I came to college knowing exactly what I wanted to do with my life. From day one, I was shocked by the undeclared juniors and the OMS majors who were “studying Business until they figured things out.” Orientation preached that it was okay to not have things figured out, but I wanted reassurance that it was just as okay to have a plan.
I’m a double major/double minor. My having a plan was absolutely crucial to graduating even remotely on time. I was going to graduate, take the Licensed Battlefield Guide test, avoid teaching like the plague, and stay in Gettysburg for as long as humanly possible (until Prince Harry and I get married, of course). If you’d have asked me three years ago, I had it all figured out.
Now? I have no idea.
I launched Her Campus at Gettysburg College in 2015 and fell in love with journalism all over again. It was like the past decade had never happened—I was back in middle school planning to write for the Times (yes, I’m basically Rory Gilmore).
I edited a book and found myself critiquing grammar everywhere. Editing could be fun in the long-term, right?
Then I’d turn to the Park Service again and be back at square one.
Then I started my summer internship at Seminary Ridge Museum, through the CWI Pohanka Fellowship Program. Who knew I loved museum studies? Maybe the public history path was right the whole time, just not in the way I’d thought.
Honestly, this is one of the most terrifying realizations I’ve ever come to. This isn’t a bad Steinbeck novel, this is real life: planning counts for something! Yet here I am, questioning it all.
But you know what? It’s okay.
It’s okay because I’ve picked what I love regardless and there just so happens to be plenty I can do with my chosen fields (besides teaching), whatever I decide.
It’s okay because I’ve had amazing experiences that I wouldn’t trade for all the certainty in the world.
It’s okay because I know I’ll figure it out.