On May 13, 2022, I graduated from college.

It’s weird to even type that. Even now, over two months removed, I still don’t think that the sheer weight of that has hit me yet.

I received a B.A. in English with a concentration in creative writing, along with a minor in Spanish from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. It seemed like a long time coming, yet my days of being a college student were gone in the blink of an eye.

I’ve been reflecting on my time at UNCC for the past couple of weeks, and it’s been hard to put into words how graduating and moving into the next phase of my life has felt. Wrapping my mind around the fact that I am no longer a student is insane, but it is also the best feeling in the world. The last four years have been nothing short of unusual. Between the pandemic, switching majors three times, and finally finding a group of friends that I can see being in my life for the long haul, I can’t even begin to explain the extreme bittersweet taste that graduation has forged.

Ever since becoming an English major and pursuing creative writing, the number one question I am always asked is, “What do you want to do with that?” I hate that question. Who actually knows what they want to do in life? I clearly didn’t know what I wanted my life to look like at 18, and at 22, I’m still thinking about it. The amount of possibilities is endless, but even if I end up not doing a single thing related to my field of study, I will have spent college doing something that I love and am passionate about, and that is perfectly satisfactory to me.

However, I will say that I am planning on getting my graduate certificate in teaching beginning this spring. I have plans to pursue my M.A. in English following the certification, but teaching feels like the right move. My goals and plans have changed a lot over the past six months, which initially was to go into graduate school directly after undergraduate, but it was not in God’s timing. I feel that this period after graduation is the time for me to find where I fit in the world before jumping right back into more education.

Right now, I am currently working at Starbucks and am on the path to being promoted to an Assistant Store Manager. It is an exciting proposition (seeing that I have been a supervisor for three years), so for now, that is my short-term goal that I can work toward, and hopefully complete before the end of the year.

After all this thinking about life and graduation and what the heck I’m supposed to do now, I’ve realized that it’s okay to not have a clue what you’re doing. I’m 22 years old, but sometimes, I still feel like a child. I look at my peers and friends who have started/completed their graduate programs, landed great full-time jobs, or even just have amazing prospects for the future, yet… I don’t really have any of those things. It makes me wonder where I went wrong, or what I could’ve done better. I think about why I don’t seem as accomplished as other people, or why I’m so far behind. It’s quite discouraging, but then, I think about all of the things that I have accomplished. While I may not be heading into a master’s program just yet this fall, like so many of my peers, that doesn’t make the path that I’m on any less of an achievement. I know that going to graduate school was not the right decision for me right now, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be in the future.

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned through my time in college is that there is no right answer of how to live your life, and comparing yourself to others who are on a different path leads you nowhere. The path that you are on right now is exactly where you are supposed to be, and there is peace in knowing that God has already planned everything out for you. You just have to trust and know that for everything, there is a reason.

So, as I sit writing this, I am taking life one day at a time and drawing the blueprint as I go. Thank you to everyone who has supported me throughout college and in all my endeavors. I appreciate you more than you know.

With Love ❤