As I sat at my graduation party last weekend, watching the slide show my mother so dutifully put together, I looked back on all of my other graduations. There was my preschool graduation, where I proudly posed with my “diploma” (a certificate tied with yarn) and cardboard cap. There was the 5th-grade moving-up ceremony, middle school graduation, and of course, high school graduation. Yet something seemed different about graduating from college. All of the other times, I knew what lay ahead: elementary school, middle school, high school and college.
There was always a direct path for me to follow, in some cases, right down to the clothing I would wear (private school uniform, what’s up). More importantly, ever since I was 10, my life revolved around going to Duke. Every spelling test, French quiz and history essay had a unified purpose. And I ultimately did go to Duke—and loved it. But now what? Where do I go from here? What happens after the dream ends? For the first time, I don’t have classes, tests, spring breaks or report cards. And as scary as that seems right now, it’s also kind of exciting.
Some of my friends have known what they wanted to do since they were practically in the womb. I’m not going to lie and pretend I’m not jealous of that, but what happens if, after all those years of medical school, they realize it’s not for them? Or if they come home after a long day on Wall Street and decide they were really meant to be a music teacher? Take the case of my uncle: In college he decided he wanted to be a lawyer, so he went to one of the best law schools in the country, joined a top firm, and even moved to China to teach law for a few years. Then he realized it wasn’t for him and that he would rather be a news reporter. Though he gained valuable life experience and legal knowledge, I’m sure he would’ve appreciated getting a jump start on his current career a few years earlier (not to mention saving a bundle of money on tuition).
While having strong career aspirations is great, I’m discovering that not knowing what you want to do isn’t the end of the world. Not being too committed to anything right now means that I hopefully won’t make a similar mistake. I have the chance to take my time, think and try things out; hopefully finding a career that is just right for me. Though it means a little bit longer period of uncertainty, I kind of like having this little test period. I can take pastry classes and become a chef if I want to. I can join the State Department or audition for “The Voice” and pray that Cee Lo turns his chair (let’s face it, Red Team needs me). Or who knows, maybe I’ll even decide to go back to school someday. As the saying goes, the world is my oyster. I just have to decide what to do with it.
And for those of you as undecided as I am, there are some websites to help get you started; Launching Millennials and Duke’s Undecided Advice: Post Graduation are just two.
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