Every college student goes through a catalog of answers when we meet an adult interested in our education: “Are you in school? Where do you go? When do you graduate? What’s your major?” I’m sure this depends on what major you are, (if you’re pre-med then you probably get an entirely different set of questions); but, for someone who is going after a Sociology/Anthropology and Theatre Arts degree (cough cough), it usually tends to go like this:

Them: "So what are you majoring in?"

You: [insert major that doesn’t give them a direct career]

Them: "Oh!" *awkward silence* "What do you plan to do with that?"

And here’s the big answer: We have no idea.

And frankly, if I’m just trying to get through my day, the last thing I need is a constant reminder of my surmounting debt that has no guaranteed promise of a paycheck viable enough to support my addiction to vitamin water and peanut butter.

Sometimes we try to make up for our lack of security, tell people we’re looking into law school, master's degrees, maybe go on "America’s Next Top Model" (if it really is getting rebooted, which it better be). This is not to insult people genuinely looking into these programs, trust me I am too, but we don’t mention this because the person is sincerely taking long-term interest into our educational or professional careers. We tell the three older men at our table because whenever we don’t mention that we’re in school, you’re told by another waitress that they said you “should have listened to your mother and gone to college!”

Yes, that really happened.

We want these distant relatives, acquaintances, and restaurant patrons to not only accept our futures; but to be proud of our actions and decisions. We seek the approval of complete strangers, and why?

Maybe our parents know we don’t have a detailed plan, maybe your institution is trying to narrow down your interests or make you double major in a language instead of an art. Or maybe you’re just worried about your future after college, and when you tell that restaurant patron “Oh! I’m going to work at Buzzfeed!” or “I’m looking into law school” (I’ve said both of these), it helps you convince your worst critic (yourself) that you have everything under control.

But, the fact is, none of us really know what happens after we walk across that stage. We’re all just trying to prove to one another that we’re the most put together, that we are the most adult person in our class and we are ready to take over the world.

And you know what? I think we will take over the world, because our majors or plans don’t determine our worth, we do.