Don't Be Afraid to Not Know.

The reality of being in college and not knowing what you want to do with your life. 

Being in college is already a scary time for most young adults. It's the start of your adult life. You're starting a new journey where you have to leave all your teenage immaturity behind and learn how to be independent. You don't have your parents hovering over you reminding you to do your homework and wash your clothes while making you a well balanced meal three times a day. For most of us, it's the first time in our lives that we are completely responsible for ourselves and our actions. While being an independent adult for the first time ever may seem exciting, for a lot of us it is scary as he**. 

However, being in college on your own and not fully knowing what you want to do with your life can give a person the worst case of angst they've ever experienced. As if learning how to be independent, taking full time classes, while working full time to pay for those classes wasn't bad enough, for many students it gets even worse, because they deal with the criticism of the world for being in college without having a plan for their life that is mapped out step by step, on a timeline, and color coded. 

The world:

• "You have no plan for life after college?"....... "You must have no motivation to do anything with your life." 

• "You're a Jr. in college, you just switched majors for the 100th time, and yet you still don't know what you want to study?"........ "Wow, you're wasting your time and money." Or... 

• "What are you even doing in college, you must be there to have fun and party." 

So lets summarize what we've read so far. 

1. Being in college/ learning how to be independent is scary. 

2. Being in college/ learning how to be independent not knowing what you want to do with your life is even scarier. 

So, the question now is could this situation get worse? The answer. Yes. 

You're in college, Jr. year. You decided an education major wasn't for you. You decide to switch your program of study, but you don't know what you want to do with your life. How are you supposed to know what you want to study? You choose a major that you have always found interesting and exciting to learn about. However, it's doesn't have a direct path like an education, engineering, or a medical degree. You choose a major like Psychology, Sociology, or Arts. This is what the world has to say about that:

• "Why aren't you majoring in something more useful like business"
• "What are you going to do with a degree in that"
• "That is a bullsh*t degree, major in something that matters"

Students in these kinds of situations can find themselves dealing with harsh opinions of the people around them. While they are already scared and worried about what kind of life they are going to have, the world comes along and makes it worse by judging every move they make.  

Here is what I have to say about that.

Students in this situation shouldn't let the world make them feel unmotivated and lazy because they don't have their life plan figured out. Just because you decided not to major in something like engineering, pre-med, or business, doesn't mean that you're not going to find a job that makes you happy and pays you a decent salary. You are not wasting your time in college if you are learning something.    

You are not foolish and idiotic for not having a step by step plan. You are brave and strong. You are brave because while the world tells you that the path you are on isn't good enough you keep following it because you know it was meant for you. You are strong because you deal with the world telling you that you won't amount to anything because your plan isn't their plan. You are brave and strong because you don't know what your next step is, but you keep walking with you head held high even though you don't know where you're going to end up. You don't stop because the world says you should and yet you are going to be just fine.  

If you feel like the world is putting to much pressure on you to have your whole life figured out, reach out to someone! It's terrifying to not know what you want to do with your life, especially when you have people all around you telling you why you need a plan now. It's okay to not know. Find something you enjoy and go from there. 

As always, thanks for reading, 

Until next time, 

K.