In just three days I’m going to be accepting my diploma and thus completing my undergraduate career. Everybody that I talk to tells me I should be excited to move on and start my adult life and don’t get me wrong, I am, but I there’s also this weird feeling that sort of pops up anytime I start to get excited. My entire collegiate career I had a plan: I was going to graduate with a biology degree, go to graduate school for genetic counseling in Boston, get a job working in a field that I loved, and spend my life blissfully happy (with all of my student loans paid off in a reasonable amount of time). However, this year I learned that that is not always the case, and sometimes your life doesn’t go the way you planned. That “weird” feeling I mentioned before is due, in part, to my foggy future. In just three days I will be graduating without a plan, something I have never done before, and something I never thought I would have to do.
If you are lucky (and in this case, I am), you loved your field-of-choice during college, and will have no problem doing it for the rest of your life. I love learning, and I love that I had the privilege of furthering my education here at Behrend. I have met some AMAZING people during my four years here and, once again, I will forever cherish them and this opportunity. But, I spent most of my life thinking that the purpose of going to college was to further your education in order to get a good job to support yourself, and nobody ever tells you what to do when you are graduating without a job, without grad school, and without the people with whom you’ve grown so to accustomed to spending each and every day with. Yes, I have some summer plans (one includes going to South Africa, fingers crossed), but not exactly the plans I thought I was going to have. Nobody ever prepares you for that, for that feeling of uncertainty about my future (and how the hell am I going to pay back my loans).
As for right now, I don’t have a clue what I will be doing for the next year of my life, but I guess that’s the great thing about being 21, a recent college grad, and surprisingly optimistic; I can do whatever I want. I can move to New York City (I’m looking at you Lexie and Alex), or I can go to South Africa (hello dream job), or I can stay with my parents for the summer and catch up on some much needed home cooking and stress-relief (and some time with no bills to pay). No, I am not prepared. Yes, I am terrified. But mostly, I am thankful. I’m thankful for the people I’ve met here, the classes I’ve taken, the relationships I built, the knowledge I’ve gained, and the countless dollars I’ve spend on Sheetz burritos, because they have made the person I am today.
I guess that’s it; it’s been real. Until next time Behrend.
HCXO