Adventures of a High School Senior: College Woes

My fellow seniors would agree with me when I say that the holidays are brutal. It’s not being away from our friends that’s hard, it’s certainly not being away from the books. It’s our family members.

There is a single word that will make a teenager tremble in fear. A word that often becomes a crippling blow to the student’s ego. A simple word that asks for a paragraph of response. Future.

“So what are your plans for the future?”

I guarantee that every senior heard this at one time or another over the holidays. It indicts a panic in all students. How do I answer that question in a way that makes me sound like I actually have my life together?

A family dinner is the perfect time for them to spring the question. Being 30-40 years older, relatives have nothing else to talk to you about. So they pinpoint a generic teenage problem. The future.

It usually comes out something like:

“College. I’m not sure which one yet, but that’s the plan.”

“Oh that’s great! What are you going to study?”

“…Umm”

A question for the nosy and curious: Do you really expect a 17-year-old to know what she/he wants to do for the rest of their life?

I have spent the past few months taking SATs, ACTs, applying to colleges and visiting colleges. I’ve been researching which ones I want to go to and what I’d like to study. But I, and many of my friends, are no where close to knowing what we want to major in.

By senior year we have studied hundreds of diverse subjects, from American History to PreCalc. Most seniors have an idea of what the want to do, but how do you go about that? What do I major in that will get me the job I want? Four plus years of studying one or two subjects is an immense commitment, and we want to get it right.

I believe that we are too young to know exactly what we want. So seniors, and juniors, don’t be discouraged if you have no idea what you want to do or who you want to be, yet. College, or wherever else you might be headed to after graduation, is where you decide what you want to do.

Don’t shy away from the ominous “future” questions. Embrace them. Tell your curious relatives to buckle up for an extensive run-down of your future plans and goals. They wanted to know.