College. Oh college. How I loved thee.
I didn’t love high school, but man, I LOVED college. There’s just something about being on your “own” for the first time that is amazing. It’s such a great feeling to know that the people you love the most trust you with your own life. Or at least they seem to when they ship you off to college.
I didn’t go to college very far away from where I grew up, but it was far enough for me to feel the freedom of being on my own. I felt as though I had entered a new world when I got to choose when I ate dinner and what time I went to bed. Taco bell at 3 am? Sure. I’m down.
All you kids out there that have college ahead of you, please enjoy it. Although it’s not the best years of my life, it certainly was the most unique. I hope you allow yourselves to enjoy it as much as humanly possible. (please put down your phone – live in the moment you’re in – more on that later) I know everyone’s life situations are different, but find the good in your college experience, and stretch it. Make it the part you focus on.
I know there is this pressure to choose a major. “What is your major? What are you going to do with the rest of your life? What do you choose?” My oldest daughter hated that question. She hated the pressure of trying to decide. I tried to convince her that even though she might decide on a destination for her future, there may be other plans that are in the mix for her. There is absolutely no way to know for sure. You can only do the best you can do with the knowledge you have at the time.
I graduated college with a bachelors of psychology and a masters in counseling. Ask me how many years I worked in that industry…
Nevermind. Don’t.
Even though those degrees didn’t become the rest of my life, they have served me well over the past 20 years. The current life I’m living doesn’t look much like the one I had planned, but man, I wouldn’t change it for the world.
Every decision made, path drawn, and hope created, is simply to get us to the next one. It’s not to set our lives in stone and determine if you are a success in this world. It’s not as important as all that. I wish someone would have told me that way back when.
Life happens and we do our best to make the best of it. Whether or not your plans go your way or follow the path that you’ve created, it’s still yours. You can make the best of it, or you can feel the pain of unfulfilled dreams. That’s a choice you get to make.
So if I could say one thing to high school seniors or college grads, it’s NOT, “I hope you choose wisely”.
My advice would be to boldly step forward in your choices, and roll with the life that presents itself to you because of them. Embrace the good that you see along the way, and learn from the things that hurt you. If you can keep that mindset, then every step is a step that was meant for you. That’s success in a nutshell. No need to worry about anything else.
