Stop asking college seniors what their plans are for next year and deterring those that have an idea from exploring it. We need to be told that everything works out. We want to hear that you support us and that taking time before further education or rejecting graduate school completely is still a sensical and personal choice. We do not care to hear your thoughts about what we should be doing if we already have something in mind that sounds interesting.
Hearing that our plan for the next step is not financially feasible or that we are asking for a career of boredom and dissatisfaction is less than helpful. While being realistic is necessary, it can also cause an overwhelming feeling of disappointment when someone does not think your goal is feasible. It is true that grad school applications will not always result in an acceptance. It is also true that we may apply to over fifty jobs and hear back from none of them. That is where you can help us. We need to hear your support, and we are more than happy to accept your help with connections and application reviewing. We want to hear about your college transition and know that it is not worth spending thousands of dollars on graduate school for something that no longer excites us.
Sometimes taking time off is much needed for our mental health and necessary so that we can find what makes us passionate again. Furman’s curriculum is grueling and cognitively challenging. It should be perfectly acceptable to acknowledge that we might be burned out. We might need the summer or next year or the next two years to live at home or to live somewhere new with roommates and take time to figure ourselves out.
I came into college with an idea of how my own mind works. My college essay was a reflection on how taking time alone and challenging yourself to do what makes you uncomfortable can result in a developed consciousness and a more realistic viewpoint. College was certainly not all that I expected it to be, and by senior year I have realized that the self I thought I knew has completely crumbled and been rebuilt year after year. The four short years, give or take, that students are on this campus have and will prove to be some of the most difficult, the most eye opening, and the most rewarding. We should not have to know what the next step is and we want you to help us eliminate the stress revolving around the constant need to have a plan. While realistic planning is necessary, forced planning can only lead to disappointment. In the next few months before college will truly end, I simply want to float.