While you’re in college, it’s pretty normal to have no clue what you’ll be doing in the future. Sure, we all have our majors and minors and such, but in terms of where exactly we’ll be and what jobs we’ll have after graduation? That’s a big, “What if?” And that’s terrifying, to say the least.
A lot of people have at least a vague inkling of an idea as to what they would like to do after school, but some don’t. And that’s okay! College is for discovering what you want to do, and sometimes one of the biggest things you can learn is what you don’t want to do career-wise. Your major is by no means the end-all, be-all that will determine the course of the rest of your life. You don’t even have to stick to the same field you studied after school if you feel like changing it up. Most people end up switching their majors at least once while in education, anyway.
Say you do have something in mind for your future career. Great! Now it’s just getting there that’s the problem. Especially if you’re planning on entering a highly competitive field, it’s likely that you won’t be offered your dream job straight out of school. This definitely bummed me out when I first had to accept it. But so long as you keep working and keep grinding, you’ll get to where you want to be eventually.
Having anxiety around your career is an extremely common thing. After school, we’re thrown into the vast unknown and expected to succeed. That’s scary. So it’s important to keep in mind that you’re inevitably going to be disappointed once in a while and you will be rejected from job opportunities (more than once), and that is completely normal and okay! Work on some hobbies or side hustles, and don’t center your life around your job. Where one door closes, another one opens, as they say.
It goes without saying that I don’t have a solid cure for career anxiety. I doubt anyone does. My main advice is this, though: don’t let your career rule your life. Heck, we’re still in school, we’ve barely started our careers, if at all! But there’s more you can do in order to feel successful and happy besides working. Don’t let our work-centric capitalist society tell you any different! Take care of yourself and make sure you’re good on your own before pouring your soul into your career.
Don’t obsess over your future career too much; it’s not worth stressing yourself out over something that’s so changeable. We’ll get there eventually, pals. Take it day by day.
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