The Pressure to Pick: Where is my AHA Moment?

Handling the pressure of not knowing what you want to do when you start college can be stressful and overwhelming. There are so many decisions; what do I want to major in? What kind of job would fit me? Where do I even start to figure that out? You may see people who seem to start college with a 5 year plan or already have amazing stories about how one job made ALL the difference when it came to deciding their future. I remember when I first learned about Berry, I read a few of those amazing stories, how one student got a research job and realized their passion for research and science, or how another student found their love for sports communications after taking that one, life changing class.

As someone who never felt they had a specific passion coming into college, I was so conflicted and confused about what I actually wanted to do. I started getting nervous and kept asking myself, what if I never find that right job on campus or take that right class that’ll bring me my AHA moment, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life? What if I spend YEARS at Berry and completely MISS that amazing moment of discovery, and I reach the end of college just as confused as I started (except I’ll be older and with less time to figure it all out)?

However, even with all the moments of uncertainty and questioning, I’ve learned a few things from my time in college that I now realize are more valuable than having one moment where everything clicked:

1. Getting to know yourself takes time. If you aren’t exactly sure what you like or what you want to do, that’s okay! If you already knew yourself perfectly and knew exactly what you wanted to do, you wouldn’t need to be in college. If you’re confident in what you are doing, that’s great! But if you still aren’t sure, that’s okay too.

2. Remember, you’re getting to your future one day at a time. Preparing and focusing on your future is important, but you don’t need to know right now what you’ll be doing when you’re 30.

3. Don’t be afraid of making the “wrong” choice. Each experience, big or small, adds something to your life and is a step forward. Even if you don’t have your favorite job right away, it still teaches you something about what fits and what doesn’t fit; you never know when you may use a random skill you pick up.

4. Be curious and look into your interests, no matter how big or small. When I chose Psychology and Religion as my majors, I knew I liked learning about people, I liked understanding how relationships work, and I liked going deeper with people. Majoring in Psychology or Religion aren’t the only ways to have a people-focused job, but it definitely fits and will teach me a lot about it.

5. Every interest doesn’t need to become a career. It is so important to have a job you love, but your job is only one part of you. Make sure you pursue interests that add value to your life outside of a career. If you love dance, theater or photography, learn more about that! Don’t feel like you can’t enjoy those things or have them as a part of your life just because they aren’t your main focus.

6. Life is more complicated than clear steps of certainty; you don’t need to know how the next step will go to move forward! This is YOUR college journey, and it doesn’t have to look like someone else’s experience to be meaningful and valuable. In other words, whether you’re just starting college or you’ve been in school for a while, you’re gonna be okay.

Even now, I may not have perfect clarity on my future, but my outlook on the journey towards my future has changed. In the beginning, I put a lot of pressure on myself, on my classes, and on the jobs I had on campus to provide that breakthrough moment that would reveal exactly what I loved and what I should do. But that’s not what always happens in real life; I don’t think you can plan for a breakthrough moment. But, classes and jobs can teach you small things about yourself and about what you like and don’t like. Choose your experiences wisely, but take a deep breath and be open to whatever the experience becomes. Big breakthrough moments are amazing, but gradual, steady growth, and small realizations are just as important.

By Abi Baluta