It has been made pretty clear that I am a college student. Yep, I’m a senior in college approaching my final semester. This life stage is a slightly stressful one. If you are out there somewhere in my shoes, you can relate. And if you aren’t, you will be someday or were some yesterdays ago.
Not only do I have to force myself to study for semester tests while fighting a severe case of senioritis, I also have to be perfecting a resume. This resume won’t be handed to a professor for a grade; it is the real thing, which will be handed to a real employer, in a real world.
Over Christmas break I will seek out places where I think I can best put my gifts and skills to work. This process seems fun (and it is) but is also stressful. I’m an open and adventurous person, which also sounds fun (and is) but it is also a pain. I will go anywhere, work nearly anywhere, and want to follow a calling that hasn’t been made completely clear. There are so many things I want to do, and with a broad major like communication, the options are almost too abundant.
The past four years of my life have been littered with adventures, great opportunities, a million-dollar (in quality and at times seems literally) education, life-changing relationships, boring classes, exciting classes, a semester in Europe, challenging internships, and even a humbling summer working on the farm.
Now what? I am a different person thanks to the road that has brought me here — to this place of searching for the next step. That road shaped me, altered my perspective on life, caused me to see the world in a new light, and prepared me for now.
When I was 17 I remember driving my car home from school. I love talking to God while I’m driving, and I remember saying a prayer that changed my life. “Lord…I give you my future. One hundred percent. It’s yours. I will go where you want and do what you want me to do, whatever the circumstances.” Gulp. I had always been a Christian, but to hand over the reins to my future was a bit terrifying. I can’t say that I feel like I have always gone exactly where I felt God leading, but I know that he has taken me amazing places and blessed me beyond my deserving.
So what’s the next step? Nearly five years later, I feel like the next decision is one of the biggest. I will step out of my comfortable life and into a big world. I will put 16 years of education to the test in a workplace that isn’t just evaluating my work for a grade.
I guess I should spend a good portion of the next semester on my knees. “Where next, Lord?” Should I stay close to home to appease family and friends? Should I run off to a new place like my adventurous heart calls for?
Are any of you in this same stage? How are you narrowing your job search? Have you been here before? How did you make these big decisions?
