Ah, college… Those confusing, tumultuous, formative years that follow high school. They are meant to mold and form you into a productive, adult member of society. Everyone’s college experience is both amazingly unique and deceptively similar. It starts with anxiety: you’re worried about being away from home and meeting new people, yet you’re also excited about what the next few years shall bring. Over the next 3, 4… 5 years?
College is where you go through a variety of experiences. There are strangers that become friends, friends that become family, and family that become strangers. There are early 2 AM mornings where you laugh at old Disney movies with your friend while wishing Domino’s still delivered, and there are also 2 AM nights where you’re crying over an essay you knew you should’ve started earlier. Your college experience is full of ups and downs. There’s time spent studying, time spent working, time spent learning; all of it is time spent growing. Then finally graduation day has arrived, it is time to go forth and enter the world taking with you what you have learned and experienced. And you, like everyone else, is left with one big question… WHAT THE HECK DO I DO NOW?!
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As a rising senior graduating a semester early, I can no longer ignore the dreaded question at every family gathering, “What do you want to do after you graduate?” Just the thought of no longer having the “I have x amount of time think about it” excuse is enough to make me want to crawl into my bed and watch the PowerPuff Girls and ignore adulthood. The truth is, I have absolutely no idea what I want to do after college. I don’t have a career I’ve always wanted to be. Unless you count me wanting to be a singer in the Cheetah Girls… But that dream died quickly when I started singing and my dog responded by whimpering.
Now, you see, the issue isn't necessarily that I don't have ideas of what I can do after college. Instead, the problem is wanting to do too much. There are so many wonderful opportunities and careers that I don’t want to limit myself from experiencing. The main reason why I majored in psychology was to expand my choices. Psychology puts me on the path to the medical field, animal behaviorism, early intervention, research, and science. There are so many opportunities that are available to grow both professionally and personally. By having so many options, I don’t feel stress over not knowing what to do anymore.
As college students, we tend to feel anxious when we don’t have an answer to what we want to do after college. We ask ourselves, “Will I find a job?” “Will anyone want to hire me?” “Did I get myself into debt for no reason?” But I’m here to say that it’s okay not knowing what you want to do as long as you have a plan of doing anything that interests you. Similar to the road of success, finding a career you want isn’t from point A to point B. There will always be roadblocks and obstacles that arise and feelings can change often. As long as you’re on the road, you will be okay. Just because you can’t figure it out at the moment, or the future doesn’t seem clear, it doesn’t mean that there isn’t a future at all. Just think about it: How many people have you heard say that they have had one career their entire lives?
This is why I am okay with not knowing what I want to do after college. Just because I am not following a 5 or 10 year plan, it doesn’t mean that you’re any less driven or less dedicated, it just means you’re taking precautions to find what you’re passionate about. Not knowing what you want to do does not make you lazy or unmotivated, such as long as you’re using your degree for anything that interests you.
I finish school in a little over half a year, I don’t know what I’m doing, but I’m ready to tackle on anything. It’s called the road to success for a reason: There will be curves and stop signs, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving and eventually you’ll reach a destination.
