What are your plans after high school?

This is a question I have heard nearly every day since my freshman year. I've been asked this question hundreds and hundreds of times, and every single time I've given the same answer, "I don't know."

Everyone keeps telling me I need to have a plan, and I know this, but I don't think that I should be deciding what career I want to spend the rest of my life doing as a 16/17/18-year-old. I know what my interests are and I have an idea of what I might want to do, but I can't help but feel like that's not a decision someone should have to make at such a young age.

When you start high school, you are constantly bombarded with questions (like where you want to go, what you want to do, what are you going to major in) so much so that you don't really get to enjoy high school. Sure, when you're in high school it feels like the worst thing in the world. However, when you're done you'll realize they really were the best years of your life. It's OKAY to take these few years to yourself and not stress about college because thinking about college is INCREDIBLY stressful! If you want to spend those four years focusing on your schoolwork and clubs, I think that's completely okay.

When you constantly ask a high school student what their plan is, it's redundant and adds more unnecessary stress to our lives. Let us live in the now and enjoy ourselves while it lasts. It will be over before you know it, and once it is there's nothing we can do.

Live your life the way you want. Don't stress.