In college, people are constantly asking what you are going to do. It usually starts in high school with, “Where are you applying to college,” or, “What score did you get on the SAT,” and so on. Once you get to college the questions only get worse: “What are you majoring in,” “What are you minoring in,” “Where do you want to study abroad,” “What are you going to do after college,” yada yada yada. As if college isn’t scary enough, everyone feels the need to question your future and why you are doing what you are currently doing — and, of course, where all of this is going to lead. I could try to answer these questions with the utmost certainty, but it would be a lie. To tell you the truth, 99.9 percent of us don’t know exactly where we are headed and it’s OK.
Most people’s lives are not a sequence of carefully planned events. There is still spontaneity in the world. Unexpected things happen, and not everything goes the way you think it will, but it’s still OK. I’m not saying life is a complete roll of the dice and everything is up to fate; many people get where they are going through hard work and determination. But like I said, not everyone knows exactly where they are going. It is much better to keep an open mind about your future, because every path you take will lead you to more and different opportunities. I mean, if you’ve known you’re going to be a neuroscience engineer since age 5 by all means do what you’ve been trying to do all these years. But there are still many of us out there who are not so certain about our aspirations. I hate limiting myself to one option, not because of the risk of disappointment but because of the risk of limitation. If you decide your life before you live it, you will miss out — no matter what.
So be spontaneous, take that job that you’re unsure of after college. Or take a few extra years in school, there is no rush! You have your entire life to figure out where the future will take you. Fixating too much on the future will deviate from the now, and right now you are making decisions that may or may not impact that future everyone is so concerned about. So the next time someone asks you where you are headed, take pride in telling them you don’t know yet, but you know it will be someplace great. If you ever find yourself in a job you hate or on a path that doesn’t make you happy there is no reason to pursue it any longer. People are afraid of failure but it is much better to be scared and free than unhappy and stuck in a life that doesn’t give you the passion you need.
So use these years to get lost, and to explore avenues and subjects you never dreamed you would. Keep an open mind and life will come to you. The future, however imminent and scary, will come, and you will be prepared for whatever life throws at you. Use these years to find what makes you happy, not what you think you should do. It is impossible to find your passion before you have a chance to be passionate about it. So put yourself out there with an open heart and mind, work hard, have faith in fate and welcome the future with open arms!
