It’s 10:30 p.m. and you’re sitting at a table with an apple in your left hand and a glass of water to your right. You stare straight forward, past the table with freshmen talking about how much they had to drink at the party they went to this weekend. You see out of your peripherals the varsity field hockey team walk in with their drawstring backpacks and ice-wrapped shoulders. You think to yourself for a little bit, then it hits you.
It’s 9:30 a.m. on a Tuesday and you find yourself in your room, sitting in a chair. In front of you is your desk with season 4, episode 3 of Community playing on the TV. You don’t have class until 1:00 p.m., so you decide to stay in and binge watch as much as possible. The pictures of you and your friends from last Spring’s Formal cover the left half of your wall while a canvas print of you and your family in the Bahamas adorns the right half of your desk. You think to yourself for a little bit, then it hits you.
You’re in a meeting with an important stakeholder in your Senior Design project. She’s talking about how important it is to get the correct data for the test samples. She mentions something about streamlining the operation to the point where she can log onto an app on her iPhone and download the report on protein synthesis as a .pdf file. Her multiple diplomas around her office act as reminders of what lies ahead. You look to your teammates and nod in agreement, understanding that this is what she really wants from this project. You think to yourself for a little bit, then it hits you.
It is the sense of uncertainty that comes barreling towards you like a freight train. It is the idea that you have no idea what you are going to do eight months from now after President Farvardin shakes your hand and a Board of Trustee’s member gives you a piece of paper. It is the feeling that you get when your professor calls on you in class to answer a question about something you should have remembered in Calculus 2. It is the thought that lingers on in the back of your head saying “What is it that I’m doing with my life” and “Is this what I want to be doing ten/twenty/thirty years down the road?”
These are very scary thoughts. However, I feel that this must be completely normal. Not everyone has the future figured out for them. You may think you have everything all planned out, but, my friend, once that feeling hits you, you will start to second guess yourself time after time. It is important to talk about these things with people. Understand that you are not alone in this journey. Roll with the punches and deal with whatever comes along. Think to yourself for a little bit, and carry on.
