Dear family, friends, peers, professors and anyone asking about my future: Please, stop.
As a college senior, it’s understandable that people assume I have a well-thought out plan for after graduation. Since my college days will be officially over in less than six months, it makes sense that I would be thinking about future careers, internships, opportunities, etc.
But, surprise, surprise! I’m not.
I genuinely admire those students who have a job lined up after college, or the students who know exactly what career field they are interested in working in. I’m impressed by the students who are actively searching for jobs while balancing a heavy course load and a possible internship all in one semester. I may aspire to be like the students who have it all figured out, but I also admire the students, like me, who have absolutely no idea what we’re doing.
We’ve selected a field of study. We probably completed some internships. We joined clubs and participated in extracurriculars. We learned a little bit about what we do and don’t like, but now what? People love to ask that question.
If you’re about to graduate high school, people want to know where you’re going to college. If you’re dating, they wonder if an engagement in in your future. If you’re married, they’re curious about when you’re having kids. If you’ve had one kid, they ask when the next is coming. People always want to know what the future holds, but what’s so bad about not knowing?
Graduating college without a clear-cut plan is as equally terrifying as it is liberating. The absence of a plan means a lack of expectation, which also means a lower possibility for future disappointment. Plan or no plan, any soon-to-be college grad who embraces their future with open arms and a willingness to accept whatever life throws at them, is sure to succeed.
Just because you don’t know where you’re going, that doesn’t mean you won’t end up somewhere great.