sure how I would answer most of the questions that I have asked about about life. But I do know that I wish I could be given more realistic advice. Advice can change how you feel and what you prioritize; I have been given advice that actually did more harm than good. And I guess that this article could be taken as a piece of advice on its own.