By: Adair Bingham
I am positive that most university students are totally unsure what they should be doing at any given moment. At least, I know that’s how it feels for me. That being said, it’s perfectly OK to be uncertain of your life’s path. It’s OK to not have a plan for every tiny aspect in your life. It’s important to recognize that life has a slew of ups and downs, and that one little bump in the road isn’t the end of the world. In fact, I think that it’s for the best to just let life take its course and to take those bumps at face-value. Something good may come of them!
Allowing life to simply take its course is how I ended up where I am today. My college career up until this point has been rather incongruous, to say the least. In the beginning, I had no plans to attend this university, and although I’m not too proud of it, I have essentially waited until the very last second to do anything of importance. For example, I literally waited until the last hour of the last day that Portland State University was accepting applications to send mine in. I think that it goes without saying that I wouldn’t be doing what I am doing today if I had made any other decision. It’s OK to stumble and take baby steps, eventually you’ll get to a place where you’re happy.
Even as I’m writing this, contemplating my awkward plunders navigating higher education and adult life, I must admit that I am truly surprised about what I have managed to achieve without a career-map, so to speak. I like to think that I’m on the right track, but truth be told: I really have no idea what I’m doing. I know for a fact that I’m not the only one, but it’s pretty easy to let a thought like that spiral out of control, leading me to think, “Oh god I haven’t done anything right at all.”
Clearly I’ve made it this far for a reason. It wasn’t by accident and it certainly wasn’t by pure luck that I’ve amounted to the success that I have. I wonder, sometimes, if I had a plan of action, if I would be better off in any way. I’m definitely trapped in the dichotomy of caring too little and too much all at the same time, but it certainly hasn’t hindered my ability to succeed. In the long-run, I think that winging it works best for me, and I’m going to continue to let life take me in whatever direction that it wants without making too much of a fuss. Life works in funny ways and things usually happen for a reason. So sit back and enjoy the ride, you never know what will happen!