So you’re a second-semester senior wrapping up what might be a $100,000+ education and you’re starting to think, “was this all a waste?”
Okay well maybe not all of it but to that I say, absolutely not. Certainly, it depends on your perspective but I would like to think, for the sake of my parents’ sanity and my own, that although I may have not yet found my niche, I have at least acquired a deeper knowledge of the world I am living in and came in contact with some people who I now cannot imagine not being in my life.
Point being, the positives of having gone through all of college’s endeavors unequivocally outweigh the negatives, even if it got you nowhere closer to knowing where you want to be. And let’s put this in retrospect, for those of us not going off to law, medical or some kind of grad school, we are expected to go out into the world and know what we want to do for the rest our lives. It sure as hell wasn’t easy when we were looking at colleges four years ago and it probably isn’t much easier four years later. If anything, it’s only made me question my career path even more. Instead of narrowing down my options, I’ve found them expanded which is both terrifying and exciting.
In college alone, it sometimes can seem like we’re weighed down by the amount of options and opportunities we are presented, from deciding our own bedtime, to what clubs and organizations we should join. It was almost—dare I say it—easier when we had someone to decide for us. And that weight only intensifies once we step outside the confines and comforts of campus. The path to our future is so much simpler when we go along with what was originally planned (assuming there was a plan). It’s honestly scary to think that everything we’ve worked for up until this point for the last 16+ years of schooling ironically can come to a screeching halt just when we start to broaden our horizons. Conversely, it can be equally scary to not take the plunge and find what else is out there once we remove pre-established traditions, foundations, and expectations.
One doesn’t discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time. Andre Gide
Believe me, I thought I’d be in a totally different place after graduation (i.e., not at my parents house in New Jersey) but taking this time off to be selfish and explore all my options—and not just the ones put in front of me, but the ones I look for—I truly believe will be for the better. Regardless of other people’s doubts and opinions, I will choose to listen to my own. College and school may have not gotten me to where I thought I ‘d be, but it’s gotten me to where I need to be, and the rest is of course, up to me.
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