I'm less than four months away from finishing college. The feeling is indescribable. I feel relieved that I won't have to deal with some of the struggles that come along with being a college student. However, one thing's for sure, I'm completely and utterly terrified. I'm being forced to leave something that I've known since my first day of kindergarten: routine. I mean, it's hard enough for me to sit still in the summer, let alone the supposed awkward waiting period between college graduation and getting a job. The most important thing, though, is that I'm trying to constantly remind myself that it's okay that I don't have it together. It's okay that I don't have a job lined up immediately after college. What matters is that I have a plan for after college and that I'm taking steps to achieve that plan right now.
However, our education system and social media platforms are pressuring high school kids into doing things they don't want to do. They're telling them how to solve wacky and unsolvable math or chemistry problems, but don't tell them how to file taxes or the basics of buying a house. I had an economics class my senior year of high school that consisted of us doing mindless book work with our tables and watching marathons of "Shark Tank." Needless to say, I don't know how the stock market works but I know how to finance my bearded dragon cafe business.
The horrible thing they tell you in high school is that you have to have your life figured out before you graduate. They practically expect you to have a timeline of your life by the end of your last day in high school. Whether you're reading this as a high schooler, an incoming college freshman, or a college senior trying to find her way around the real world like me, you need to know that you're not alone. That its completely okay to not have your life figure out right away. That things come with time and you have to trust in the timing. It'll all work out, I promise. You just have to keep trying to remind yourself. You don't have to have your life figured out by the time you're 25. It's okay to keep facing rejection. Keep a positive lookout and you are on your way to success.
And remember, Walt Disney was told that he didn't have great ideas, but look at him now. His legacy lives on through movies that we can watch 50 times over.
You're doing just fine.