By Andrew Lara | Contributing Writer 

If you could look into the future, are you sure you would want to? As the end of my junior year gets closer, I have found myself thinking about what I will be doing a year from now. I could be applying to jobs, master’s programs, internships, or 360 Telehandler Training Programs to secure a high-paying job. The truth is, as much as we like to know what our goals are—and even more, what our future holds—it never quite comes out how we planned. Uncertainties are all around us in college life: “How did you do on that exam?” “Are you going to turn that in on time?” “What does this even mean?” Sometimes you know, while most of the time, it’s just speculation. What makes us think life after college will be any different?

Where do you want to be? Abroad, experiencing something new, in the workforce, or with family? We all have different goals. After four years of studying for a degree, I want to put the skills I’ve learned to use. After all this time as a broke college student, I want to start supporting myself. The workforce certainly won’t be a breeze, but if I wanted the easy route, I wouldn’t have gone through the demands of this degree. Today, the future seems daunting because the steps ahead of us remain foggy.

I have a little under a year to ensure I am more prepared, wise, and excited for the future. I must continue applying to new things and expanding my horizons. Not only that, but we must decide for ourselves where we want to be. Here’s mine: I want to live comfortably in a metropolitan city in North America in a one-bedroom apartment working at a job where I use my degree. Even with it all drawn out, who says it’s going to play out that way?

I do. My actions and decisions will define who I become. 

It will take a lot of footwork that may go unnoticed or feel like a waste of time. I hope to look back at what I accomplish in my final year at F&M and be happy that it had a substantial effect on my professional life post-graduation. The excitement lies in not knowing what will happen next. Ultimately, all we can do as humans is have a positive outlook on the world around us. That mentality—and an abundance of applications—will be my way of solving the anxiety that graduation brings me.

If you remember the college admissions process, it was a time of uncertainty. Most of us probably got a rejection letter—or five. Here we are, though, and everything turned out fine. I never want to let go of that feeling, that no matter what disappointments or obstacles I encounter, things will turn out exactly how they are supposed to.

The last obstacle that college has to offer is the question of what comes next. So let me ask you again: if you could look into the future, are you sure you’d want to? Perhaps we shouldn’t spoil the surprise.

Junior Andrew Lara is a Contributing Writer. His email is alara1@fandm.edu.

By TCR