What is the future of America? Where haven't I heard this question in the last year? Many would say that global warming will take its turn if we don't jump on the ball soon; others claim that we may become more technologically advanced and start a civilization on Mars. Imagine that, Martian-humans! I, on the other hand, think all and none of this is going to happen...it all depends on what we decide to do next.

Check It...

It still amazes me that my professors can stand in front of a class and preach to me and 30 more of my peers that, "the end goal of college is to get the degree, get the career and make as much money as you can." Unfortunately, this hasn't been the reality for most college graduates and looking at my generation, this doesn't seem like the plan for us either. I'm not suggesting that we all drop out of college and say farewell to our futures, but I am suggesting that we take a more careful look at our plan and acknowledge that this plan we have MAY NOT WORK! Chasing money will never give us what many of us are really striving for—genuine happiness. As cliché as it may sound, it's the truth, and it sucks that we live in a world that makes real paths to happiness look so far and unreachable for a great number of people.

Didn't we tell you?

Money can't buy people happiness. No matter how much you have, or don't have, it can never truly satisfy what we really strive for. Money only works to fill the void of what really makes people happy, and without it, we're forced to really think about what it is that we really want. For some of us, it's a nice house, a nice car, and a family. For others, it can be as simple as a new book or a fly pair of shoes. Notice that all of these things are tangible, things that we give value just like money. Without the value that we give them, they mean nothing to us and therefore what sense does it really make to spend our life scrambling for money?

People often ask me, "what's your plan?", when it comes to my major and it usually amazes them that I actually have a vision of what I want to do in the future AND that my focus isn't on getting rich! I understand that for a lot of people planning your whole life at 18-19 is a lot, but it's really not as difficult as the world makes it out to be.

"So you have it all figured out, huh?"

Maybe, maybe not. I just know that choosing to do something I love, finding a major that I wanted to learn more about and taking the steps to see how the acquired information could fit into my life, is working for me. I'm nothing close to a professional life planner or academic advisor but we all know that we are never happy doing something we simply don't want to do- washing the dishes, cleaning a mess, GOING TO WORK to do things that might not always make us happy. Our future should center around the greater things that we can manifest out of life. We should not start cutting our glory days short while they are just getting started!

Now, BACK TO THE FUTURE.

So, what, you may ask, is the future of America? Well, I challenge people to think again and ask "Who?" Then, I challenge people to look to the past at all the prominent figures who have led us to our greatest victories, and finally at OURSELVES. We will be the future of this country, and the future of this country will depend on whatever steps we decide to take next. Don't look at this as some large responsibility; take it and wear it proudly as our destiny. We cannot look at the world wondering what it will do for us, worrying on what it has to give...we have to take a universal look at the world and figure out what we can do to contribute to the collective light of our future, together.