Getting admitted to college can be both exciting and terrifying. Having to commit to a school, city, major, or activity can be super overwhelming. I remember feeling an extreme pressure to specify in February of my senior year, and even more so after coming to campus and trying to find my niche. With the wisdom I have obtained over the past three years, I would like to share with you three words of advice:
don’t decide, diversify.
Our lives seem to be governed by the expectation that we need to have a life goal, a dream job, or a specific ‘path’. Instead of working towards one specific overarching dream, I suggest following your passions and morals. It’s ok to try it all and have no idea what exactly you want to do!
For example, I am an ex-architecture student–turned mechanical engineer, pre-law actress who is working as an aerospace engineer this summer.
What?!
As ridiculous as it sounds, I am so happy with the journey my interests and talents have taken me on. And I am thrilled to see how I will end up incorporating all of my interests into my future.
I feel like a lot of students fall into the trap of: “Well I want to work for Google, so I need to become a computer science major and participate in computer science clubs and do research involving computer science and get a computer science internship…”. If computer science is your one true passion in life, go for it! However, I challenge you not to close yourself off to other opportunities that may excite you and to pursue all of your passions equally (i.e. don’t quit playing tennis or writing songs for the sake of what you think you want your career to be).
Life is full of surprises! So don’t stress yourself out trying to decide what you want to do for the rest of it. Surround yourself with the activities, people, and opportunities you love and let it just happen!
