We all remember very well being in elementary school being asked about what we wanted to be when we grew up. We dreamed the wild and extraordinary like an astronaut or pop diva. As a child, nothing seemed impossible. Going through high school, we dream about the amazing places we will go and the lives that we will impact. We start to think about college and the future, and we begin to wonder if we really know anything about our future or ourselves at all. It’s like adults expect us to hit 18 and our lives suddenly come together. This usually doesn’t happen.

If you have been in college for any amount of time, chances are you have switched majors on more than one account. I know of someone who had switched majors three times before the end of the first day of his freshman year. The truth is that the future is scary, and being asked to decide on your future when you are still trying to figure out yourself seems impossible. When people hear that you are in college, usually one of the first questions asked is about your major and what you plan on doing with the rest of your life. To all of you adults out there who ask this question, there is usually one answer that is unspoken. No matter what type of smile we try and put on for you or what type of conviction we answer in, at the end of the day, every college student ultimately has no idea what they are doing with their life.

I can want to be a science teacher, but with every single class I question my decision. I can want to be a biology major, but I have no idea what I plan on doing with that. I can want to be a nurse, but every single day I question if I can get through this. College is full of self-doubt. I question what I am doing with my life at least three times a day. No matter how much I might know what I want to do one day, who knows what I am going to do the next. In life, you meet so many new people and explore so many new things; who knows where I am going to end up.

There are some people that are very lucky that they have always known what they wanted to do. I have never been that person. But I think that is okay. I think it is okay to not know what I am going to be doing tomorrow. Nothing about the future is known, so what is wrong with questioning it? I don’t want to plan out everything only to discover something tomorrow that I have a passion for that I didn’t expect. Life works that way sometimes. Everyone has different passions that they wish they could make a career out of. The day that I can combine writing, makeup, Netflix, pizza, and helping others into one career, I will be set. Until then, I am okay with saying I am a college student who questions every single day if I am on the right path. It is okay to not know because I am one of those people who likes to believe that the best things in life are found hiding in the unknown.

So to all of you undecided freshman out there, breath. College is great, and you have plenty of time to figure out the future. To you sophomores who feel like you should have answers by now, it’s okay. To you juniors and seniors who question every day if your degree will even be worth it or if you made the right decision, have faith in yourself. Honestly, I will probably always wonder what my life would end up being if I decided to pursue creative writing. I will always wonder where I would be had I stuck with cosmetology. I will always wonder where I would be had I decided to stay with neuroscience. I don’t know the answer to these questions, but I do know that the future looks bright wherever it is that I do end up. And I can’t wait for it.