I envy those that knew exactly what they’ve wanted to do for their career since they were little. One day they wake up and say, “When I grow up I’m going to be a doctor” or, “When I grow up I’m going to be an engineer,” or a teacher, or a veterinarian, or a pilot … whatever the career, they’ve known it’s exactly what they wanted their entire lives, so when they’re older, they make it happen.

Honestly, while I love my major, as I enter my junior year in college, I’ve realized that I’m still unsure exactly what I want to do with my life. Going into college, I had a set plan on what I was going to study, what I was going to do once I graduated from college, where I was going to live … everything was already decided. So when I first came to this realization, I was terrified; but after a few months of reflection, I realized it’s OK to be a college student and still have unknowns about your future after college.

Earlier this year, I applied for a couple of different internships that were within my major of advertising and marketing. Out of all the places I applied, one stood out in particular as a place I could honestly see myself working at after college; so as you could imagine, when I discovered that I did not receive the marketing internship position I had applied for, I was devastated. However, I was offered an internship in a different position, and being that I really loved the company, I took the offer. I figured that if I was already second-guessing what it is I wanted to do after college, I could use this experience to determine if I could see myself going down a different path in the future.

Well, here we are about a month into my internship in a position that has absolutely nothing to do with the major I’m studying, and I couldn’t be happier. I’m learning so much every single day, whether it’s general knowledge about the company and what we do, to different programs, to new people-skills that I’ve never really thought to be that important. Regardless of the fact that I make an hour commute to work and back every day, I never dread it; work is always something that I look forward to.

Now I’m not exactly saying that what I’m currently doing with my internship is what I want to be doing as a career for the rest of my life. But I’m also not saying that what I’m studying as my major isn’t what I want to do as a career for the rest of my life, either. Instead, what I’m trying to say is that I’m not exactly sure what I want to be doing, and that’s perfectly fine. To be honest, I enjoy not having a set plan for my future, because it opens me up for more opportunities to gain a variety of experiences that will benefit me in the future with whatever career path I do end up going down.

I feel that while in college, the perceived message is that if you don’t know what your job and/or career is going to be out of college, you’re done for. That’s definitely what I thought for my first couple of years in college … but not anymore. As long as you work hard at whatever you’re doing, have a good attitude and sincerely enjoy what you’re doing, no matter when you discover what it is that you want to make as a career for the rest of your life, you’re going to be successful. So if you’re a college student and aren’t exactly positive what you want to do for the rest of your life, no need to worry … everything is going to work out perfect.