When we were younger, we all had a dream job. Usually it was something so random like to be an actor, an astronaut, a famous baseball player ect…That’s just what we all did as a kid. And I bet most of us didn’t fall through with those dreams because we were just kids we didn’t know what we wanted to do. We picked majors, we took all the right classes, some of us even switched majors because we realized we changed our minds. Changing your mind is okay. But some people are so focused on sticking to one goal they lose sight of why they even made the goal in the first place.
I came to UNH as a Genetics major and I’m still a Genetics major. I enjoy my classes, I’ve never doubted that I made the wrong choice but I didn’t know for sure what I wanted to do with my life. At first, I wanted to be a Genetics Counselor then I wanted to do research, and then I had no idea what I wanted to do. But this semester I turned to my friends and said can you guys see me in the FBI? They looked at me like I was crazy. I was, but I thought it would be cool so I did some research and I literally looked up “what can I do with a BS in Genetics” and that’s how I decided I wanted to be a Forensic Scientist or Forensics DNA, Analyst. That is my long-term goal and now I need to figure out how to reach it. But if I end up changing my mind again it’s okay. Some might say I’m a little late to the game and others are in the exact same boat as I am. Others probably still don’t know. But if you are the type of person that can’t make decisions right away, it’s okay starting small and working your way up.
My roommate is the perfect example of changing a long-term goal. She came to UNH undecided and actually didn’t pick her major until our sophomore year second semester. It took her a while to figure out what she wanted to do with her life, she also took all the right classes, she did the research, the trial, and error, and that’s how she decided on her long-term goal. She first decided she wanted to do exercise science, but then she decided on athletic training. She is now a nutrition major and she loves it. Her goal now is to be able to graduate on time (Spring 2022) with the rest of our friends. We both started out with very different short-term goals but ended up at the same point. All and all, not one way of reaching your goals is perfect and along the way, it’s okay to change the destination. Don’t feel like you’re behind, trust me you’re not alone.
I’m not saying that you shouldn’t set long-term goals. I think everyone should. They make the future exciting to look forward to and also we have to at some point in our college career. Instead of a specific long-term goal start with something broad like, I want to get a job or go to grad school after graduation. Maybe something that isn’t school-related would be, I want to save enough money to live on my own in the next couple of years. Those are some long-term goals that you could reach in the next couple of years and they are flexible. You can even start small and work towards a long-term goal. That’s where short-term goals are great. Like joining a club that makes you happy not just because it looks good on a resume, or get involved in a lab that you are interested in doing research in. Maybe even just doing really well in a class. It’s one step closer to achieving your future goals and that’s so exciting. And if it doesn’t make you excited about the future, it’s okay to change your mind.
