It's the annual family party with the relatives you can't seem to remember the names for, and the cousins, aunts, uncles and everyone in between who you just know will ask the dreaded question which makes you rethink your entire life: "So do you know what you're doing?" How can one simply question send your every way of thinking into an uproar, making you question every action you have ever taken and makes you further contemplate any possible actions you will take in regards to life.
There is this stigma that within the first few months of college you will have figured out your life, where you will be in the years following and what your occupation will be. Yet, as one of those students who has yet to entirely figure out what he is doing, I am here to inform you that it's more than okay to be unsure of what life will bring you.
Your whole life there were those who presumably had it all figured out; the genius infant cousin who was destined to become a world-famous physicist, the kind-hearted neighbor who knew she was sure to become a teacher, and the parent who insisted their child was going to Harvard for mathematics because they managed to score a 100% on a 1-minute multiplication quiz. Yet there you were, unsure of what you were doing, where you were going or how you were getting there. The day to move to college came, and as weeks passed you were still unsure of what direction you were destined to move towards. It is now months into college and you may still have no idea as to what you are doing, and that's more than okay.
No future career is set-in-stone for any single person, you were not meant to be anything. Life can be anything you want it to be. You may have expected to figure it all out, find that missing piece of the puzzle, while at college yet that may not be the case.
Ten years down the road, you will have a job, you may still be in school, you may be in the hospital waiting for your first child to be welcomed to this world but one thing is for sure: it all worked itself out. It is not only impractical to know what you're doing by the age of 11, it's unlikely.
If you were set on being an engineer from the age of 12, you see none of the possibilities life has to offer besides engineering. It's as if you are wearing a pair of blinders, only focusing on one path in life. Not knowing what you want to do removes these blinders and welcomes you to the many paths you can venture down to determine what your life will be. If you find yourself in one of those situations where a relative asks you what you want to do, don't be afraid to say you don't know yet.
Life manages to piece itself together in the long run. You will manage to piece it together one way or another. Don't fret if you don't know which path is yours, just take off the blinders and enjoy the ride, you will figure it out.
