There's something about a baby deer first learning to walk, finding its legs, that makes us all happy. We know there are hunters in the woods just waiting for it to learn to walk, but we look upon its first big moments with all the confidence and pride in the world. While college freshmen may not be Bambi, and life's big questions may not be hunters in the woods, there are many similarities.
In life we are faced with countless questions. Questions ranging in complexity; questions that lead to excitement, questions that make us thrilled, questions that cause cringing and contemplation such as:
"Would you like fries with that?" Or "Why do you think that you are right for this position?"
Our success ultimately comes from the answers that are given to these questions. One question that never seems to go away, no matter how many times it is answered, is the thought provoking:
"What would you like to be when you grow up?"
This question is first presented at a very young age when life is filled with blissful ignorance caused from chronic imagination. The answer to this question ultimately depends on who we idolize most at that moment. This tends to range from Batman to Tina Fey. However, we change the answer as reality sets in it becomes apparent that we all simply cannot be the hero that the city deserves but not the one it needs, like Tina Fey.
In college, this question resurfaces as a complete new monster in the form of:
"What is your major?"
As you matriculate in college this question reaches its final form and becomes the dreadful:
"So what are you doing with your life?"
However, I digress back to the initial question, why are new students akin to the character Bambi? The answer to this question can be answered by the response to the question,
"What is your major?"
As a new student, the idea of coming to college is a feeling of euphoria. Everything seems magical, the sky is clearer and there is this indistinguishable feeling of glee and nausea. Once you finally arrive on campus it seems to be everything that you imagined it to be. You are bursting with excitement to take the first step towards being independent. The culmination of all of these feelings attributes to another stage of childlike bliss. Although there is absolutely nothing wrong with the feeling of blissful ignorance during college, but what does this have to do with new students being similar to a Disney deer? Well the answer to that is: “bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.” When new students come to a university they are filled with a plethora of dreams and aspirations and when the question is asked for the hundredth time,
"What is your major?"
“I plan on being a computer science and poli-sci double major with a physics and economics minor and a pre-med emphasis,” the bright-eyed freshman says.
Side-note: These responses are like Bambi during his first step, it is strong and bold, but ultimately it most likely will be “wobbly” and end up in failure. However, if new students are truly like Bambi they will decide to get back up and, after a long and arduous process filled with more failure and life altering experiences, realize the true answer to the ear-piercing question,
"So what are you doing with your life?"
