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Thoughts Of An Undecided College Student

I just don't know.

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Thoughts Of An Undecided College Student

What do you want to do? Ugh, that dreaded question to all who haven't the slightest idea what their future holds. For me, this question induces the three-word answer: I don't know.

As a sophomore biology major, I seem to be the only one who doesn't know what they want to do. In classes, I am surrounded by people who want to become physician assistants, dentists, doctors, nurses... and then there's me. One day I want to study nutrition, the next, I have a sinking feeling that being a nutritionist isn't what I want to do. Other days, I think that ecology and sustainability are just the most fascinating things.

But soon that sinking, lost feeling returns. I don't know. Deciding your future is not just a flip-of-the-coin kind of decision, it is something that you will have to live with. While applying for summer internships, I've seen a glimpse of what I will be doing in two years: applying for graduate schools, jobs, and moving on beyond undergraduate classes and dorm life. But what will I be moving on to?

What a loaded question. On one hand, I feel like the world is at my fingertips. I feel like I have infinite options of what I can do with my degree. I can teach at a high school or college level. I can become a doctor, nurse, or PA. I can conduct research and spend my days in a lab, whether I am searching for a cure for cancer or investigating crime scene DNA. Somedays, I feel like there is nothing that I can't do. I feel powerful, like when you are asked, "What you want to be when you grow up?," in first grade. A doctor, astronaut, nurse, mom, teacher, police woman? Kids have no feeling of limitation to what their future holds.

The best advice I've gotten was from a professor I am currently taking a class with. He asked, "What are you planning on doing with a biology degree?" When I said I don't know, he then continued on to ask what things interested me. At this point, I'm pretty sure I continued on a 10-minute monologue explaining each possible career I had considered, only to explain that they didn't really interest me. After I was finished, he said I hadn't answered his question asking what interested me.

He explained to me that the job market and careers are constantly changing, and that if I can't find a career that suits me, then I will make one. After leaving, I felt relief that eventually I will find something that I love. I will continue on, not by picking a career, but by picking things that I am interested in and forging my way until I am content.

Until that time comes, I'll just keep going day by day, knowing that I will find my passion.

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