One thing Professor Schwarz spoke about last week that I have been thinking about recently is the first year after graduation. As I move closer and closer to my senior year and graduation, I am beginning to think about what comes after school. The professor mentioned how the first year out of college is similar to Freshman year as people learn how to act independently and make new friends. He said that many people feel lonely during the time right after graduation because they are probably in new places with few people they know and need to figure out their lives for the first time.

Ever since kindergarten I knew what the next step was. I knew I would move up one grade and the schools would give me everything I needed to do. Once I finished high school, the college environment was a little different, but ultimately I just had to take the right classes for my major and then graduate. Now that I only have one year left of my undergraduate years, it is becoming more urgent for me to find what I truly want to do, so I can have a fulfilling career. This is a scary thought because I have a general idea, but there are so many cool subjects to study and things to work on in the world that I am not sure if I have chosen the right field.

Regarding choosing one’s path, Schwarz talked about how he thinks people should begin to think about what they want to do as early as their Freshman year. I agree that people should have some sort of focus and not blindly amble through college; however, I firmly believe that it is an exceptional case where someone is certain of what s/he wants to do after college. Even if that person thinks s/he knows, it is highly improbable that that person has even had extensive experience in his or her field to know for sure. Furthermore, I think it is unhealthy for people to “know” what they want to do at any point in life because, if you think about it, that person has not even encountered most things in the world, so there could be any number of other studies or jobs or arts or people or anything else to pursue. Part of my uncertainty about life frightens me for sure, how could it not, but I would rather spend my entire life learning and experiencing everything I can and never finding “the one thing I want to do,” if there is such a thing, than settling for something less than completely fulfilling.

Honestly, what terrifies me the most is the thought of eventually settling for something I do not like since forever searching sounds exhausting.