I just graduated from high school and now it is time for the next step, but what is the next step? I am ready to take on the world and make an impact as all the speakers at my graduation informed me. There are lot of expectations attached to graduating, independence, changing the world and having it all. But maybe the expectations are not what we need to focus on but the possibilities.

You always hear those stories of the person who didn’t quite make it. Making it what does that mean, that I went to college, graduated, and now I am making tons of money or that I am doing what makes me happy. What if what makes me happy is living on a deserted island and living off the land, is that making it? What really shows you made it is the impact you have. You do not have to be the worlds renowned surgeon to make an impact. In everyday life by being kind to that one person who is having a bad day which means you impacted them. We touch people when we do not even realize it, you are impacting change in the world one interaction at a time. In a way you have already made it, so in whatever you decide you are making a change no matter how small it is.

As I sat there not just at my own graduation but my friends as well listening to speakers tell me to make the most of my life that I could try to have it all. The key word is try the hard truth is having it all is not possible. You can only have what you are willing put yourself out there to get. So if you set yourself up to get a great job or a family, then hopefully you will reach what you consider success. Independence is attached to graduating you are now on your own in the big bad world. Your parents have been there for the last 18 years and will continue to be supportive. A degree of Independence is given, although full independence is earned when you no longer need the support.

So many possibilities are available but what comes out of the possibilities is up to you. The ideas attached to graduating will only get you so far, so you might not yet be completely independent, you might never have it all, and you might not even make it. None of that matters what really matters is you tried and you are doing what you want even if its unconventional.