Change is everywhere. It is life’s purpose, and life’s answer to its many problems.
As we grow up, hormones are released and our bodies change. Our understanding of the world changes, and so do our opinions. One day we could be happily prancing through a pumpkin patch draped in cozy sweaters with Dad’s hand in ours, and then with the snap of a finger, we can look around and be in the same pumpkin patch on a similar day years later, holding a much smaller hand that is attached to a smaller version of ourselves.
Change sometimes leads to uncertainty, such as what I have been experiencing lately in anticipation of my own transition from student to full-blown career woman.
I have looked forward to my college graduation since I was four years old. I would finally be an adult. I would pay my own bills and live my own life, and see the world for what it really is.
The world is not always a pretty place though. There is war, loss, and hate. It tends to balance out the love, hope and happiness. The world is not always fun to see through adult eyes.
Unfortunately, sometimes when we focus too hard on one milestone, we forget about the other ones. I spent so much time waiting and working to graduate from college, that now my five year plan is rather limited. I mean, the last one I made was four years ago when I was a senior in high school.
My goals for the next five years, while uncertain, include three very important milestones:
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Leaving Florida
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Finding a job doing what I actually love
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Marriage and children
I do not know what will happen in between those three goals, but there they are. I can only hope the obstacles I end up with in between the fulfillment of my goals are not too harshly given.
The real world life is “harder” than life as a student, both monetarily and personally.
Transitioning from student to working professional means fewer means of assistance. A functional adult is supposedly intended to be able to afford everything and take care of themselves without aid. In today’s day and age, that is very unlikely.
Students get loans, grants, discounts, you name it. I was told by a former employer recently that in many career fields, a student will probably get a mentor if requested. A person new to the world of full-time positions and careers typically will not because as soon as you set foot outside of the student title, you are absolutely competition. It is unfortunate when the actual fees of adulthood are thrown at our feet, we are never quite ready for them.
I feel like like I am making changes at the right times, but there is still an extremely high level of uncertainty for me. Sometimes all we can do to ease the changes in life is working hard towards our goals, and hoping everything turns out okay. If it’s what the universe wants, it will happen.