[Photo Courtesy of The Odyssey Online]
It’s the same question you’ve been asked since elementary school: what do you want to be when you grow up? Well, you’re grown up now, and yet the answer to the question is more or less the same; you just don’t know. While applying for colleges your senior year of high school, it was all about choosing a major in a field that your dream job dealt with. You want to be a doctor? Easy, major in pre-med. You want to to be a politician? Political science. Ballerina? Dance major. Author? Creative writing. But what if you didn’t know what you wanted to be as a senior in high school? Trust me, you are not alone. In fact, from my experience, only a small amount of people know exactly what they are headed for by the time high school comes to an end. It was certainly the case for me and many of my friends. So I chose a major that was most similar to my favorite subject in school: English literature.
It’s now almost my senior year of college, and I have to say, I wouldn’t want to have majored in anything else. I love my classes, love (most) of my professors, and love the books I am exposed to and the class discussions that allow me to learn from my peers. But now that I’m nearing my final steps towards getting that diploma, the question has once again come flying towards me from all aspects of life. It seems like no matter where I go, someone is bound to ask: what will do you with your degree once you graduate? I still don’t have an answer, and this tends to make some people really uncomfortable (especially parents). But I’m here to tell you it’s okay not to have a master plan, and it’s okay not to have a dream job. Most of us don’t, and the ones who do are a lucky and selective few. So the next time someone asks you a question regarding your future, here are some great creative options for an answer:
[Photo courtesy to Cosmopolitan]
1. I don’t know what I’m doing with my life and that’s okay with me.
2. What did you do with your college undergraduate degree?
3. I want to be a peace-keeper, a healer, and lover and a visionary.
4. I’m only in college because I love to learn and want to gain more knowledge.
5. I’m still finding what I love to do and what I’m good at doing.
6. I want to travel until I’m 30. Then maybe I’ll think about a career.
7. I want to get married and become a mother.
8. How many jobs have you had in your life?
9. I plan on learning for the rest of my life, this isn’t where it ends.
Never feel bad for not having a set-in-stone plan– you never know what kind of opportunities will pop up in life and where they will take you. Not to mention that we all have the right to change our minds at any point in time; there’s a good chance you won’t end up where you planned since your senior year of high school anyways. And last but not least, don’t be afraid to take on new opportunities or adventures even if it doesn’t line up with your major or field of interest, you just never know what you’ll stumble across.
[Photo courtesy of Wide Open Spaces]