What now?
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It’s finally over. Finished. Done. Forever – if I want it to be. The late nights, the tears, the endless pages of writing, the campus food, the residence life, and the messy roommate (ooohhh the messy roommate!) are all things that I no longer have to think about. The last four years of my life are now about to become a small blip in my past, and I couldn’t be happier. I’ve been trying to find a way out since I got in, but every attempt was (clearly) unsuccessful. However, now that I’m finally a freebird, I (along with every single person ever) can’t stop asking the question, What now?
What of my schooling? What of my degree? What will it bring me? What skills do I actually have? What did I learn? What is communications? And most importantly, WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITH MY LIFE?!
I used to think I had an idea, but after four years of school (in an unintentional and detoured path) I now have absolutely no clue what I want to do. My visions for the future got progressively blurrier and I just became more and more confused. During my final semester of school, that confusion inevitably turned into stress, which continued to grow into full-blown panic. I often stayed up late thinking about what I would do once I finally finished. Now the time has come, and I’m still stuck.
People say I should travel (which I undoubtedly would love to do), but that was never my plan. I was confident that I’d be able to set up a job right out of university, though that was just wishful thinking. I’ve done three internships, dappling in the worlds of art and fashion, trying to figure out what I wanted to do. So here I am, ready to enter the job market, along with thousands of other twenty-somethings fresh out of the institution we know as post secondary education. Perfect.
But the more I think about it, why do I have to choose one thing? Why do I keep telling myself that I need to have all the answers? No one said that I could only have one career in my lifetime. In fact, it was quite the opposite. I’m lucky to have amazing family and friends who always encourage me to reach for my goals, no matter how far away they seem. I like to think that I’ve accomplished a lot in my 22 years, and who’s to say the future should be any different? I have a lot of plans for myself and I know that if I am determined enough, I can make them happen. I have the rest of my life to do all the things I want, and frankly, that’s a pretty great reality.
Now, I don’t think I can answer all my questions, but I do think I have come to terms with the fact that everyone asks them at some point or another, which is completely okay. So the next time someone asks, “Now what?”, I will simply respond with an, “I don’t know,” and accept the fact that no one really knows what the future holds – why should I?
Here’s to the future.
JB
JULES&JIBLETS 