Preparing for college graduation can be a daunting prospect. Perhaps what’s more intimidating is the idea that there is a life (and hopefully a career) after.
Many college students look forward to ending the education chapter in their lives—as they should. Finishing college is a major accomplishment. According to the Institute for Education Sciences (IES), roughly 50 percent of students seeking a Bachelor’s Degree actually end up receiving a diploma. This means that over half of people who start college end up dropping out for one reason or another.
As graduation approaches, I hear many of my fellow classmates talking about the life following graduation; this is where the work begins. Some extraordinary people have their ideal life and career mapped out—according to a statistic by the IES, less than 25 percent of people wind up having the career they anticipated. Life happens and that’s okay. For most of us , finding out how we want to spend the rest of our lives is a situation of trial and error.
Earlier this week, I was having a conversation with a professor whom I have a great deal of respect for. At one point in the conversation, he squeezed in a question that I haven’t heard in years: What do you want to be when you grow up?
My immediate response was shock. Not because I had never been asked that specific question before, but because I was struck with the realization that I’m at the point in my life where I should be prepared to give a proper answer.
The older we get, the more we think about our career expectations and in turn, the more realistic those expectations become. Reflecting back to freshman year, there were so many future doctors, lawyers and astronauts. Flash-forward a few years and at some point, the reality set in that the girl who was once so passionate about going to medical school probably isn’t going to get in with a 2.2 GPA—once again, life happens and that’s okay. There are so many justifiable reasons that we end up on such different paths than we previously envisioned; it’s part of growing up and finding out who we are.
Don’t be afraid to apply to that internship because you have relatively little experience. Don’t be afraid to try new things. We’re in our twenties and this is the time to experiment (I mean it’s the time for tasteful experimentation).
Personally I’ve had many jobs and internships, and I’m still not sure what I’ll be doing in 20 years—I’m okay with that. The thought of spending a lifetime doing something I don’t thoroughly enjoy terrifies me more than not knowing exactly what I want right now. It’s always time to try something new.
P.S.—If you are one of those people who has everything mapped out and your life is going according to plan, please be sure to save phone number/email address. I may need to use you as a reference.
