As a senior starting the Spring semester…the last semester of college, a lot of thoughts have gone through my mind. Thoughts such as, “…I actually have no idea what I am doing,” or “Health insurance? What?” And the most urgent and scary one that everyone seems bent on asking…”What are your plans after graduation?”
Every adult I’ve talked to has asked me this question. I answer with some vague answer…something like, “I think I might want to work for two years and then see about medical school.” What they have no idea about is how that question makes me immediately start sweating bullets. Especially when they say, “Oh good! You sound like you’ve got it all figured out!” I smile in return but secretly, I’m screaming inside. Figured what out? How am I going to get in? MCATs? I don’t even know if my socks match half the time.
So, hard as it was, I asked around and talked to some other seniors. Wanted to make sure I wasn’t the only one running around like a headless chicken. Rest assured many of us are in the same boat. A friend majoring in American History is going to babysit while figuring out what to do. Film major that graduated over break is going to Japan to explore for half a year. My cousin, an Environmental Studies major, is going to be taking her third gap year and is still looking for a job. And on the other end of the spectrum, friends who are Comp. Sci. and Econ majors already have jobs waiting. I’ve also met a guy who is going to be graduating from college at 19. And then there’s me, 21 and working on finishing Biology at Amherst…and my other buddies who are also scrambling to look for employment. Pressure is on, right?
Not necessarily. Our lives are no longer as structured as it was in grade school. We’re at a point in our lives where anything can happen. It’s a matter of embracing that idea. Yes, I understand, there is pressure on us to get jobs and start making moolah, (my dad, in a moment of panic, handed me a phone book, told me to call up all the doctors and beg for an internship…that isn’t how it works…however, if I get desperate, I’ll consider it) but just think about it for a second. As we level up (my way of saying getting older because it stings less), we won’t have the same opportunities open to us anymore. So maybe instead of floundering about, remember exploration is expected at our age.