Trusting the Process
I always think about this topic and it is a great conversation starter for high school students wanting to know more about college. College isn’t what I expected it to be when I got here. Before I got into college, I thought I would have everything planned out, and have a detailed idea of what I would be doing but I was wrong. I’m still questioning and figuring things out and that’s part of growing up. It used to stress me out but now I know it’s part of the process.
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I remember when I was in high school, almost everything felt structured. From grades, classes and even goals. But that’s a whole different story in college because there’s a pressure to have everything figured out while you’re still figuring out how to live on your own away from your parents. Almost everyone talks about majors, future careers and internships like they already have the answers. Meanwhile I’m trying to just make it through a stressful week without burning out.
At the start of the semester, I tried to force everything so it made sense to me. I literally changed my schedule like three times to create a schedule I like, I joined a lot of clubs I had interest in, and even tried to plan my future down from start to finish in detail. But as I previously stated above, things never go according to plan. On some days, you feel really motivated and feel like you’re on the right track and on other days, you question yourself based on some classes and if you’re on the right path and choosing the right major for you. And I realized that’s okay.
I took a trip to New York during family weekend and on my way back as I took the green line back to campus, I took a second to reflect and realized I didn’t need a plan because plans change. That it’s okay to not know what happens next. It’s part of growing up and now I’m trusting the process. Uncertainty isn’t something one must fear but a part of who they meant to be. We don’t have answers for everything that happens and maybe that’s the point. Figuring out things is what makes the journey worth it.
