I am going into my senior year of college. Where does the time go?! Being this far in my educational career means hearing that dreaded question, "What are your plans after graduation?" In which I want to reply, "I have no clue. I don't even know what I want to wear when I get dressed in the morning, let alone what I want to do with the rest of my life." But no worries, my response is a much nicer guess in what I may possibly be doing, but that often changes weekly. And that is OK.
I have grown up in an age where people expect everyone to have their lives mapped out. Everyone seems to go into college knowing exactly what they want to do, follow a path and eventually reach their ultimate goal, whatever it may be. I, on the other hand, tend to be an outlier. I have switched my major, dropped a minor and picked up a new minor. I have continuously transformed my career plans — from dentistry, to teaching middle school, to wanting to be a professor, to speech pathology to doing something in the marketing industry — if you can name a career, I've most likely considered it.
While people are figuring their lives out, I'm sitting here thinking, "Why is everyone in such a rush?" There is nothing wrong with people who know what they want to do with their lives, in fact, I used to envy those people. But I realized everyone is on their own path and I've accepted the fact that whatever I'm meant to do will come. Trust me, I have freaked out about my future. But my dad always calms me down by saying, "You are 21. You are not supposed to have the rest of your life figured out. I had no idea what I wanted to do after college and I turned out just fine." He really puts things into perspective for me.
It's been a blessing, in a way, exploring so many career options. I find out more about myself every time I decide if the option is something I could see myself enjoying in the future. It can be stressful not knowing about my future, but this is the one time in my life I can explore. I have options. When I graduate from college come spring, my world is a blank canvas. I get to take the knowledge I have gained from my many, many years of education and either further my education or put it to use out in the real world. I really have nothing holding me back (except paying back my student loans, but shh) and I know it will be such an exciting time in my life. I am young, full of energy and I cannot wait to see where my journey takes me in this thing called life.
So, to anyone reading this who also does not know what they are doing with their lives: DO NOT WORRY. You are not alone.Trial and error is a beautiful thing, and we will find the paths we are meant to be on eventually. But for now, I am going to continue exploring my options and enjoy my last year of college. Wow, time sure does fly by.
