How does one just know what they want to be?

I’ve always been a good student who was in class every day, even when I was sick. I did my homework, made A’s and B’s, but when I graduated high school, I realized I had no idea what I wanted to do. I needed a plan, but I seriously felt so overwhelmed with all the options you’re given once you graduate high school.

I hated not knowing what to do and being this person just rolling through life. But it absolutely had to happen that way in order for me to figure it out. I had gone through high school doing everything everyone always told me to do and it got me nowhere, literally.

It took years of being in and out of college, experimenting in different jobs, and different settings before I found what I liked. My advice to early-college students – it’s absolutely OK with not knowing exactly what you’re doing. There is no manual for this, but if you stay persistent and patient, you will figure it out. In the famous words of Thomas Edision, “I have not failed, I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

By NVC Student Alexandra Ortiz