You’ve had that feeling before. A feeling of looking to the future and wondering what it has in store for you. Some feel it every day, wondering what comes next because they want to control their future by meticulously planning it. Others, it comes after a significant life experience. I found myself in such a space after graduating college.

I recall graduation day, walking up to the podium to accept my college degree I had been working towards for years still feeling lost. You feel the sense of accomplishment but people keep asking, “So you graduated, what’s next?” leaving you with that feeling. My academic career could possibly be done forever, now what comes next. It is such a hard thing for us to just live in the moment.

But isn’t that what college is for some? Enjoying every day, depending on the person, whether they fill the time with studies, partying, sports, etc. that they’re living in the moment. College creates that atmosphere for young (and old alike) to experience something completely new. But this new feeling is a false front. College makes you feel free and trapped. I look at it like a zoo. They’ll only let run around to an extent till they put up a wall and make you turn back.

Everyone’s heard that saying that college will be the best four years of your life. Frankly that’s bullshit. Or at least for most it is. The people telling you that still reminisce about high school football glory days, showing off their class ring saying, “Yeah I threw 30 touchdowns that year”. I still have many years ahead (I hope) and if I look back and say college were the best years of my life than frankly I didn’t live the life I wanted to live.

Granted, I enjoyed several moments of my college years. But to look back at four years of studying, partying, working, and debauchery as the best years of my life seems meager. Almost wasted in a sense. I want four years of growth in every aspect of my life to make them the best of my years on this earth. College in a sense is about growth; intellectually, spirituality, sexuality, and personally. But you must take this growth with a grain of salt.

The growth you have in college can change you for better or worse. It goes back to that feeling of what comes next. You can use the experiences you had in college and apply them to the life you decide to live after. Whether that means continuing your education by working toward a masters, starting a full-time job, traveling, having a family, whatever your heart desires. Don’t let that feeling of what do I do next frighten you.

Embrace the feeling, see it as an opportunity and harness that feeling. College is just a brick in the yellow brick road on your way to the Emerald City. Your journey has begun long ago, and you still have many years ahead of you that are out of your control. Embrace the feeling, and make these next four years the best of your life.