As High School students, we are constantly asked, “where are you applying to college?” “where did you get in?” and the big one: “where are you committing?” These seemed like the hardest questions of our lives at the time–questions about the future. They came from all directions, from people we hardly know. But we formulated answers to these questions, and got us to where we are today.
In college, we are bombarded with similar questions, “what do you want to major in?” “what do you want to do when you grow up?” and the worst, “what do you plan to do when you graduate from college?” Some of us have answers to these questions, and others of us are still clueless. Every year that goes by, these questions seem to get more difficult.
No matter what we do, the questions keep coming, and they can be extremely stressful. They extend beyond academia and into your personal life. For instance, people in relationships are constantly asked if they plan to marry their current significant other. “Would you two stay together when you graduate?” We may even ask ourselves these questions, adding even more stress to our lives.
I’m here to say that it’s okay to not have answers to these questions. It’s important to live in the moment, in the here and now. We watch Say Yes to the Dress. We have Pinterest boards of our future weddings and of our future houses. In thinking about the future so much, its hard to savor our time now. We may feel old, but we are only in college. We’re still in our youth, our prime. So why waste so much time stressing about the future? Next time you find yourself being asked a difficult question, or asking yourself an unnecessarily tough question, just remember that it’s okay to say that you are uncertain. Uncertainty is part of growing up. Not everything has to be planned and have an answer right now. Instead of thinking about life after UVA, savor each moment you have here.