"So what do you want to be when you grow up?" This is a question I dread answering almost as much as: "So what colleges are you looking at?"But it’s not as bad as: "So what are you going to do with a degree in English? Be a teacher or something?" Currently, I can answer only one question with confidence – this fall I started college at Marymount College of Fordham University. As for the other questions, I merely shrug my shoulders and mumble, "I don’t know." Choosing a college is stressful enough. I don’t need the added pressure of planning out the next five years of my life in terms of a career.
Many of my former high school classmates were appalled when I said, "Well it doesn’t really matter to me where I go. If I’m not happy there, I can just transfer, no muss no fuss."
I’m just planning on taking classes I enjoy so that I can do well in them. Unless you’re going into the medical field, who really cares if you took Organic Chemistry, particularly if you’re a poli-sci major.
Adults have always commented on the fact that most teenagers view every decision as being life-or-death. It has been my experience that they have acted in the same manner for which we teens are criticized. I am quite happy not knowing what I might be doing in five years time. I can’t help but point out to these "advisers" that at 18 they weren’t 100 percent sure of where life might take them – why should I be any different?
I cannot help but approach life after high school with an easygoing attitude. I’m fully aware of the ups and downs that will come, and I’m looking forward to the pain and lessons they bring. I’m going to learn so much more about myself at this time than at any other moment in my life. I’m starting to break away from the familiarity of having my parents be the responsible ones. Now, for the most part, I have to fend for myself, and I await the experience with open arms, heart and mind. New situations will be cropping up, and I have to let myself be receptive to them. – Vanessa Gulin (The author is a Current contributor.)