I'm Graduating From My Dream School - Now What? | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Student Life

I'm Graduating From My Dream School - Now What?

Commencement may be only four months away, but I seem to be graduating slightly more confused than when I started.

73
I'm Graduating From My Dream School - Now What?
NY Post

We can all relate to those grueling conversations with extended family. Conversations that center around your future, your time, your 'plans.' We always know that they're just asking because they genuinely care, but it always seems to result in a feeling of interrogation and avoidance. Because, no matter how many 'plans' we have, or what we say we're going, us kids under age 30 seem to have no idea what we're doing.

I am four months away from graduating from my dream school. I am immensely lucky, and so blessed. Looking back now, however, I see all the opportunities I did not take, and I realize I could have learned so much more. I am prepared for the business world, but I don't know exactly which business world I belong in.

I attend Berklee College of Music, a leading school in the future of the entertainment industry. Arguably, Berklee is the most prestigious contemporary music school in the world. I study a mix of everything, but my focus is business, weirdly enough. I started out at a school geared towards performance, but after telling all my family members for months that I was training to be a professional artist, I did a complete 180 and decided to switch my focus to business. I am leaving Berklee a completely different person than I was when I began my studies.

See, when we young adults finally get to college, we have no idea who we are, or what we want. Even though we think we do. Some of us seem to think that we know everything there is to know about ourselves. Some freshmen have even already chosen a major- at age eighteen. Suddenly, we're terrified to discover that a person goes through an immense amount of development during their college years. Plans, dreams, and people change, and the result is this feeling directly before graduation - what the hell am I going to do with my life? We go to college expecting just to learn as much as we can, and better the person we already are, and we actually completely change who that person is. We seem to be leaving our various institutions with more confusion than anything else.

This past week, I attended a trip to Silicon Valley, lead by BerkleeICE, to see all the startup companies and venture capital firms and sound design offices that dominate our corporate world. I was shocked, not only at how many executive team leaders would meet with us, but how many of those executives were Berklee Graduates. An entire world was opened up for me, a world where I don't have to just do music. I can work hard and someday become a team leader at Google X, or write music for video games or create a startup company that changes the world. As private and exclusive Berklee is, the skills which we in our time here do not only apply to the music industry.

So I'm being told to change all of my philosophies, step out of my comfort zone, do the exact opposite of what I would normally do. As tempting as that sounds, I have a whole life centered around Boston now; I've put down my roots, I've made so many amazing connections. I see myself either staying in one place for the next few years, or hopping in a van and driving cross country, just for the hell of it. There is no in-between. Professional entrepreneur or hula-hoop nomad? Those seem to be my choices, both of which are completely out of my comfort zone, because my comfort zone is here, in school. As ready as I am to become a real person, I have only known academia for the last 16 years.

So I'm figuring it all out. I have so many amazing options and resources in front of me, and no idea which path to choose. While a small part of me is envious of the students who have chosen a path, I am so much more excited to have so much more space to grow, and learn, and fail. The most important developments for me came from the unexplained, and unexplored.

Because isn't there more risk in the unknown, than in the already discovered?

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
girl with a hat

This is for the girls who have dealt with an emotionally, mentally, physically or verbally abusive father.

The ones who have grown up with a false lens of what love is and how relationships should be. The ones who have cried themselves to sleep wondering why he hurts you and your family so much. This is for all the girls who fall in love with broken boys that carry baggage bigger than their own, thinking it's their job to heal them because you watched your mother do the same.

Keep Reading...Show less
Blair Waldorf Quote
"DESTINY IS FOR LOSERS. IT'S JUST A STUPID EXCUSE TO WAIT FOR THINGS TO HAPPEN INSTEAD OF MAKING THEM HAPPEN." - BLAIR WALDORF.

The world stopped in 2012 when our beloved show "Gossip Girl" ended. For six straight years, we would all tune in every Monday at 9:00 p.m. to see Upper Eastside royalty in the form of a Burberry headband clad Blair Waldorf. Blair was the big sister that we all loved to hate. How could we ever forget the epic showdowns between her and her frenemy Serena Van Der Woodsen? Or the time she banished Georgina Sparks to a Christian summer camp? How about that time when she and her girls took down Bart Bass? Blair is life. She's taught us how to dress, how to be ambitious, and most importantly, how to throw the perfect shade.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

11 Moments Every College Freshman Has Experienced

Because we made it, and because high school seniors deserve to know what they're getting themselves into

392
too tired to care

We've all been there. From move-in day to the first finals week in college, your first term is an adventure from start to finish. In honor of college decisions coming out recently, I want to recap some of the most common experiences college freshmen experience.

1. The awkward hellos on move-in day.

You're moving your stuff onto your floor, and you will encounter people you don't know yet in the hallway. They live on your floor, so you'll awkwardly smile and maybe introduce yourself. As you walk away, you will wonder if they will ever speak to you again, but don't worry, there's a good chance that you will make some great friends on your floor!

Keep Reading...Show less
laptop
Unsplash

The college years are a time for personal growth and success. Everyone comes in with expectations about how their life is supposed to turn out and envision the future. We all freak out when things don't go exactly as planned or when our expectations are unmet. As time goes on, we realize that the uncertainty of college is what makes it great. Here are some helpful reminders about life in college.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

Top 10 Lessons I Learned My Freshman Year

The first year of college opens your eyes to so many new experiences.

69
johnson hall
Samantha Sigsworth

Recently I completed my freshman year of college, and boy, what an experience. It was a completely new learning environment and I can't believe how much I learned. In an effort to save time, here are the ten biggest lessons I learned from my first year of college.

1. Everyone is in the same boat

For me, the scariest part of starting school was that I was alone, that I wouldn't be able to make any friends and that I would stick out. Despite being told time and time again that everyone had these same feelings, it didn't really click until the first day when I saw all the other freshman looking as uneasy and uncomfortable as me. Therefore, I cannot stress this enough, everyone is feeling as nervous as you.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments