Winter semester is almost over. For a lot of people, this means that it’s almost time for their long-awaited summer break. For people like me, who are planning on graduating in spring 2021 (hopefully!), summer break incites feelings of uncertainty and anxiety. If you’re not actively looking for advice from career counsellors or mentors, you’re essentially thrown to the wolves after graduation. I’m one of those people who aren’t able to grasp the reality of a situation—maybe it’s because I’m a Pisces—until I’m actively living in it. This means that I don’t have a single job lined up or a single idea of what I’m going to do.
I started my first semester at Ryerson in Undeclared Arts. I had to quickly choose by the end of my second semester which program I was interested in based on the plethora of courses I was taking. I decided on English because I figured, “Hey, you like books right?” and that was enough to start off what would be the next three years of my university experience. Looking back on it now, I think I should have taken my time in deciding on a program I could see a definite future in. There’s so much pressure in choosing the perfect career path at the ripe age of 18 and not enough normalization on taking time off after high school to discover what you could actually see yourself doing.
I can’t wait to graduate—oh yeah, I’m scared and riddled with anxiety, but I can’t wait. School is hard and stressful, and I think being in school from the age of four until 22 is enough for a lifetime. But with that being said, school is so important, not just in terms of education, as it is so important to continue to learn and keep our minds active, but it’s also important in terms of structure. School has always functioned as a structure in my life. It’s something familiar that has been consistent throughout my entire existence. As graduation nears, I fear I won’t be able to find a job I love, that I will be one of those miserable people who get up to work a 9 to 5, only to go to sleep and do it all again the next day.
I wanted to write this article so people like me, who think everyone but themselves have everything figured out, realize there are so many people just as lost! At the end of the day, we have our whole lives to go to school, change careers, develop new interests and upgrade our education. Our future is what we make of it! There’s no timeline to follow, so enjoy the ride, with its twists, turns and bumps.