“Forget about the fast lane. If you really want to fly, harness your power to your passion. Honor your calling. Everybody has one. Trust your heart, and success will come to you.” – Oprah Winfrey
College. It’s the time in life when we’re the most confused and yet the most directed. I don’t know about you, but, lately, deciding what I want to do with my life hasn’t been so black and white. Over the past month, I’ve gained a lot of insight into what I’m passionate about and what I believe I’m called to do. Though it hasn’t been an easy journey to get to this point, I am thrilled to see where the future is taking me.
I would be lying, though, if I said I wasn’t at all scared. Declaring yourself a specialist in one certain field when you walk across the stage and receive your diploma is a big step. You’re making the official statement to everyone watching that you’ve chosen a path and that it’s time for you to go out into the world and pursue that path. Scary, right? I’ve been stressing so much lately and telling myself that I have to know right now what I will be doing for the rest of my life. I have to pick one thing, go after it, and never look back. But, is that really how this whole college thing works?
I don’t think it is. I think college is a period of exploration intended to show you your strengths and weaknesses and likes and dislikes. I think college is the time when you’re supposed to realize that being fascinated by multiple careers is okay and that you don’t have to define yourself as one thing. I love dance, I love music, I love writing, I love people, and the list goes on. Instead of trying to narrow all of my interests down to one thing in order to be successful, I’ve realized I need to embrace all of my interests and apply them to my future life, both within my career and outside of it.
Don’t let your fear of being behind keep you from exploring all the things that make you smile. Yes, you do have to declare a major at some point, and, yes, your degree won’t say “Bachelor’s in Everything” on it, but just know that whatever you choose is right. Pursue your passions, trust your gut, and have faith that everything will work out in time because it will. Only you have the power to make yourself believe that by believing in yourself.