My life has been pre-planned since the womb.
I will go to kindergarten through 12th grade. I will get involved in some sort of school activity. I will graduate. I will go to college and graduate. I will get married and get a job. I will have kids. I will retire. I will die.
My parents didn't tell me what I would be doing, though. It is the society in which we live in that dictates the "normal" path of an "average" American life and so far, I'm on track to being average.
Go to high school and graduate? Check.
Get involved in school activity? Check.
Attend college? Check (+ bonus points for being involved in intercollegiate athletics).
Luckily, I'm still a freshman and have plenty of time to figure out what I want to do after college (and by plenty of time, I mean 15 more months). And then when I graduate in 39 months, I will only be 21 so there will still be a few years left to find a husband. And a few more to have kids, a stable job, and a house. And then 18 years to figure out what I want to do once I retire/my kids leave the house. And then I'll have my own time to figure out my final years of life if I plan right and save enough money. (A little too morbid?)
But I am a second-semester college freshman and instead of browsing the web for internship opportunities near my hometown so I can "get ahead of the curve," I am watching Netflix or scrolling through Facebook or Instagram, finding inspiration for the next big thing I want to add to my bucket list. White water rafting in Bosnia? Um, yes please. Go see the Northern Lights in Ireland? For sure. Go snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef with my dad? Without a doubt. Summer road trip across America with friends? YEET!
Unfortunately, a girl my age and with my budget (of about $0) leaves my lofty aspirations as just big dreams and a future working a 9 to 5 job all the more miserable-sounding. Don't get me wrong, I want to get married, have kids, and hopefully find a job I love but it's all so planned. I don't want to graduate college in May 2020 and get right to work. I wish I could spend years of my life traveling and gaining experience with the world before I had to settle down but that isn't in the cards society has laid out for the "average" American but today, I don't want to be average.
We have limited time on this planet and it's up to you to make the most of it. It's time to realize that complaining and making excuses won't earn you a paycheck, but hard work and passion will. I'm excited for what I decide I want to do because I know whatever it is will be amazing. I have already been afforded once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, such as being born into a family who loves and supports my dreams and running D1 at Elon. For some, that sounds clichè and normal but for so many more out there who will probably never get a chance to even look at a computer let alone my article, it's not.
In my life, I want to go out and break the institutionalized molds we've build up as a society. I don't ever want to just go through the motions or just get through a day because you never know how many more days you're going to have left. I'm so thankful for the life that chose me. The structure and certainty is almost a given but now is the time to realize that it's up to you and me to go out there and make the most of the life that we want.
