The unknown is daunting. It hangs over your head and becomes heavier as you approach it. It is common to fear what you don’t know, as you toggle with the struggle to determine whether what is around the corner is going to be good or bad. But why does the unknown have to be so scary? Why are we always jumping to the conclusion that it will be bad and miserable? What if the thing around the corner is going to improve your life in a way you could have never even imagined?
Here I am, staring down the same view I had a few years ago: the unknown. Graduation is quickly approaching, and then what? What comes next? Should I be going to grad school? Medical school? Get my MSc and PhD? Is that what I want, or is it what I think people expect of me? There are so many questions that need answers, but all the options are scary and nerve-racking.
However, the unknown does not have to be scary.
You don’t need to have all the answers to these big life-altering questions now. There is nothing wrong with taking a year off to enjoy life without academic commitments, but it only delays the inevitable, it does not prevent it. The easy thing to do is avoid the unknown. That way, we don’t need answers right now and don’t have to worry about it. But then what? What happens when we are left to face the facts and need to make these decisions?
The thing that I have come to accept over these last few years of university is that you need to welcome the unknown with open arms. It is going to arrive no matter what and spending a lot of time worrying about it doesn’t help. What difference does it make if you spend a lot of time worrying about it being something bad? It doesn’t make a difference. Personally, I thought that if I spent time thinking about the worst possible outcome, I would be more prepared if it were to happen. That does not help. That was just me trying to comfort and trick my brain. It still sucks if something doesn’t go our way. On the other hand, if the outcome is good, you spend days or months worrying about something that couldn’t be controlled. It is much easier said than done, and I am very guilty of focusing on the bad, but in the end, it is not worth the stress.
Instead of looking ahead with dread and worry, try optimism and hope. This is a new chapter approaching. A new chance to become the person we want to be and achieve some of the goals we have set for ourselves. It is so exciting when something we have been hoping for arrives, and all our hard work has paid off. For me, that is graduation. The last four years have been extremely tough, but it has also been a time of learning and personal development. I entered university scared, and rightfully so, it was hard. But it also has been some of the most rewarding years. Now I get this feeling again. Another chance to do something that will likely be hard, but you learn nothing from coasting through life on the easy, safe path. I have sent in my post-grad applications to some competitive programs over the last few months. Will I get in? Maybe. But if not, that is fine. It would sting a little bit, but it gives me more time to strengthen my application and try again. It is not the end of the world. Have I spent some time in the last few months worrying about what happens if I am rejected from each program? Yes. However, I have also looked ahead with optimism in both scenarios. One, I am doing what I wanted to, learning more and developing skills to use in my career. On the other hand, I have time. Time to do things I want to do. Time to figure out if there are other options for me out there, or if I want to put all my effort into crafting the best application I can for these programs. It is cliché, but everything happens for a reason, and there are positives that can come out of even the darkest situations. Life is short and spending too much time dwelling on what could have been or what could be gets us nowhere.
Face the unknown head-on with open arms. The world is vast and filled with opportunities that we don’t even know yet. We have all done hard things in life, we can handle some more. It is how we approach and learn from these tough moments that make us stronger and more resilient for the next one. Not everything is going to go our way, but that is okay. Those are the times that help us prove to ourselves that we are strong and capable. Everything will work itself out eventually, but it does so in a faster and more efficient manner if we can look for the positives within the unknown.